20 ORCHARD FRUITS IN VIRGINIA AND OTHER STATES. 



CECIL SANDY LOAM. 



Cecil sandy loam is locally known in Virginia as "gray land." It 

 occurs usually in small areas in the same section as Cecil clay, on level 

 uplands and gentle slopes of the mountains. Its origin is the same 

 as Cecil clay. The soil is a gray to yellowish sandy loam, the sand 

 particles varying from fine to coarse. The average depth is about 

 6 inches. Fragments of angular quartz and of some other rocks are 

 found upon the surface in varying quantities. The subsoil varies 

 from a clay loam to a stiff, tenacious red clay. It is less fertile 

 than Cecil clay as a rule and not well adapted to the growing of fruit. 



PORTERS BLACK LOAM. 



Porters black loam is found in small areas on the mountain tops 

 and in depressions on their sides, usually at heads of mountain 

 streams. It is a brownish black or jet-black loam, having a depth 

 of several feet in some places, while in others it occurs merely as 

 pockets of loam in the midst of huge bowlders. It is also commonly- 

 found in the coves and hollows between the mountain ridges. The 

 average depth is about 15 inches. The subsoil varies from a yellow- 

 ish brown clay loam to a reddish color. The soil is residual, being 

 derived from the weathering of coarse-grained granite, gneiss, and 

 other eruptive and altered rocks. Rock fragments from which the 

 soil has been derived are found both in the soil and subsoil. This 

 is the type commonly called " pippin land," because of the high 

 degree of perfection to which the Yellow Newtown (" Albemarle 

 Pippin") apple develops on it. 



PORTERS CLAY. 



Porters clay is similar to Cecil clay, but contains a larger per- 

 centage of bowlders. It is associated with other mountain soils on 

 the slopes, generally at elevations exceeding 1,000 feet. The soil is 

 a clay loam, of a reddish brown to red color, averaging 6 inches in 

 depth. The subsoil is a stiff, tenacious red clay. Both soil and 

 subsoil have been derived from granite, gneiss, schist, and other 

 metamorphosed and eruptive rocks. 



PORTERS SAND. 



Porters sand is primarily a mountain type of soil, though con- 

 siderable areas of it are also within the Piedmont region in certain 

 sections. It is a residual soil consisting of a gray or yellowish sand, 

 averaging about 8 inches in depth. The subsoil is usually a coarse, 

 yellowish sand, which as a rule runs into disintegrated rock at a 

 depth of 3 feet or less. Rock fragments are generally present in 

 both soil and subsoil. On some of the lower slopes the fragments 

 are small, giving the soil a gravelly character. 



135 



