14 APPLES AND PEACHES IN THE OZARK REGION. 



Some of the points named in Arkansas and Oklahoma having rela- 

 tively low altitudes represent distinctly valley conditions, and most 

 points where a low altitude is indicated are only short distances from 

 considerably higher elevations. For example, Danville, Ark., with 

 an altitude of only 361 feet, is within 2 or 3 miles of an area having an 

 elevation of nearly 1,200 feet. Hackett, Ark., which has an altitude 

 of 536 feet, is within about 10 miles of one of the highest sections in 

 the entire Ozark region. 



SOIL. 



As soil surveys of representative areas of the Ozark region between 

 the Missouri and Arkansas Rivers have been made by the Bureau of 

 Soils of the Department of Agriculture and the various types of soil 

 have been described and mapped, the reader who is interested in an 

 extended discussion of this subject should consult the publications in 

 which these descriptions appear. 1 



A considerable number of different types of soil are recognized in 

 these soil surveys, but only two, the "Clarksville stony loam" and the 

 "Clarksville silt loam," are of special importance in the present con- 

 nection. These two types include a large proportion of the area 

 between the rivers mentioned, and most of the orchards and other 

 fruit plantations in these sections are growing on these soils. 



The following brief accounts of these types of soil are composite 

 descriptions condensed from the reports of the Bureau of Soils 

 already cited: 



Clarksville stony loam. — The surface soil of the Clarksville stony loam consists of gray 

 silt or silt loam from 6 to 15 inches deep. This is underlaid by a heavier silt loam of 

 a lighter gray, yellowish gray, or reddish yellow color, which sometimes extends to a 

 depth of 3 feet, but more often at depths ranging from 12 to 30 inches it grades into a 

 silty clay loam or silty clay. This lower subsoil is usually characterized by a deeper 

 color of either red or yellow, the red being considered the more productive. In some 

 places the subsoil grades into a distinct red clay frequently highly charged with iron. 



The surface is generally loose, friable, and mellow, the stones in large measure pre- 

 venting it from packing as readily as the Clarksville silt loam does under some condi- 

 tions. The rock content, consisting largely of chert fragments, varies from 10 to 70 per 

 cent. Occasionally, in small spots, the surface is entirely covered with chert frag- 

 ments. This occurs especially on slopes where the fine particles of soil have been 

 washed away, leaving only the rock fragments visible. 



Clarksville stony loam has been derived largely from cherty limestones, tne most 

 resistant parts of which in the form of chert or flint still constitute a predominant 

 feature of this soil type. Occasionally sandstones and certain other rocks are found, 

 but they have existed in quantities relatively too small to produce any very marked 

 effect upon the physical characteristics of the soil, except possibly in very small areas. 

 This type of soil occupies a larger area than any other one in this region. 



Clarksville silt loam. — The surface of the Clarksville silt loam consists of a loam from 

 7 to 14 inches deep. Its color may be a light or dark gray, or pale yellow with varia- 



i Field Operations, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1902, Soil survey of Howell County, 

 Missouri, with map, pp. 593-609; same, 1904, Soil survey of Webster County, Missouri, with map, pp. 845- 

 858; same, 1905, Soil survey of Crawford County, Missouri, with map, pp. 865-878; same, 1906, Soil survey 

 of the Fayetteville area, Arkansas, with map, pp. 587-627. 

 275 





