The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1882-03-07
DALLAS COUNTY.
Its Soils, Timber, Building Materiai---its
Lines, Limestones, Brick-Ciay, etc., etc


On the 22d ut, gave brief
statement of the geology of Dali
las county. propose in this to speak
of the soils, timber, building material and
other economical resources Of the county.
Soils 10 not propose go into detailed
description Of the soils; such An article
would be too elaborate for a newspaper ar
ticlc. only propose to speak of their geo
logical relation and productiyeness. The
character and quality of all soils depend
mainly upon the underlying geological for
nation. The soil of Dallas county may be
divided into three different kinds. The first
class, and beyond doubt the richest, en-
braces what is known as the "black waXy,
and belongs TO the crctaceous formation.
This class embraces al the county
except that part which lies be-
tween the West and Elm forks of
the Trinity river, n strip along the main
Trinity below the confluence of these two
streams and the country lying west of
Mountain creek. This soil owes its black
color to the large amount of humus or
soil is very rich, and is good tor cotton,
and for corn. wheat AID other riains. There
are, of course occasional strips of land III
this part of the county where the limestone
is so near the surface that 1t Will not stand
the drouth sufficiently to make good corn
or cotton; yet, where there is only few
inches of soil, a good crop OF wheat can be
produced, in fact, the best crops of wheat
raised in the county have been raised on
ln uh thnra iC
less vegetable matter in the soil than in the
blackwaxy land. The wheat on the black
land is very liable to have rust, owing to
the fact that soils composed SO
largely of vegetable matter re-
tain great deal of moisture.
and especially IS the wheat liable to rust if
there Is n large amount of rain about the
time the wheat is heading. The land that
has been in.cultivation the longest yields
the best crop.
The second class of land in the county is
principally black sandy soil and belongs
to the tertiary formation. and lies between
the Elm and West Forks of the Trinity
river and on the west side of Mountain
creek. These lands are not as fertile as the
black waxy land. but are much more easily
cultivated. They become very hard during
drouth, and having less vege-
table matter do not retain
30 fnuCu WA CT anu naNIlh IhuIc VT TESS
sand will dry out much quicker than the
black land belonging to the cretaceous
formation.
The third class of land in the county is a
strip lying along the west fork ofthc Trinity
and along the main Trinity below the
mouth of the Elm fork. This strip OF land
varies from mile to three miles in width
and belongs to a much later geological
period than either of the Others. 1t is COM
posed of drift, composed of sand pebbles
and reddish clay, and is very productive in
wet seasons. In some places this strip
of land is over.laid and mixed with
the washings from the surround
ing cretaceous hills, which were
left by the flood which made the present
river channels. These hills were, no doubt.
several hundred feet high and very prccipl-
tous, but the continual washing down
by the rains for centuries, has brought
them to their present height only u small
elevation above the river bottoms. This
class OF land produces all kinds of early
vegetables, and makes fine crops of both
sweet and Irish potatoes. Our best market
gardens are on this class of soil.
Timbor--There is a good supply of tim.
Der in the county for fire wood and
posts for fencing The timber is
confined principally to the bottoms,
along the river and other water courses in
the county, There is, however, some post
oak (quercus obtusilorba) in the uplands
between the elm and west forks of the
Trinity, and along the main river, The
timber along the streams is principally elm
blackberry, cottonwood, water.oak ,over'cup
cedar bois d'aro or Usage orange, ASH null
berry, black walnut, pecan and other less
important and useful varieties. The bois
dare, or Usage orange, grow to considerable
size in the bottoms, along the east fork OF
the Trinity river, and on the main river be-
low Dallas city.
This timber is the most durable Of all
wood in the county, and when once sea
soned does not thereafter shrink u particle
A wagon made OF 1t may stand in the rain
and sunshine for years, and the tires on the
wheels never become loose Fencc-postS
made of it will last u lifetime. II is unaf.
fected BY water and post set in the
ground does not decay particle in an age
There is no plant as suitable tor making q
hedge rs this, but being native growth o
the country, it requires q good deal of work
to make he igcs OF It. A great many per
sons in this and other counties have failed
TO make good hedge with this plant, bu
am sure the failure resulted from wan
ofcultivation and attention, for have oh
served that wherever sufficient time ant
cultivation have been given to planting, cul
tiyating and trimming the hedCc, II ha
always resulted IN success, Inc hcug
ought to be cultivated on both sides for TIN
first three years and ought to be trimme,
every year as long rs it Is hedge. Tn
trimming is done either by machinery o
by hand. " by hand all that is needed
akniie similar to a cane knife used in cut
ting ribbon cane, and il done in July o
August, when the shoots are tender, can b
done very rapidly. One hand ought I
trim five hundred feet of hedge in q day.
The cedar d Dallas county is the common
red cedar, IND has been used eytensivcl
heretofore for fence rails, fence posts, tel,
graph poles, and piling for railroad Gu
verts, and to such an extent has this tin
her been used that IL will in u few years, q
the present rate of consumption, all becom
exhausted.
Building material-At several places |
the county there is good building ston,
but the most of tho limestone {
the county is too friablc TO nal,
good building material unless pre-
tectcd from the weather. The court-hou.
in the city OF Dallas is built OF stone iroi
q quarry u few miles east of White Roc
creek. This IL very durable limestor
belonging to the cretaceous formation.
There are two kinds of clay used In man,
featuring brick, one redish clay, bclon