IS TEXAS STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



and form an impervious mass. It occurs along stream slopes and 

 is derived from the shales and silty clays of the Cretaceous rocks. 

 Some good farms are found on this type of soil, but average yields 

 are low. Cotton yields less than one-half bale per acre. The greater 

 part of it is uncultivated, being timbered with postoak and other 

 scrubby oaks. 



The Lufkin fine sandy loam is a gray fine sandy loam 6 to 30 inches 

 deep, underlain by a silty, compact,, mottled clay subsoil similar to 

 that of the Lufkin clay. This type occurs on the higher, more level 

 prairies and is extensively cultivated. It is not so productive as the 

 Houston loam which it borders in many places, but yields are good. 

 One-third to two-thirds of a bale of cotton per acre is secured and 

 corn yields well. 



The Wabash clay is the typical black alluvial land found along 

 streams in Houston black clay areas. It is a black clay or clay loam 

 12 inches deep, underlain by a dark drab clay more plastic than the 

 soil. The land is subject to overflow and scarcely any of it is culti- 

 vated at present. It is a strong soil and makes heavy yields where it 

 can be farmed. 



The Susquehana fine sandy loam is an unimportant type which 

 occurs in one very small area. It is a red sandy clay loam, underlain 

 by a red clay mottled with gray. Thin layers of sand and occasional 

 sand mounds cover the surface. It has very little agricultural value 

 in this area. 



RIVERS AND MOUNTAINS. 



East Texas is traversed by several rivers which, together with their 

 innumerable tributaries of creeks, constitute a magnificent system of 

 drainage. These rivers, mentioned elsewhere in this bulletin, flow in 

 a southeasterly direction and are navigable many miles from the Gulf 

 of Mexico, into which they empty. Before the Civil War they were 

 much used for transportation purposes, but since the completion of the 

 railroads through the country the rivers are onlv used for tugging logs 

 to the sawmills. A much denser population than the country now 

 affords will justify 'the expenditure of a sufficient amount of money to 

 so improve them as to make them navigable for all commercial pur- 

 poses. 



The mountainous range through this section commences near the 

 Trinity river in Anderson countv and extends northeasterly through 

 Cherokee and Rusk counties. They also crop out in Upshur, JVlorris 

 and the western part of Cass. They are noted prineipallv for the vast 

 amount of iron ore which they contain and the red soil, caused by ages 

 of corrosion of the iron in the rocks. So abundant is iron in this soil 

 that in burning brick made of it the iron will often melt and form a 

 great mass of iron and clay. The* soil collected in the valleys between 

 these hills is exceedingly fertile. On these hills and valleys the Elberta 

 peach and the tomato attain their perfection. This range of mountains 

 does not parallel the rivers but crosses them almost at ri^ht angles, 

 thus showing that at an early period "volcanoes poured out their molten 

 rocks over sea and lifted ground." 



