Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1936-09-15
Organic Matter Urg-
ent if Crops Are To
Do Their Best, u. S.
Survey Shows

olC CUT Aol nay, dlInOugn some or
ganic matter is furnished by the stub
BILE and roots, no more nitrogen is re-
turned than the amount taken from
the soil by the growing plants. An
other method of soil Improvement is
to pillow under the residue of legumes
left after using a harvester that har-
vests only the seed
An agriculture devoted to clean-cul-
tivated crOps-cotton, tobacco, and
corn favors erosion and leaves little
opportunity to incorporate organic
matter with the soils. Accordingly one
of the recommendations for the agri-
culture of Franklin county is to grow
more legumes for soil-improvement
purposes, seed, and hay. Turning I'M
der green legumes and residues from
the seed crop and careful consreva-
ton and application of the manure
from the hay crop are practices which
will reduce the nitrogen needed in
the commercial fertilizer. These pro-
cedures also will cause the soil to alb
sorb moisture more readily, thus re-
ducing surface run-off and erosion
and enabling succeeding crops to
withstand droughts more effectively.
The production of more feed crops on
the farms would keep at home large
sums of money which are now going
to outside markets.
These and other recommended prac-
tees are found in the new soil survey
report just published with a colored
map of Franklin county, North Car
DINA, by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture, in cooperation
with the North Carolina Department
of Agriculture and the North Carolina
Agricultural Experiment Station.
The colored map, with a scale of
inch to the mile, gives the location
and distribution of the Is soil types
in the county. These range in texture
from coarse sandy loans to silly clay
loans, and vary in color from gray
and yellow to brown and red. The
streams and intermittent drainways.
farmhouses, buildings of the towns,
churches, schools, railroads, highways,
secondary roads, and bridges are also
shown on the map.
Franklin county, in north-central
North Carolina, has the smoothest
lay-of-the-land of any county in the
piedmont section of the State. Except
for the strongly rolling land border
ing the stream courses or first-bot-
tom land. the lay-of-the-land, or re-
lief, is nearly level or gently rolling.
The main drainage basin is that of
Tar River which crosses the county
from northwest to southeast. This
stream, it's tributaries, and other Sec
Ondary streams so thoroughly drain
the land that every farm is touched
by drainageway.
Tobacco, although exceeded in acre
age by cotton, is the principal cash
crop. Tobacco cannot be grown sue
cessfully on as many different soil
types as can cotton. It is limited chief
ly to the central and southern parts
of the county. Here is found Durham
sandy loan, the best soil type in the
entire piedmont section for bright
leaf tobacco. Cotton, being less sch
sitive to soil conditions, is grown to
some extent on every well-drained
soil. Corn, with the greatest acreage
of any crop, is grown on every soil
type.
Among the features of the report
in the discussion of the agriculture of
the county are the recommendations
for the fertilization of cotton, tobac-
CO, corn and small grains, as given by
the Agronomy Department of the
North Carolina Agricultural Expert
ment Station. The highest yielding
varieties of cotton, tobacco and corn
are listed. Recommended crop rota-
lions, pasture seeding mixtures, and
lining practices are included. The re-
port also includes list of bulletins
issued by the State College at Ra-
leigh.
For convenience, the report divides
the Is soil types into 8 groups. The
grade sandy soils include the greater
part of the county and dominate the
agriculture. These soils produce prae-
tically all the tobacco and cotton
much of the corn, and most of the
garden vegetables. They are well drain
led, occupy positions favorable for
farming, and erosion is not serious if
they are well managed. Although the
soils are low in inherent fertility, they
respond favorably to fertilization and
produce the most profitable crops in
the county.
The red clay loan soils are locally
hIlOWu dS IOO Cay l1IlOS. xnGy are
| not so level as the gray sandy soils
| Heavier texture causes them to warm
up more slowly in the spring. Tillage
operations on them are more difficult
| and they need more care. Erosion
easily becomes a serious problem. Ma,
turally, these soils are much more fer
tile than the gray sandy soils, but
| not being well adapted to tillage, 6
smaller percentage of the land is I'M
| der cultivation. They are the best up
land soils in the piedmont section fol
corn, wheat, oats, and alfalfa. David
son clay loan, member of this
group, is considered the best soil ir
the State for alfalfa. On the Other
hand, little, if any, tobacco is grown
on these soils.
| The third group includes a few soils
Of small textn and a number of mis-
cellaneous types of soil material which
do not properly fit into the other two
groups. Much of the land is suited on
| ly for summer pasture or forestry
although part of it, is drained, would
return large yields of corn.
A special section of the report takes
up questions of soil development. Such
| c. oc fxzvo Of xyooofofi0,o nIiyo "a