16 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



Fruit crops. In addition to strawberries, which are grown in 

 connection with the market-garden and truck crops in Mississippi, 

 the Memphis silt loam is also well suited to apple orcharding in the 

 more northern areas where it occurs. When care is used in the 

 selection of the orchard site to secure good air and water drainage, 

 the standard varieties for the region may be grown with profit. 

 From Kentucky southward the Memphis silt loam is also a good 

 peach soil, although but few commercial orchards have been de- 

 veloped upon it. These and numerous small plantings, principally 

 for home use, have demonstrated that the trees are thrifty and long 

 lived, and that the type might well be used throughout all its more 

 southern development for the production of peaches. 



A considerable proportion of the Memphis silt loam remains in 

 forest growth. Wherever transportation is accessible a large part 

 of the mechantable timber has already been cut. The growth of 

 forest trees upon the type is rapid and with almost all of the species 

 suited to the soil and climate, commercial forestry would undoubtedly 

 be a desirable form for the utilization of the more eroded and hilly 

 portions of the type. The post oak, Spanish oak, scarlet oak, hickory, 

 black ash, and tulip are the native trees which dominate the forests 

 upon the type. Beech also grows in the ravines and hollows in the 

 cooler and more moist locations. Since these steeper portions of the 

 Memphis silt loam should remain in forest, in order to protect such 

 areas and adjoining tilled fields from excessive erosion, it would 

 seem desirable that the farm woodlot or the small individual forest 

 plantation should become a feature upon the majority of farms occu- 

 pied by the Memphis silt loam. In a great number of instances such 

 occupation would only require the careful selective cutting of timber 

 now growing, together with the protection of the areas from excessive 

 grazing and from fires. In case of necessity this practice might be 

 supplemented by the planting of such varieties of forest trees as 

 are needed to supplement the present stand. 



The native grasses growing through the forested areas and upon 

 certain abandoned fields to be found within the area of the Memphis 

 silt loam are used to a limited extent for the pasturing of dairy cows, 

 beef cattle, and hogs. The extension of such forms of animal indus- 

 try upon the Memphis silt loam may be easily brought about when 

 it is economically desirable in any particular locality. 



FARM EQUIPMENT. 



In the majority of cases the equipment of teams and tools upon 

 the Memphis silt loam is scarcely adequate to the thorough and 

 profitable cultivation of the type. In too many instances the 850- 

 pound mule and the light-weight, one-mule plow, together with a 

 few minor tools, constitute practically the entire working equipment. 



