SOILS— SOUTH CAROLINA 



1855 



delta, brings down more suspended mat- 

 ter than any other river in the United 

 States, delivering annually 387 tons for 

 each square mile of its drainage basin, or 

 a total of 100,740,000 tons. 



The rivers of the United States carry 

 to tidewater every year 270,000,000 tons of 

 dissolved matter and 513,000,000 tons of 

 suspended matter. This total of 783,000,- 

 000 tons represents more than 350,000,000 

 cubic yards of rock, or 610,000,000 cubic 

 yards of surface soil. If this erosive ac- 

 tion had been concentrated on the Isth- 

 mus of Panama at the time of American 

 occupation it would have excavated the 

 prism for an 85-foot level canal in about 

 73 days. 



Geo. Otis Smith, 

 Director United States Geological Survey. 



South Carolina 



South Carolina has 33,393 square miles 

 of area. The drainage system is towards 

 the southeast, into the Atlantic ocean. 

 There are a number of harbors along the 

 Atlantic coast, the principal of which is 

 Charleston. The Savannah river is nav- 

 igable for the most part along the border 

 of South Carolina, and furnishes cheap 

 transportation to the ocean. 



Geologically, South Carolina is divided 

 into ezoic, Silurian, tertiary, quartenary 

 and cretaceous formations. Along the 

 rivers there are cretaceous formations; 

 the level pine lands and coast lands be- 

 long mostly to the tertiary and quarter- 

 nary age, and the upper hill lands to the 

 ezoic and Silurian. 



Physically it is divided into the "red 

 sand hill region," the "Piedmont I'egion," 

 and the "Alpine region." The red sand 

 hill region borders on the coast, and con- 

 tains a number of fertile islands. This 

 region is adapted to certain kinds of hor- 

 ticulture, such as the growing of JSlgs, 

 grapes, peaches, plums, pecans, almonds 

 and, in particularly favored places along 



the coast, oranges and olives. Vegetable 

 growing is an important industry here, 

 and cabbages, peas, beans, asparagus, Irish 

 potatoes, sweet potatoes and other vege- 

 tables are grown with profit, and find a 

 ready market On account of the near ac- 

 cess to the coast and to the Savannah 

 river, which is navigable for most of the 

 distance along the ffoutheastern border of 

 the state, transportation is easy and in- 

 expensive. 



The Piedmont region is sometimes 

 called the pine belt. Strawberries, grapes, 

 peaches, plums and the earlier varieties 

 of apples may be grown successfully. This 

 region is also noted for the growing of 

 watermelons, cantaloupes, asparagus, po- 

 tatoes and sweet potatoes. Here sweet 

 potatoes reach a high state of perfection, 

 and from 400 to 600 bushels are often 

 grown on one acre of land. 



The Alpine region rises to a height of 

 3,000 feet above the sea, and Table moun- 

 tain, one of its peaks, rises to a height of 

 4,000 feet. It is on account of the eleva- 

 tion that it is possible to grow winter 

 apples in this region. For the varieties 

 that will succeed best, see Vaneties Bee- 

 ommended for Planting, page 192. 



The grapes grown in this region are of 

 superior quality, and the Delaware, Con- 

 cord and Niagara are practically free from 

 diseases that affect them in other sec- 

 tions. 



The fruit industry in the hill sections 

 has not reached a high state of develop- 

 ment, yet nature has given to this coun- 

 try advantages which make an extensive 

 and profitable horticulture possible. They 

 are farther from markets, and the trans- 

 portation is not so easy as in the lower 

 sections, but the fine quality of the fruit 

 will compensate for these disadvantages, 

 and it will doubtless become an important 

 fruit-growing section. 



Geanville Lowther 



