120 THE SAND HILL REGION. 



hood, where silicified shells and fragments of lime were found embedded 

 in the stone. 



Lying on this sandstone are extensive beds of loose white sand, inter- 

 mingled with strata of clay of various colors, the whole having an 

 estimated vertical thickness of one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet. 

 Large beds of kaolin clay, free from grit or other impurity, and of great 

 whiteness, are found intercalated among these sands. Several quarries 

 to the west of Aiken C. H. having been worked with much profit, the 

 material being used as porcelain clay, and also by paper manufacturers. 

 Some of the clays of Lexington county, beautifully mottled with various 

 colors, harden, on exposure, to such a degree that it is thought they 

 might be utilized for ornamental building purposes. 



The last member of this series of strata is the " ironstone," already 

 alluded to as covering the summit of Sugar Loaf mountain. Next in 

 order comes the porous, siliceous rock, resembling menilite, and the buhr- 

 stone series. 



SOILS. 



The characteristic of the soils of this region is the loose rounded sands 

 wdiich form their chief constituent. The organic matter which it con- 

 tains consists largely of charcoal, resulting from burning off the woods, 

 principally the pine straw (leaves of the pine). Occasionally there are 

 rounded hills of very fine sand of a dazzling whiteness, of such purity 

 that they seem just to have emerged from the waters, or to have been 

 blown together by the winds on the seashore. There are, however, many 

 elevated flats, which, under good culture and manuring, give excellent 

 crops, and in the vales, the soil is often very productive ; it is cultivated 

 with care, and continues to jDroduce so long as there is an atom left of 

 anything that can sustain a plant. 



The following analyses of the sand hill soils were made by Prof. C. JJ. 

 Shepard, Sr., in 18-46 : 



No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. 



Water of Absorption 5.500 8.00 . . 



Organic Matter 8.500 . . 6.50 



Silica 77.000 81.00 80.00 



Protoxide of Iron 4.005 * • I •-> aa 



Peroxide of Iron 3.50 j 



Alumina ' 5.00 5.50 5.60 



Lime trace 0.40 0.60 



Magnesia trace trace . . 



Phosphates trace . . trace' 



Water and Loss 1.60 4.30 



100.05 100.00 100.00 



