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62 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
rather dense and absorb water slowly. The relief is so smooth that
erosion can be readily controlled and that all types of agricultural
machinery can be used with ease. These soils are less infested with
cotton root rot than the heavier soils of the prairies. These moderately
productive soils can feasibly be built up to a considerably
higher level of productivity.
Fruits and vegetables grow only moderately well unless especial
attention is given to maintaining the soils of the farm orchard and
garden in good physical condition. Only small quantities of these
products are grown, mainly for consumption in the home. These soils
are capable of affording excellent grazing, but they are too valuable
as cropland for general use as pasture.
The soils of the alluvial bottom lands are highly productive where
adequately drained and are well suited to many kinds of crops. The
most important crops under the present type of farming are cotton,
corn, and certain feed crops, including alfalfa. The chief hindrance
to the more complete utilization of these soils is damage from overflows
and poor drainage. Although cotton root rot is present in
practically no areas of these soils, injury by insects is often severe.
Small grains are not generally grown. These soils are not especially
well suited to fruit and vegetable crops owing to slow
drainage, consequent lateness, and location in places where damage
from late freezes is most severe. Some of the better drained areas,
which are underlain by a permanent water table within reach of
tree roots, are well suited for pecan orchards.
The inherent fertility of the smooth light-colored soils of the
forested lands is low to moderate. The soil reaction is acid, the
organic-matter content is low, and the supply of some of the essential
plant nutrients is very low.
These soils are easily cultivated and are well suited to many special
crops, especially to vegetables, many truck crops, fruits, and berries,
and are moderately well suited to cotton, corn, sorghums, and
grasses. They respond well to fertilization and other methods of
improving soil fertility. They are largely in use for general field
crops, chiefly cotton and corn, but considerable areas are abandoned
fields, and there are many tracts of uncleared woodland. Owing to
their smooth relief, these soils are not subject to rapid erosion, and,
where necessary, control of erosion can be effected at low cost.
These soils furnish a considerable supply of foods from the home
gardens and orchards. Where marketing facilities are near, truck
and fruit crops and such special crops as berries, grapes, watermelons,
flowers, nursery stock, and others can be produced commercially and
are fairly profitable. Although these soils are not highly esteemed
for the production of general commercial crops, such as cotton and
small grains, they are of such character that a very satisfactory
type of subsistence and cash-crop farming can be established. Feed
crops, such as sorghums and grasses, produce moderately well, and
pastures of Bermuda grass and other grasses can be easily established.
Most of the associated areas of sloping soils can be used more
successfully for pasture or woodland than for cultivated crops.
Soils that are so sloping or eroded as to have little value for cultivated
crops include Leaf fine sandy loam, slope phase; Cahaba fine