THE SANDY AND SILICEOUS LANDS OF THE OLDER FORMATIONS. 77 
pastures. In some cases where the soil is looser these prairies are to a 
slight extent cultivated and produce excellent crops. 
Through the region of the red uplands run ridges of sandstone, the 
soils of which are best considered under the next head. 
The red loam lands pass through the Indian Nation also, where they 
present substantially the same features as in Arkansas. 
(2) In Texas the red loam prairies and timbers overlie the older forma 
tions almost entirely; the timbered hills on the eastern part are capped 
with what are supposed to be Triassic sandstones. (Loughridge.) The 
timber on these hills is mostly post oak and blackjack. The valleys 
are largely prairie, with mesquite timber growth, and with soils vary- 
ing from a red sandy loam on the uplands to a darker loam on the Hats, 
sometimes quite clayey. The western part of this region is prairie, with 
red loam soils, derived presumably from the red clays that appear in 
the bluffs and hillsides of this and the gypsum region. Their geological 
age is undetermined. (Loughridge.) 
7. THE RANDY AND SILICEOUS LANDS OF THE OLDER FORMATIONS. 
These comprise — 
a. The chert y lands derived from the impure siliceous limestones of 
the Subcarboniferous and Silurian formations; 
b. The sandy, sometimes loamy, soils resting upon the rocks of the 
Coal-measures, especially in the States east of the Mississippi River; 
aud 
c. The sandy prairie lands of the Indian Territory, which also rest 
upou the sandstones of the Coal-measures. 
a. Cherty hunts. — In East Tennessee, Northwest Georgia, and North- 
east Alabama the cherty limestones of the Lower Silurian and Sub- 
carboniferous formations, in their decay, give rise to soils which may be 
described as ligjit, rather sandy loams, of yellowish or buff colors, and 
which are usually filled with angular fragments of the chert. In this 
region the strata are, as a rule, thrown into folds, and the soils in 
question are found in narrow strips or ribbons, which have the prevail- 
ing direction of northeast and southwest. On account of the compar- 
atively indestructible nature of the materials (siliceous limestones) from 
which the soils are derived, they are also commonly found in ridges, 
the valleys between being occupied by the red and brown loams of the 
limestones mentioned in the preceding section. 
In fertility these ridge soils vary greatly. Notwithstanding the un- 
promising appearance of the soil, because of the rocks which fill it, it is 
often of considerable fertility, and usually supports a fine growth of 
white, black, red, black-jack, and post oaks, hickories, and short-leaf 
pines, the latter making their appearance where the soil is more sandy. 
The growth on the cherty ridges of both Silurian and Subcarbonit'erous 
formations seems to be substantially the same, except that iu some lo- 
calities the ridges of the former appear to be more sterile and have a 
