THE DEKALB SILT LOAM. 11 



portation to the production of general farm crops. Farther to the 

 south, in southern Tennessee and in north-central Alabama 1 , cotton 

 may be produced at the lower elevations, while winter wheat, winter 

 oats, and grasses may also be grown. In general, however, cotton is 

 not particularly successful upon the Dekalb silt loam, since the high 

 altitude at which it is found places it outside the climatic zone best 

 suited to this crop. It would be better to develop the type as a gen- 

 eral farming soil devoted to the growing of the cereals and to grass 

 production, with supplementary grazing and dairy interests. Par- 

 ticularly in the vicinity of the Alabama coal-mining cities and the 

 industrial district of northern Alabama and south-central Tennessee 

 would it be desirable to devote a considerable area of this type to 

 dairying and to meat production. Here, also, the growing of garden 

 vegetables and small fruits would be profitable, as in the Pittsburg 

 district. Such development has been begun near Birmingham, Ala. 



While there are thus local limitations and conditions which vary 

 the crops which may most profitably be grown upon the Dekalb silt 

 loam, still it is a very fair general farming soil in all locations except 

 at the highest altitudes in the most northern regions of its occurrence. 

 In other locations, where the climatic limitations do not prevent and 

 where there is proper transportation, the Dekalb silt loam may also 

 be utilized for the production of garden vegetables and small fruits. 

 Under favorable conditions of exposure, drainage, and transportation 

 it may also be used for the growing of Elberta peaches. Apples may 

 be grown upon the type, particularly in the West Virginia- 

 Pennsylvania region. 



EXTENT OF OCCUPATION. 



In the more elevated sections where it is developed, both in the 

 Mountain and in the Plateau Regions, there are very extensive areas 

 of the Dekalb silt loam which are still undeveloped agriculturally. 

 Such areas are either in forest, chiefly oak and chestnut, or have 

 been cut over and are grown up to brush. Particularly upon the level 

 crests of mountain ridges and upon the smaller fragments of the 

 plateau, where the margins of the type are bounded by steep slopes 

 or almost perpendicular cliffs, does this wooded or brushy condition 

 persist. The inaccessibility of such locations precludes their agri- 

 cultural occupation. 



In localities where the type is developed at lower altitudes and in 

 more accessible situations the percentage of agricultural occupation 

 increases until in certain of the localities where it has been mapped 

 in West Virginia and southern Pennsylvania, fully 80 per cent of the 

 type is used for some form of farming, including the pasturing of 

 cattle and of sheep. 



