322 



THE IRON ORE DISTRICT OF EAST TEXAS. 



bonate of lime. When the rivers rise in the wet season they overflow this 

 bottom land, leaving a sediment of rich calcareous clay, which adds greatly 

 to the fertility of the soil. The red clayey, the red sandy, and the ' mulatto ' 

 soils are extensively represented in East Texas, and form some of the richest 

 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 glau- 

 conite and other iron bearing minerals. 



''The ' mulatto' soils are of a brownish red color, and are generally the result 

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

 contain the fertilizing ingredients of that mineral they are very productive. 

 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 nas 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." 



The following analyses of gray sandy upland soils and subsoils from this 

 region give a fair idea of their composition. They are taken from analyses 

 published by Dr. Loughridge, in the Tenth Census Report, on "Cotton Pro- 

 duction in Texas:" 



ANALYSES OF GRAY SANDY UPLAND SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 





* 



Soil. 



Subsoil. 



• 



Insoluble 



Soluble silica 



Potash 



92.943 

 1.009 

 0.111 

 0.093 

 0.147 

 0.077 

 0.051 

 1.614 

 1.470 

 0.193 

 020 

 2.201 



79.954 

 1 251 

 0.069 



Soda 



0.060 



Lime 



Magnesia 



0.168 

 0.012 



Brown oxide manganese 



Peroxide of iron 



0.170 

 8.478 





6.078 



Phosphoric acid 



0.194 



Sulphuric acid 



Water and organic. 



0.006 

 4 109 



• 



99.929 



100.547 



