162 CLAY AND STONY SOILS. 



it than the stonier surfaces that cover the mixed trap 

 and metamorphic rocks of the county. Thorough-drain 

 ing, liming, abundant gifts of vegetable matter, and 

 much patient industry, will at a future time make them 

 easily workable and productive in corn. 



I found here prevalent an idea to which I have else 

 where alluded, that &quot; the fervid suns of this climate do 

 away with the necessity for thorough-drainage.&quot; This 

 is a mistake : they rather make such drainage more 

 necessary. These fervid suns bake and harden clay 

 soils, and make them not only difficult to work, but 

 incapable of ministering to the growth of almost any of 

 our crops and it is one of the beneficial influences of 

 this species of improvement that it brings the soil into a 

 condition in which it does not bake, harden, crack, and 

 yawn under a hot sun, and so permits the roots to 

 descend further, beyond the reach of its burning rays, 

 and to derive nourishment from the still moist and rich 

 soil below. 



On the rising-grounds and ridges, the subjacent clay 

 is covered by drifted slate-gravel, more or less mixed 

 with fine earth, which forms a dry, easily-worked, and 

 manageable soil. Hence, the tops of the ridges are the 

 seats of all the settlements in this part of Charlotte 

 County. Nearly all the hill-tops are cleared and settled, 

 while the slopes and bottoms are still in wilderness or in 

 swamp. These slopes and bottoms are often very stony, 

 and sometimes so much so as absolutely to defy the hand 

 of industry to reclaim them. The boulders are chiefly 

 granite ; and the yellow clay is probably derived from 

 the decay of a felspar rock. 



The Mohannas Settlement, about five miles above St 

 Stephens, is on such a ridge. I drove up to one of the 

 farms, to satisfy myself by inspection of the reason why 

 it occupied only the highest ground. I found it a gra 

 velly soil of slate-drift of all sizes, evidently easy to 



