10 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



With the introduction of the cultivation of Cuban cigar filler 

 tobacco it was found that the Orangeburg fine sandy loam and its 

 associated type, the Orangeburg sandy loam, provided those soil con- 

 ditions essential for the production of a large crop of tobacco with 

 the necessary body and aroma to constitute a suitable cigar filler. 

 In consequence, this special crop has been introduced upon this soil 

 in southwestern Georgia, southern and central Alabama, and in 

 eastern Texas.' These two soils are preeminently the best adapted to 

 the production of this grade of tobacco of any to be found within 

 the Gulf region of the United States. Under suitable climatic con- 

 ditions the extension of the production of the Cuban cigar-filler 

 tobacco upon these two types is to be recommended. 



EXTENT OF OCCUPATION. 



The Orangeburg fine sandy loam has been extensively occupied for 

 agricultural purposes. Upon all of the more level to rolling areas, 

 particularly in the vicinity of the main routes of transportation, 

 this soil is considered one of the best upland cotton soils and as 

 such it is coming to be generally occupied for cotton and corn pro- 

 duction. In a large number of the soil survey areas where this type 

 has been encountered it is recorded as " chiefly cleared and esteemed 

 as one of the best cotton soils." There still remain thousands of 

 acres of the type, particularly in southern and central Alabama and 

 in northeastern Texas, which have not been utilized for agricultural 

 purposes and which may be occupied for the production of general 

 and special crops as transportation facilities in these regions are 

 improved. Wherever the surface topography is hilly or broken, and 

 in certain areas where transportation facilities are inadequate, a 

 considerable part of the type still remains in forest or is only par- 

 tially occupied for pioneer farming. 



CROP ADAPTATIONS. 



The most important crop produced upon the Orangeburg fine 

 sandy loam is upland cotton. Among the upland. Coastal Plain soils 

 the Orangeburg fine sandy loam, and its closely associated type, 

 the Orangeburg sandy loam, constitute by far the best cotton soils 

 of the timbered regions and are only equalled or excelled for the 

 production of upland cotton by the soils of the Houston series, which 

 are found in the black Cretaceous prairies of Alabama, Mississippi, 

 and Texas. The soil is sufficiently rolling to possess excellent natural 

 surface drainage without being so hilly as to offer any natural ob- 

 struction to the cultivation of large areas. The surface soil is mellow, 

 friable, and easily maintained in good tilth. It is open and absorbs 

 a large proportion of the rain which falls upon its surface. It is 



