SELECTION OF LAND IN THE GULF COAST REGION. 5 



After leaving the rich alluvial soils of the Mississippi River bot- 

 toms and the loess area of the uplands east of that valley, the 

 traveler in proceeding eastward finds the prevailing soils to be gray- 

 ish sands or sandy loams. Clay loams are of rather limited extent 

 except in certain localities. He may also observe that the subsoils of 

 upland types, as exposed in road cuts and ditches, range in color from 

 yellow through various shades of brown to bright red. The colora- 

 tion is often remarkable in the sharp contrasts presented within short 

 distances. 



An inspection of the uplands in almost any locality, or of the higher 

 bench lands on the larger streams, will show great variations in the 

 depth of the soil or surface layer to that depth at which there is 

 noticeable change in color or composition when compared with the 

 subsoil and in the physical characteristics of the subsoil itself. In 

 a part of a field the soil may consist largely of sand, graduating at a 

 depth of a few inches to clayey material, while near by the sand may 

 be 2 or 3 feet deep. Besides this difference in depth to the " clay 

 foundation," as southern farmers call the substratum, the sand itself 

 may vary greatly in texture, at one point being so fine that it packs 

 easily and has the physical properties of a loam, to a sand so coarse 

 as to be " leachy." 



The variation in the depth, texture, and structure of the subsoils is 

 quite as frequent as the diversification in color to which reference has 

 been made. The extreme range is from a heavy clay, so dense as to be 

 nearly impervious, to a loose quartz sand of little agricultural value. 

 Such conditions are the exception, and not the rule, and the occur- 

 rence of substrata having undesirable properties is usually indicated 

 by the topography, character of the vegetation, or other surface ap- 

 pearances. There are, however, frequent developments of soil types 

 where, without marked surface indications, the subsoil so closely ap- 

 proaches these extremes as to impair the value of the land agricul- 

 turally or to render its successful management more or less difficult. 



A clayey subsoil with enough sand to give it a somewhat coarse, 

 gritty feel and a " grainy " appearance in a hand sample is preferable 

 to a clay with but little sand or silt. Such material is crumbly rather 

 than plastic, and will absorb moisture rapidly compared with a ma- 

 terial composed largely of clay. The latter is less desirable here 

 either as a soil or subsoil than in a region where the rainfall is not 

 so heavy. 



DRAINAGE. 



Since the annual precipitation is about 60 inches, the necessity for 

 good surface drainage is quite obvious. It is equally as important 

 that the underdrainage, or, more correctly stated, the internal drain- 

 age, of the soil and subsoil should be so effective that a saturated 



