Mance: Quarry Industry of Southern Indiana 131 



fact, the operator of the only crushing plant in the district says 

 he has sold less than a carload of crushed stone in these two 

 counties since opening his plant over a year ago. No idea could 

 be farther from the truth. Limestone, while only slightly soluble 

 in pure water, is dissolved very rapidly in water containing onh' 

 a small percentage of certain acids, and even carbon dioxide in 

 solution. Thru the long ages that these soils have been exposed 

 to the leaching action of rainwater charged with the acids formed 

 b}^ the organic remains present in the soil, there has been a steady 

 loss of the calcium carbonate present, and an increase in the quantit}^ 

 of acids in the soil. The fact is that there are no soils in the 

 entire State which are any more acid than many of the hillsides 

 of the Southern Indiana driftless area. Probably the best in- 

 dication of the effect of crushed limestone upon these soils can 

 be seen in the condition of the fields which lie along roads that 

 have received a surface of crushed limestone. The dust from the 

 roads has been blown over the nearer parts of the fields, while but 

 little of it reached the remoter portions. The stand of grass or 

 crops is always better on the portion that has received even 

 this small amount of limestone. Another example of the effect 

 of limestone can be seen along the stream valleys that receive 

 their drainage from hillsides formed of limestone above the level 

 of the stream, as compared with the stream valleys farther east 

 where no limestone is close to the surface in the adjacent hill- 

 sides. 



Acid soils represent more than three-fourths of the entire area 

 of the State. Practically all soils west and south of a line passing 

 along the boundaries of the following counties are strongly acid: 

 the southern boundary of Newton and Jasper counties, the 

 western and southern boundaries of White and Carroll counties, 

 the southern boundary of Howard and Grant counties, the 

 western and southern boundaries of Delaware and Randolph 

 counties. In addition to this area, there is a smaller area in the 

 northwestern part of the State, including most of Porter, Laporte, 

 Starke, Pulaski, Marshall, St. Joseph, and Elkhart counties, that 

 is characterized by acid soils. 



In addition to these larger areas, there are many smaller 

 areas in the northern and eastern sections of the State that have 

 acid soils. The larger area includes what is known as the driftless 

 area of Southern Indiana. The entire southeastern section of 

 Illinois south of Danville also is acid and might provide a market 

 for crushed limestone from this section, if it were not for the fact 



