THE TIMBER BELT OR SABINE RIYER BEDS. 



37 



lands of the region. They are not sharply divided from each other, but 

 gradually blend together. They are underlaid by the clay and sandy strata 

 of the Timber Belt Beds, and owe their color to the decomposition of glauco- 

 nite and other iron-bearing minerals. 



The " mulatto " soils are of a brownish red color, and are generally the re- 

 sult of the decomposition of the large glauconite beds of the region, and as 

 they contain the fertilizing ingredients of that mineral, they are very produc- 

 tive. Next to the river bottom lands, they are the most productive soils of 

 East Texas, and are extensively developed in Anderson, Smith, Cherokee, 

 Rusk, Gregg, Harrison, and other counties. 



The upland soils, or gray sandy lands,* cap the high plateau country. They 

 are of a gray or buff color on the surface, but one-half to two feet below the 

 sand becomes much more mixed with clay, and is often stained red by iron. 

 The gray surface soil blends into and is doubtless derived from the red sub- 

 soil, but has lost its iron by the leaching action of carbonic acid solutions. 

 The clay has also been carried away on the surface by the action of rain 

 water. The early settlers avoided these high sandy lands, as they were con- 

 sidered barren and worthless. But with an increase of population came an 

 increase in the value of land, and a corresponding necessity to use all avail- 

 able soils. Then it was that these uplands were tried and found especially 

 well adapted to the cultivation of fruit. Such lands overlie the great iron 

 ore ridges of Cherokee, Anderson, Marion, and other counties, and doubtless 

 owe their agricultural value to the clay subsoil. 













ANALYSES OI 



1 SOILS, f 















05 c 

 "S3 a> 



■3 a 





S> o 



AS 



OS 



© 



<v a 



T3 O 



'Km 

 O 



03* 



a 



a 



< 



Is 



m" 1 



a 



M 



a 



03 



CO 



o 



m o 



6 



a 



3 

 o 



•I* 



Si in 



3 o3 



OQm 



%si 

 B'S. 



CM 



2 o 



W 



3 ^ 



o o 



O0QQ 



a 



1 



2 



3 



4 



5. ... 

 6 



6.10 

 10.39 

 0.65 

 7\04 

 2.91 

 4.74 



0.23 

 0.25 

 0.33 

 0.29 

 0.38 

 0.36 



72.09 

 59.14 

 71.15 

 87.61 

 86.02 

 81.70 



16.99 

 25.73 

 3.20 

 1.44 

 1.64 

 1.92 



2.78 

 3.14 

 1.77 

 0.67 

 0.69 

 1.74 



0.23 

 0.44 

 0.14 

 0.07 

 0.18 

 0.19 



0.28 

 0.16 

 11.20 

 0.97 

 4.14 

 4.89 



0.22 

 0.30 

 0.09 

 tr'ce 

 tr'ce 

 0.29 



1.54 

 0.31 

 1.20 

 0.57 

 1.44 

 0.34 



8^70 

 3.30 



0.10 

 0.11 

 0.09 

 0.14 

 0.11 

 0.08 



0.09 

 0.04 

 0.00 



0.013 



0.19 



0.13 



0.09 



0.11 



0.14 



0.15 

 0.09 

 0.10 

 0.11 

 0.02 

 0.28 



0.24 

 37 

 0.29 

 0.06 

 0.21 

 22 



t By P. S. Tilson, Chemist to the State Geological Survey at A. and M. College of Texas. 



Nos. 1 and 2 are "mulatto" soils from northwestern Cherokee County. 

 No. 3 is a Brazos River bottom black clay soil from Milam County. 

 No. 4 is a Brazos River bottom yellow clay soil, Brazos County. 



Nos. 5 and 6 are Brazos River bottom reddish-black clay soils from just above the mouth 

 of the Navasota River. 



*These soils must be distinguished from lowland gray sandy soils, which are often very 

 unproductive. 



