CLASSIFICATION BY THE BUREAU OF SOILS 79 



A soil class includes all soils having the same texture, such as 

 clays, peats, mucks, clay loams, etc., and are divided into soil types. 



A soil type is a soil which throughout the area of its occur- 

 rence has the same texture, color, structure, character of subsoil, 

 general topography, processes and sources of derivation. 



The soil surveys are of two kinds, reconnaissance and detailed. 

 The former furnishes only general information, while the latter 

 gives the soil types in considerable detail. 



I. THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU PROVINCE 



The Piedmont Plateau comprises the rolling to hilly region 

 lying between the eastern foot of the Appalachian Mountains and 

 the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The northern end of this province lies 

 in northeastern New Jersey, along the glacial boundary, in the 

 vicinity of the Hudson Kiver. It extends soutliwestward, and in 

 Virginia is a belt ranging from 20 to 50 miles in width. Widening 

 here it continues in a southwesterly direction to central Alabama 

 with an average width of approximately 115 miles. The province 

 has a length of 900 miles, and embraces an area of approximately 

 73,770 square miles. The following are the most important series 

 of this province : 



Alamance Series. The surface soils of this series are gray to 

 almost white and of silty texture. The subsoils are composed of 

 yellow, rather compact silty clay. Scattered over the surface are 

 fragments of the parent rocks which belong to the " Carolina 

 slates." It forms a belt in central North Carolina, and extends a 

 short distance into South Carolina. The topography varies from 

 nearly flat to rolling, or in some places steeply rolling. 



Cecil Series. The Cecil series include the most important and 

 widely distributed soils of the Piedmont Plateau. The heavier 

 members are known as the " red-clay lands." These soils are 

 residual, derived from gneisses and schists and characterized by 

 their red-clay subsoils and gray to red soils, ranging in texture from 

 sand to clay, the lighter colors prevailing in the sandy members. A 

 characteristic of the subsoil is the content of sharp quart/ sand and 

 the frequent occurrence of the remains of veins of quartx. Mica 

 flakes are also usually present in the subsoil. The topography is 

 slightly rolling to hilly. The soils are adapted to general farm 

 crops and in the South to cotton. Over seven and one-half million 

 acres have been mapped. 



