THE CECIL CLAY. 13 



users of soil moisture. Even where erosion has seriously reduced the 

 producing capacity of the Cecil clay through the constant removal 

 of the friable surface soil, the use of the heavier farm machinery for 

 the purposes of deeper plowing and cultivation will restore such fields 

 to normal productiveness within a few years time, if care be also 

 taken to grow the leguminous crops in proper rotation and to 

 restore organic matter. These tillage requirements are paramount in 

 the proper conduct of farming operations on the Cecil clay, owing to 

 its fine-grained texture and dense compact structure. For the pur- 

 poses of intertillage with either cotton, corn, or tobacco, the spiked- 

 tooth harrow is far superior to the small turning plow or any other 

 type of cultivator except the disk machinery. Frequent and shallow 

 cultivation, in order to prevent the formation of a baked surface 

 crust, is one of the essentials in the treatment of this soil, as has 

 already been shown. 



The crop adaptations of the Cecil clay also point strongly to the 

 desirability of utilizing the corn, oats, and hay produced upon this 

 type for the support of beef cattle and of dairy herds. The entire 

 Piedmont section is rapidly becoming the scene of active manufactur- 

 ing operations, and the concentration of population in the manufac- 

 turing cities throughout this section requires the local production^ of 

 meats and dairy products for the sustenance of this population. It 

 has been estimated that not over 20 per cent of the meat consumed 

 in the Piedmont region is produced within it, and it is certain that 

 not over 25 per cent of the dairy products there consumed originate 

 in the Piedmont section. Within the immediate vicinity of all of 

 these growing manufacturing cities there are abundant opportunities 

 for the occupation of such farms as consist principally of the Cecil 

 clay for the purposes of dairying and the accessory production of 

 meat, particularly veal and pork. The climate is cool, the seasons are 

 long, the forage crops of the greatest value in meat and milk pro- 

 duction may all be grown to advantage. The region is well watered, 

 and the rougher and more eroded portions, particularly of the Cecil 

 clay, may well be laid down to bluegrass, Bermuda grass, or other 

 permanent pasturage, thus bringing about the occupation of land 

 which would otherwise be waste and of no utility in the general farm- 

 ing operations. It is not necessary that a single acre of cotton, of 

 tobacco, or of other staple crops should be displaced in order to build 

 up a considerable live stock and dairy industry through the utiliza- 

 tion of areas of the Cecil clay which are now nonproductive in the 

 ordinary plan of agricultural industry in the southern Piedmont 

 section. 



In fact, a greater production of cotton, tobacco, wheat, and oats 

 would rapidly ensue, provided the resulting organic manures were 

 properly applied to the hoed crops in the readjusted rotation. 



