ANDERSON COUNTY. 313 



place. Thus, east of Palestine, on the road between that city and the oil 

 wells, it is in places not more than one foot in thickness. It is found here, 

 as at many other places in the county, as the yellow indurated variety, which 

 is used in places for building stone. 



South of Palestine the greensand marls are of similar character, although 

 the undecomposed material, with many shells, is found in the Elkhart section 

 below the upper indurated variety. 



North of Palestine the same greensands occur for a distance of three miles, 

 while on the west unaltered greensands with calcareous shells are found. 



The soils resulting from the decomposition of these greensand marls, where 

 they form the surface of the ground, are of red or brownish red or mulatto 

 color, and are the most productive of all the soils of the region except those 

 of the river bottoms. 



The value of the greensands as fertilizers for the more sandy soils of the 

 region .has been stated. Even the yellow or altered greensands contain some- 

 times as much as four per cent of potash and ten per cent of lime, both of 

 which are valuable ingredients for the sandy soils; the first supplying avail- 

 able plant food, while the lime acts upon the other mineral matters and pre- 

 pares them for the use of the plant. 



The special adaptability of the soil and climate of Anderson County for 

 the raising of fruits, melons, and vegetables has been most fully proven by 

 actual experiment. To this success the greensand soils have contributed 

 largely, and the great extent of this formation over the county, # which renders 

 it easy of access to almost every section, and its perfect applicability as a 

 fertilizer for the sandy fruit soils, renders the future of agriculture and fruit 

 raising in this county one of the most magnificent possibilities. All that is 

 required to develop this great field is the intelligent use of the materials 

 provided so lavishly by nature. 



BUILDING STONES. 



The building stones of this county are confined to the indurated altered 

 greensand marls and other sandstones. 



These were fully described under the title of Building Stone in the First 

 Annual Report of this Survey. "The greensand bed varies from thirty to 

 forty feet thick, but it is only in parts of it that the hardening process has 

 gone on to a sufficient extent to make it available for building purposes. 

 These indurated places vary from one to ten feet thick. It is of a chalky 

 or waxy consistency, dense and compact in structure, and easily shaped into 

 the desired form. On the ease with which it can be cut, and also a certain 

 toughness which it preserves in spite of its softness, depends its universal use 

 wherever it can be found. It is locally known as "yellow rock," "yellow 



