038 



FARMERS REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



tainable, is not cultivated, and is still in several 

 places covered with the primitive lores;?. 



It' we examine my geognos.ie ma; - , we find 

 these high grounds which are covered with the 

 light silicious soil, colored red, and situated along 

 the western side of the three counties. I have 

 analyzed several samples of this soil: I have found 

 much similarity amoujrsi them all. When I dis- 

 covered a s id' sab soi 1 , which was most I v com- 

 posed of' a ferruginous clay or rather loam, 1 luand 

 the soil influenced by it and belter a lapted tor cul- 

 tivation aa I pro.liicinrrgood cro] s of cotton. From 

 ssveral analyses which I have made of this kind of 

 Boil, I fi id it generally composed of about uine- 

 ten:h< of si!ici.»..s sand and one-tenth of finely 

 powdered matter, which consists of 



Alumina, - 

 Silica, - 

 Carbonate, of lime, 

 Oxide of iron and manganese, 

 Vegetable matter, - 

 Loss, 



53.03 

 3X00 

 2.50 

 3.00 

 4.00 

 2.53 



130.00 



Such was the average result of the analyses of 

 those soils which have been for some time under 

 cultivation. Those which never have been culti- 

 vated, where the samples were taken below the 

 roots of the herbage which covered it, were often 

 destitute of vegetable matter; while others which 

 had been for upwards of twenty years tilled, were 

 found destitute of carbonate of Jime; this was the 

 case with a soil from the farm of Dr. b\ Stith, 

 situated about a mile north from I3iir Harpeth ri- 

 ver, in Williamson county, an 1 which produced on 

 nn average about six hundred pounds of cotton p.er 

 acre. In this soil I found also a greater quantity 

 of fine pulverulent, matter and no trace of man- 

 ganese, while its color was that generally called 

 mulatto color. 



The soil of the bottom lands situated near the 

 Harpeth river is remarkably fertile. I made analy- 

 ses of some of these soi!s; they are <renernlly of a 

 black color, very light and porous and produce nat- 

 urally ash, elm, boxelder, cherry, and scaly-bark 

 hickory. A field which has been for about twenty- 

 five years under constant cultivation and produced, 

 on tin average, ten barrels of corn per acre, ii 

 being not calculated for cotton, gave me lour-h'lihs 

 of fine silicious sand, and one-fifth of finely j;ow- 

 d3red matter which contained: 



Silica, 54.00 



Alumina, ..... 35.0'.) 



Carbonate of lime, a trace of' vegetable 



and animal matter, ... 9.03 

 Loss, 2.00 



100.CO 



times liiil in producing good crops of that product, 

 this is rather to be ascribed to the season than to 

 the soil. They alwayscover limestone, which con- 

 tains a notable portion of insoluble, matter which 

 forms ii stiff" kind of soil, and the generality of this 

 soil partakes much of the calcareous soil; never- 

 theless, I tbund. by the analyses to which I have 

 subjected them, some that are entirely destitute of 

 carbonate of lime. I analyzed one of them which 

 I had taken from a field between Columbia arid 

 Mount Pleasant, belonging, I believe, to the Rev. 

 Mr. Polk, which <rave me three-fit' hs of sandy sub- 

 stance containing some carbonate of lime, and 

 two-fifths of finely pulverized matter, composed of 



Carbonate of lime, 

 Silica, - 



Alumina, - 



Iron oxide, - - - - 



Animal and vegetable matter, 



Loss, - - - 



26.00 

 13.00 

 48.00 



2.50 

 10.53 



2.00 



100.00 



None of my other analyses produced as much 

 carbonate of lime. Though the beautiful level 

 country around Mount Pleasant general!}' partakes 

 of the limestone nature, I have, found nevertheless 

 some soils that are destitute of" it. 



The soils which cover the limestone in William- 

 son and Davidson coincide generally wi;h those of 

 Maury, and the average of several analyses gave 

 me seven-tenths of sandy and three-tenths of fine 

 matter, which consisted of 



Silica, .... 

 Alumina, - - - - 

 Carbonate of lime, - 

 Oxide of iron, - - - 

 Vegetable and animal matter, 

 Luss, - 



46 

 44 

 4 

 1 

 4 

 1 



100 



The soil of the bottom lands of Duck river, in 

 Maury county, is pretty much of the same nature, 

 while those deposited by the Cumberland river are 

 mors tenacious, containing more clay and carbo- 

 nate of lime. 



Ths s >i's which cover the lower situations, us in 

 the vicinity of Nashville, the greatest part of Wil- 

 liamson and Maury counties, and which are colored 

 ye. low on my (jeognostie map, are very fertile and 

 well calculated for "cotton; and though they some- 



In these analyses I have not taken notice of the 

 moisture the soils contain; I have, dried them until 

 the paper on which they lay began to scorch. 



The beneficial property of lime in these soils is 

 particularly perceptible, even in those where I did 

 not discover any lime, because though ihe lime is , 

 not perceptible in the soil, the water nevertheless 

 which pervades i», con'aius a notable quantity of 

 carbonate of lime, and they retain the moisture 

 longer than the silicious soils which cover our high 

 grounds, because they have generally a stiff loamy 

 subsoil. 



Our soils cannot be called calcareous. It. is 

 known that pure calcareous soil is not well calcu- 

 lated for roots and grain, and every one knows 

 that these products thrive remarkably in the three 

 counties under examination. Oir soi's, on the con- 

 trary, have all the beneficial properties of the ar- 

 gillaceous improved by marl. They are of a yel- 

 lowish, approaching to mulatto color, sometimes 

 contain n; more oxide of iron when they are rtd- 

 i dish; they are easily diluted in water, and some 

 form irood brick day; but the injurious qualities 

 which are olien found in soils that are entirely ar- 

 glllaceous, are not possessed by our soils. They 

 are excellent for maize, cotton and hemp. Some 

 are. well adapted for the culture of wheat, and sev- 

 eral other products may be raised in them which 

 would advantageously compensate for the cottoni 





