10 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES 



The restoration and addition of considerable amounts of organic 

 matter to the surface soil are requisite from two chief standpoints. 

 The first of these is that of giving the somewhat sandy material an 

 additional amount of absorptive and retentive vegetable matter to 

 maintain moisture throughout the growing season for the important 

 crops like cotton, corn, and tobacco. The second is that of adding 

 fibrous material, which shall not only maintain soil moisture and 

 absorb it readily, but shall also act as a binding material to main- 

 tain the surface soil against erosion. From both standpoints the ad- 

 dition of organic matter to the Cecil sandy loam is a requisite in the 

 improvement of crop yields. 



In order that this material may be added to the soil it is desirable 

 that winter cover crops should be grown whenever possible. These 

 in the more southern latitudes may occupy the ground when the soil 

 would not otherwise be used for the production of a money crop. 

 Under ordinary circumstances the winter crops, like hairy vetch, 

 crimson clover, or a late-season crop of cowpeas, may be allowed to 

 remain upon the land from early fall until time for the preparation 

 of the ground for the succeeding hoed crop. Even winter oats, rye, 

 or wheat have their uses for this purpose, although the leguminous 

 crops first mentioned are preferable. Any one of these crops should 

 then be turned under smoothly and be completely covered when the 

 land is being prepared for cotton or corn. In the more southern 

 locations it is also found desirable to add lime, after the cover crop is 

 turned in, to the extent of 1,000 or even 2,000 pounds per acre, in order 

 to promote the effective decay of the green manure in time for the 

 purposes of the succeeding crop. If the lime be not added, difficulty 

 is not infrequently experienced when the roots of the succeeding cro;j 

 penetrate the partly decayed mass of the green manure crop and en- 

 counter fermentative processes which are still in progress if liming is 

 omitted. 



The question of the exact fertilization of any soil type, including 

 the Cecil sandy loam, is one to which no general answer may be made. 

 The difference in climatic conditions, in the previous treatment of the 

 soil, in the character of the crop to be grown, and even in the depth 

 of the soil material itself are so great even within the restricted limits 

 of a single county that a fertilizer practice admirable for one field or 

 one section might not be the best practice for other fields or other 

 regions near by. In general it has been found, however, that high 

 percentages of potash in the commercial fertilizer are not so necessary 

 upon these " gray sandy lands " as upon other types of soil. The 

 addition of nitrogenous manures and those containing considerable 

 amounts of phosphoric acid have usually proved effective. For the 

 addition of nitrogenous matter the leguminous crops should be 

 plowed under, cotton seed or cottonseed meal used as a fertilizer, or, 



