The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1882-03-09
DALLAS COUNTY.

NUMBER TWO.

NUMBER TWO,
on the cd ut. ! gave brief
statement Of the geology Of Dal-
las county. propose In this to speak
of the soils, timber, building material and
other economical resources of the county.
Soils-I do not propose togo into detailed
description of the soils; such an article
would be too elaborate for newspaper ar
ticle. only propose to speak of their geo
logical relation and productiveness. The
character and quality of all soils deperd
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, 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
vegetable matter contained therein. This
soil is very rich and is good for cotton
and for corn, wheat aud other gains. There
are, of course, occasional strips of land in
this part of the county where the limestone
is so near the surface that it will not stand
the drouth sufficiently to make good corn
or cotton; yet, where there is only few
inches of soil, good crop Of wheat can be
produced, in fact, the best crops of wheat
raised in the county have been raised on
the gray limestone lands, where there is
less vegetable matter in the soil than in the
blacxwaXy 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 Il large amount of rain about the
time the wheat is heading. The land that
has beer 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
so much wa er and having more or less
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 ofthe 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 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 precipi-
tous, but the continual washing down
by the rains for centuries, has brought
them to their present height only 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
Timber-There is {. 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 dare or Usage orange, ash, null
berry, black walnut, pecan and other less
important and useful varieties. The bols
d arc, 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 particle.
A wagon made of it may stand in the rain
and sunshine for years, and the tires on the
wheels never become loose. Fence-posts
made of it will last a lifetime. 1t is unat
fected by water, and post set IN the
ground does not decay particle in an age.
There is no plant as suitable Tor making
hedge as this, but being native growth of
the country, it requires good deal of work
to make he lges of It. A great many per-
sons in this and other counties have failed
to make a good hedge with this plant, but
am sure the failure resulted from want
of cultivation and attention, for have OBJ
served that wherever sufficient time and
cultivation have been given 10 planting, Gull
tivating and trimming the hedge, il has
always resulted in success. The hedge
ought to be cultivated on both sides for the
first three years and ought to be trimmed
every year as long as it is hedge. The
trimming is done either by machinery or
by hand II by hand, all that is needed is
knife similar to cane knife used IN cut
ting ribbon cane, and If done in July or
August, when the shoots are tender, can be
done very rapidly. one hand ought TO
trim five hundred feet of hedge in day.
The cedar on Dallas county is the common
red cedar, and has been used extensively
heretofore for fence rails, fence posts, tele-
graph poles, and piling for railroad Gull
yerts, and 10 such an extent has this tim
Der been ufed that ii will in few years, at
the present rate of consumption, all become
exhausted.
Building material--At several places in
the county there Is a good building stone,
but the most of the limestone OF
the county is too friable 10 make
GOOD building material unless pro-
tected from the weather. The courthouse
i'm the city OF Dallas is built OF stone froiY
a quarry few miles east OF White Roek
creek. This is a very durable limeStOne
belonging TO the cretaceOus 5ormatioH
There are two kinds of clay osedih manu-
featuring brick, one redish clhg, belong
ing 10 the drift along the Trinity rtyer, de-
posited there at the time OF the overflow,
or flood which made the present river chan
nels. This makes avery good and sub
stantial brick Of a red color. The other
kind Of material used is the sediment
deposited BY the recent overilOws Of the
Trinity river. This makes a very good
durable brick slight color.
lime-Any| OF the cretaceous llihestones
will burn into a good .quicklime suita-
bic for making cement, but owing 10 the
impurities il Is not very white, and is not
suitablefor finishing work.
II Is probable that at several places in the
county there is limestone that will make an
eroeltnt hydraulic cement. In the city Of
DaIlae a few years ago there was kiln Tor
burrfng this stone, and where c0nsidera-
bic amount Of a inequality Of hydraulic ce-
mert was Manufactured, but ior some
caute the enterprise was abandoned. When
Iiu,ksf0ne contains a considerable quantity
Of .iler. clay magnesia and iron, u often
m e q good hydraulic cement but little
i Known as 70 the exact proportions there
should be Of each ingredients, or what or.
der Of composition should exist among
them. u = iherei',re ~ pessio,s "a te;l