THE SOILS. 



21 



PORTERS SANDY LOAM. 



Porters sandy loam is on the tops and sides of the mountains and 

 comprises about three-fourths of the mountain area. It varies from 

 a gray sand to a yellowish gray sandy loam, about 10 inches 

 in depth. The subsoil is much the same as the surface soil, but in 

 places grades into a reddish sand, becoming coarser in the lower 

 depths. Angular fragments of rock similar to that from which the 

 soil and subsoil have been derived are quite abundant. 



MURRILL SANDY LOAM. 



Murrill sandy loam is found on the uplands of Goose Creek Valley 

 (Bedford County, Va.) and on the lowest slopes of the Blue Ridge 

 Mountains. It is of heterogeneous origin. The subsoil is derived 

 from the weathering of limestones and shales, and the soil from sand 

 washed down from the slopes of the mountains upon the residual 

 material. The subsoil varies from a red clay loam to a soft, sticky 

 red clay, while the soil varies from a fine gray sandy loam to a coarse 

 yellow sandy loam, depending upon the kind of rocks from which 

 it is derived. Its average depth is from 8 to 15 inches. The soil 

 is more or less rocky. 



MURRILL CLAY LOAM. 



Murrill clay loam is the most important soil type in Goose Creek 

 Valley (Bedford County, Va.), but the areas are small except in one 

 or two locations. It varies from a light to a dark brown clay loam, 

 with an average depth of 10 inches. The subsoil is a brownish 

 yellow clay loam, increasing in clay content with the depth. Frag- 

 ments of shale and particles of chert are frequently found in it. The 

 origin is partly residual from shaly limestone and partly sedimentary 

 from the wash of the higher slopes along the borders. 



A number of other types which are of value for fruit-growing 

 purposes occur in these regions farther south than the soil survey 

 referred to extends, but most of them are similar to types already 

 described. Throughout the Piedmont region the prevailing type is 

 Cecil clay or some slight modification of it. Cecil sandy loam and 

 slight variations of it also frequently occur. In important sections 

 of northeast Georgia the soil posseses but a ^mall clay content, and 

 instead of Cecil clay the most important type is a very red, loose, 

 friable loam, containing more or less decaying rock fragments and 

 possessing more than a usual degree of fertility. This soil is deep 

 and the subsoil is similar to the surface soil. The areas of this type 

 are intersected in many places by a more sandy loam. It extends 

 into South Carolina, but the proportion of the more sandy types to 

 the heavier loam is probably greater than in Georgia. 



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