14 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



to allow a catch of the seed. A light top-dressing of stable manure 

 in addition will assure a fair to good seeding. 



Tobacco is grown to a very limited extent upon a single area of 

 the Dekalb silt loam in Kentucky. The yields are low, averaging 

 about 600 pounds per acre, and the extension of the crop may not be 

 recommended. Irish potatoes are usually grown to a limited extent 

 upon the Dekalb silt loam chiefly for home consumption, though in 

 southwestern Pennsylvania they also constitute a market crop. The 

 yields secured are extremely variable, ranging from 50 to 250 bushels 

 per acre. The soil, where well drained, is well suited to the produc- 

 tion of this crop, and in localities where the local market is good 

 potatoes should constitute one of the chief money crops. It will be 

 necessary to pay careful attention to the restoration of organic matter 

 to the soil wherever the crop is to be produced upon a commercial 

 scale. For this purpose a crop of buckwheat should be grown in all 

 of the more northern areas and then turned under in the fall to be 

 allowed to rot before the potatoes are planted in the succeeding 

 spring. Then a commercial fertilizer high in potash salts, prefer- 

 ably the sulphate, should be applied at the rate of not less than 

 500 pounds per acre. If well-rotted stable manure is also available 

 it should be broadcasted over the field well in advance of the plowing 

 for the crop. If such precautions are taken the yield of potatoes will 

 usually recompense the extra expense of the preparation of the land 

 if proper care is also taken in the spraying and tillage of the crop. 



Fruit crops. In the States of Tennessee and Alabama and even 

 in some portions of West Virginia and Pennsylvania there are local 

 areas of the Dekalb silt loam which are suited to the production of 

 Elberta peaches upon a commercial scale. All such areas are pos- 

 sessed of good soil and subsoil drainage, are located so that they 

 are not exposed to cold winds and storms of unusual severity, and 

 are so situated as to secure good air drainage. Also, the depth of 

 soil and subsoil over the underlying rock must be not less than 3 feet. 

 Wherever the type is underlain by stiff, heavy, silt loam or clay 

 loam at shallow depths, the planting of peaches should not be under- 

 taken. It is evident that the localities should also be possessed of 

 adequate transportation facilities to market points. 



While not a particularly desirable apple soil, areas of the Dekalb 

 silt loam in the southwestern Pennsylvania region may be used for 

 apple orcharding if the same peculiarities of location and of drainage 

 required elsewhere for peaches are secured. In addition care should 

 be taken to select areas remote from the fumes of coking ovens and 

 where the operations of mining coal will not cause the caving-in of 

 the orchard site. The Baldwin is better suited to production upon 

 this type of soil than the majority of other apples. It should only 

 be planted upon areas which possess deep, mellow soil and subsoil 



