The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-09-27
MAKES VALUABLE SURVEY
OF VIRGINIA SOILS
Hnrco County Possesses Remarkable Variety OF Soils as
Shown by Report of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture.

| brown loamy fine sand to fine sandy
| loan, underinin at an average depth
Of about eight inches by reddish
yellow heavy fine sandy loan. Near
! ly all of 1t is easily cultivated and Is
! favorable to the maintenance OF j
good supply of moisture, 1t is not
subject to erosion. 1t is the mos
/ productive OF the coastal plain soils
! and gives good yields of small grains
! forage crops, clover and alfalfa The
type is used extensively for trucking
| and dairying. Lighter applications
OF fertilizers are used than on any OF
the other coastal plain types. An in.
tensive system of farming is generally
practiced.
Ruston Silt Loan.
| Typically the Ruston silt loan con
sists of grayish pale yeilowish silt
loan. underlain at about six or eight
inches by a reddish yellow to vel
/ lowish-red silly clay. II piowed to-
wet The soil subsequently becomes
compact and forms clods. In its nat
| urai condition the land assumes i
compact unfavorable structure unless
the organic supply Is maintained by
applications OF barnyard manure OF
by turning under vegetation, such as
cowpeas, vetch and clover. Practi
cally all of the type is cleared ana
under cultivation. Good yields OF
corn. small grains and grass are oh
tanned
The Elkton fine sandy loan is q
light gray. finss Sand AeaFn; or heavy
fine sandy loan. underlain at aboul
six to ten inches by notified gray and
yellow, slightly friable to rather plas-
tic fine sandy clay, II has its mar
development just north and west OF
Richmond east of that city, and IL
. the northern part of the county. A
large part OF the type is cleared
drained and grasses, comprising timo
thy red tor, orchard grass. fescue
and oat grass are grown Vegetables
sue has beans. cabbage. onions AM
beets are produced successfully. Po-
tatoes, turnips and cucumbers do only
fairly we'll
Description of Other Soils,
The Altayista silt loan Is a grayish
brown silt loan at the surface. thf
snbsurface soil consisting II pale
yellow silt loan, which extends to a
depth of about five to eight or ter
inches The better drained part o.
I the type gives good yields OF grain
wheat. corn, forage crops, and grass
| particularly where the land is ploweo
Z deeply In the fall. The poorly drain
ed phase constitutes fairly good whea
I land and good grass land.
The Durham sandy loan Is a graz
to pale yellow sandy loan, the ella,
content of which increases with the
depth. a yellow friabIe sandy clay
loan being encountered ordinarily
at about ten inches. II Is extensively
developed over the entire western
end of the county. Best results are
lad where crops such as vetch, COW
meas, crimson clover and soy bean:
which supply organic matter. are IN
cluded In the rotation with the gener
al farm crops. The plowtng under
of one OF these. or of some other croE
such as rye. at intervals of year oil
/ two are beneficial. 1t is the best veg
| etable. potato and bright tobacco sol
I of the Piedmont region.
The wickham silt loan is brown
silt loan having slightly reddish
cast to reddish-yeiiow silt loan. un'
derlain at an average depth of about
eight inches by a reddish-yellow silt,
clay loan which grades at about four
| teen inches into reddish-red or dul
red. rather stiff. silty clay, 1t is :
productive soil which with proper
! handling gives excellent yields O.
wheat, clover. grass corn and forage
| crops. Alfalfa can be easily GROVE
age Of the type is in alfalfa, which
averages about four cuttings per yeai
with yield of ahnut three nr foul
tons per acre. The quality of the ha.
| is excellent About one ton per ncrs
| Of lime Is applied before seeding t.
alfalfa The type IL well suited Il
blue grass tall oat grass. timothy
! fescue. orchard grass. foxtail. etc lie
luminous crops. such as clover. COW
| peas and soy beans, do well and arr
| grown to some extent. Corn averages
/ about thirty to forty bushels, oat'
about nifty to sixty bushels. and wheat
/ about twenty bushels per acre.