FARM-MANAGEMENT STUDY IN ANDERSON CO., S. C. 5 



rapidly with increasing depth to a red clay of a rather sandy nature. 

 In nearly every field are local clay areas, or "gall spots," produced 

 by erosion, the erosion being responsible also for some other modifica- 

 tions in the type. In occasional spots, gravel or "rotten stone" is 

 mixed with the top soil and in some places the sand is deeper than in 

 others, and here the soil is referred to as "sandy land." There are 

 also areas where a tinge of yellow is found in the lower soil and the 

 upper subsoil, such places being designated as "mulatto lands," 

 although they are phases of the Cecil sandy loam type. These varia- 

 tions are of minor importance, however, so that, taken altogether, 

 the soils for the area in which the farm-management survey was 

 made were quite uniform, and are therefore not responsible to any 

 considerable degree for the variation in the character and efficiency 

 of the farms. 



TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE. 



The topography grades from level to hilly. Most of the land is 

 terraced. The drainage problem is that of keeping the rains from 

 washing gullies on the hillsides and of removing the water from the 

 lowlands. Open ditches are frequently used to carry the surplus 

 water off the hillsides, although in a good system of terracing but little 

 water is allowed to run off. In periods of heavy rainfall the water 

 frequently breaks the terraces, making repairs an expensive item. 

 Where lowlands are drained, open ditches are used exclusively. 



TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES AND MARKETS. 



Except in continued rainy weather the roads are good, although in 

 some places the grades at all times make the hauling of heavy loads 

 difficult. Steam railroads and trolley lines, each running in three 

 different directions out of Bel ton, furnish adequate transportation 

 facilities for the region. 



The cotton mills in Anderson and adjoining counties afford a good 

 local market for lint cotton, and the cotton-oil mills buy all the cot- 

 ton seed offered for sale, but for other products the market is limited. 

 Cattle and hogs are either exchanged among farmers or are sold to 

 local butchers. It is almost impossible to sell a veal calf. It is dif- 

 ficult to sell poultry, eggs, and butter. Most farmers who have such 

 products for sale peddle them around town; a few deliver to private 

 customers. There is a limited retail market for vegetables at Honea- 

 path, Belton, Williamston, and Pelzer, largely hi the mill commimi- 

 ties. In general, the local merchants do not buy .country produce 

 for resale to wholesalers, as is the custom in many sections of the 

 country, though there seems to be a growing tendency to do this. 

 There is no wholesale market for hay and grain, but if a surplus is 

 produced some of it may be sold in towns or to neighboring farmers. 

 Owing to these general market conditions, there often exists a close 



