THE ORANGEBURG SANDY LOAM. 11 



is equal in value or in yield to the leguminous crops already men- 

 tioned. 



Special crops. The Cuban type of cigar-filler tobacco is coming 

 to be raised upon the Orangeburg sandy loam in Florida, Georgia, 

 Alabama, and eastern Texas. The type ranks next to the Orange- 

 burg fine sandy loam for the production of this grade of tobacco. It 

 has been found in the Florida, Alabama, and Texas areas that por- 

 tions of the type of average fertility may be profitably planted to 

 this crop, and that yields of 600 to 800 pounds per acre of an excel- 

 lent quality of leaf are produced. With deep plowing, the abundant 

 use of organic manures, and heavy applications of special commer- 

 cial fertilizers these yields have been considerably increased. The 

 Orangeburg sandy loam and fine sandy loam are the best soils for 

 the production of this tobacco which may be found in the southern 

 United States. There are considerable areas of the Orangeburg 

 sandy loam which might well be occupied for tobacco growing, espe- 

 cially in southern Alabama and in eastern Texas. 



The Orangeburg sandy loam is also well suited to peach orchard- 

 ing and this industry is rapidly increasing in extent, particularly in 

 northeastern Texas. It is requisite that transportation facilities 

 should be adequate, that drainage conditions should be excellent, and 

 that locations of some elevation, although of not too great slope, 

 should be selected. The fruit produced is usually highly colored, and 

 of good flavor. The trees come to early maturity and are reason- 

 ably long lived, provided the depth of surface sandy soil is not too 

 great. In general the shallower phase of the type where the clay 

 is encountered at a depth of not more than 8 or 9 inches should be 

 selected. 



While not preeminently a truck soil, the Orangeburg sandy loam 

 is fairly well suited to the production of certain vegetable crops. 

 Among these, early Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, water melons, can- 

 taloupes, and tomatoes are most successfully grown. For the pro- 

 duction of these truck crops the deeper phase of the type should be 

 chosen where the surface sandy covering has a total thickness of 15 

 inches to 2 feet. This insures a well drained, warm seed bed and 

 assists in forcing the crop to early maturity. Considerable areas of 

 the Orangeburg sandy loam, well located with respect to transporta- 

 tion, still remain in both the South Atlantic and Gulf States which 

 might well be occupied for market-garden and trucking crops. 



Sugar cane for the manufacture of table sirup is grown to some 

 extent upon this soil in the immediate vicinity of the Gulf of Mexico. 

 The yields are good, but the sirup is usually a little darker in color 

 than that made from cane grown upon the soils of the Norfolk series. 



The Orangeburg sandy loam may be characterized as a good up- 

 land soil, which is also fairly well suited to the production of cotton, 



