THE ORANGEBURG FINE SANDY LOAM. 9 



secured even when the potash was omitted from the fertilizer formula. 

 This is not generally to be recommended, although the percentage of 

 potash salts present may be somewhat small for this type. It has 

 frequently been found to be excellent practice to use a home-mixed 

 fertilizer consisting of one part acid phosphate and two parts cotton- 

 seed meal. This should be applied at the rate of 500 pounds per acre, 

 with the addition of 100 pounds of kainit. A somewhat smaller 

 application is sufficient for the corn crop, while one-half of this 

 amount is enough for winter oats. The cottonseed meal supplies a 

 considerable percentage of nitrogen in .such a form that the slow de- 

 cay of this organic manure maintains the supply against the per- 

 colation of excessive rainfall and thus favorably affects the crop 

 growth through a longer period of time than is possible when the 

 nitrogen is derived from other sources. 



Wherever possible, all stable and yard manures should be saved 

 and applied to the tilled land for use with the chemical fertilizers. 

 The addition of organic matter in any form is one of the best means 

 of increasing crop growth upon the Orangeburg fine sandy loam. 

 Usually the applications of commercial fertilizer to the cotton crop 

 upon this type are entirely too small to be effective. The addition 

 of 200 to 250 pounds of the cheaper grades of fertilizer can scarcely 

 be expected to produce any marked results either in the growth of the 

 -current crop or in the permanent increase of the producing capacity 

 of the soil. 



LIMITATIONS UPON SPECIAL CROPS. 



The Orangeburg fine sandy loam is not so well adapted to the 

 production of special crops as of the general farm crops. There are 

 two chief exceptions to this rule. It is preeminently the best peach 

 soil of the Gulf Coastal Plain region, owing to the inherent charac- 

 teristics of the soil itself and to the elevated and well drained posi- 

 tion which it normally occupies. The surface soil is easily tilled 

 and kept in condition. The subsoil is sufficiently retentive of mois- 

 ture to give good tree growth, and the elevation and slopes are such 

 as to give good air and water drainage over considerable areas of 

 the type. In consequence it has come to be the chosen soil for peach 

 orcharding, not only in the long-established Georgia peach region, 

 but also in the Alabama and Texas regions, where this industry is 

 rapidly becoming established. The Elberta peach is the variety most 

 commonly planted in the commercial orchards, but numerous others 

 have been found successful under varying local conditions. The 

 more elevated portions of the Orangeburg fine sandy loam which 

 possess an undulating to gently rolling surface configuration and 

 good air and water drainage are especially suited to peach pro- 

 duction. 



8479 Cir. 4611 2 



