CULTURE AND CURING IN KENTUCKY. 73 



THE WHITE BURLEY DISTRICT. 



This district occupies a territory embracing, in whole or in part, twenty-four counties in the northern part of 

 the state. If a straight line should be drawn from Louisville to Paris, in Bourbon county, and thence to Portsmouth, 

 on the Ohio, it would form nearly the southern boundary of the White Burley district of Kentucky, while the 

 other boundaries would be limited by the Ohio river. It embraces about 3,000 square miles, and is traversed by 

 the Kentucky and the Licking rivers, both of which are navigable for small steamboats for some months every year. 

 The tributaries of these rivers ramify into almost every square mile of the district. 



PHYSICAL FEATURES. 



No part of Kentucky has a more diversified surface than that embraced within the district under consideration. 

 Probably it would be within limits to say that in the White Burley district one-third of the territory is level or 

 slightly undulating, one-third broken, and the remainder knobby and often very rough. Passing through the 

 center from north to south is a lofty elevation, known as Dry ridge, along whose crest for many miles the Cincinnati 

 Southern railroad passes. From this backbone, easterly and westerly, numerous spurs shoot out. Between Dry 

 ridge and the southeastern limits of the district one deep, bifurcated trough occurs, forming the -water-sheds of the 

 south fork and the main stream of the Licking river. East of that river the surface becomes more elevated, until it 

 culminates in the rugged heights of the eastern coal-field of Kentucky. West of Dry ridge the basin of the Kentucky 

 river occurs, about midway between the ridge and the western limits of the district on the Ohio river. From Dry 

 ridge to the Kentucky river the general slope of the surface is toward the northwest, but west of that river the slope 

 is more decidedly north, though in Olduam and Trimble counties the longest slope is toward the west. The whole 

 White Burley district may be described as a table-land, gashed by numerous streams. The ease with which the 

 rocks are crumbled by natural forces, though giving an uneven surface to the country, assures a high degree of 

 productiveness wherever the constituent elements of the rocks possess the basis of fertility. 



GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS AND SOILS. 



With few exceptions, all of the rocky formations of this district belong to the Lower Silurian age, and, for the most 

 part, the rocky beds lie in a position so nearly horizontal that over broad districts no dip is perceptible. The soils 

 vary greatly in fertility, those derived from the marly calcareous limestones, characterized by the presence of 

 fossil shells and of arenaceous material, being generally the most fertile and friable. When the limestones contain 

 a large proportion of magnesia, the soils are arid ; when of argillaceous matter, wet and cold. Owing to the 

 uneveuuess of the surface of the country and the generally horizontal position of the strata every bed in a 

 vertical range of probably 800 feet is brought to the surface. In the eastern portions of Lewis and Fleming 

 counties the stiff soils of the Devonian shales appear ; below them the brownish-red soils, derived from the 

 inaguesian limestones of the Upper Silurian, which in turn are succeeded, in going west, by the rich, black, 

 fertile loams that rest upon the marly limestones of the Lower Silurian. In many counties of the district, notably 

 in Scott, Owen, Gallatin, Carroll, Grant, and Boone, the rocks that give character to a considerable area are 

 different varieties of a peculiar earthy siliceous "mtidstone", iuterstratitied in the blue limestone formations. The 

 aggregate of these varieties of " mudstone " or "rotten sandstone" are said to have a thickness of 100 feet. The 

 elevation of this bed above the Ohio river is from 200 to 300 feet, and the color of the layers is buffer a dirty yellow. 

 They contain a small percentage of lime and a large percentage of sulphuric acid and silica. From some of the 

 members of this bed a cold, wet beech land is derived. On well-drained slopes the soil from this " mudstone" is 

 much better, and supports a growth of hickory, oak, tulip-tree, sugar-tree, and some walnut and hackberry. Above 

 and below the " mudstoue" the soils are more productive, being derived from the blue limestones, which are rich in 

 mineral fertilizers. 



The following analysis of the best soil in the blue-grass region was made for the geological survey of Kentucky 

 by Dr. Robert Peter: 



Organic and volatile matters 7.771 



Alumina anil oxides of irou and manganese.... 12.901 



Carbonate of liine 2. 4G4 



Magnesia : 0.173 



Phosphoric acid 0.319 



Sulphuric acid 0. 170 



Potash 0.393 



Soda 0.130 



Sand and insoluble silicates . . 75. -JWi 



99. (>47 

 Moisture driven off at 300 . . , 



