Soil survey of Hunt County, Texas Page: 25 of 60
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SOIL SURVEY OF HUNT COUNTY, TEXAS 23
type. Native pecans grow in the vicinity of Lone Oak, in places
where the ground water table is within reach of tree roots. Such
areas might prove to be good sites for pecan orchards if the fertility
were increased by the use of green manures.
MEDIUM-TEXTURED SOILS OF THE PRAIRIES
This group includes soils with dark-gray or grayish-brown friable
crusty acid medium-textured surface soils underlain by dense compact
noncalcareous heavy clay subsoils. These are Wilson clay loam;
Wilson clay loam, slope phase; Wilson silt loam; Wilson very fine
sandy loam; Wilson very fine sandy loam, mound phase; Crockett
very fine sandy loam; Crockett very fine sandy loam, rolling phase;
and Crockett clay loam, eroded phase. All except the last two are
smooth moderately productive soils. Owing, at least in part, to the
dense clay subsoils, crops, especially corn, frequently are damaged
by periods of dry weather. These soils contain a smaller supply
of organic matter and available plant nutrients than do the smooth
heavy-textured soils of the prairies. On drying they do not crack
and crumble nor do they have the hog-wallow relief in the virgin
prairie as do the heavier soils. They support a different flora of
smaller prairie grasses than do the heavy soils.
Under cultivation, the productivity of these soils has dropped to
a much greater extent than has that of the smooth heavy-textured
soils of the prairies, and the response to soil-improvement practices
probably will be greater than on those soils. Applications of commercial
fertilizers, green manuring, and crop rotations including
legumes probably would result in increased yields. These soils are
considerably less productive for corn than are the heavy-textured
soils of the prairies, but they are almost as productive for small
grains. In general, it appears that these soils are not well suited for
alfalfa or sweetclover, because they probably are too acid and would
not provide sufficient moisture in dry seasons.
This is the most extensive soil group of the county. The dominant
and more typical representatives of the group are Wilson clay loam
and Wilson very fine sandy loam.
Wilson clay loam.-Wilson clay loam is locally known as "mixed
land" or "gray land," but in other parts of Texas the same soil is
known as "rawhide land." The surface soil is dark-gray friable moderately
acid clay loam or silty clay loam, from 3 to 8 inches thick.
When wet, this material is decidedly dark, in places almost black,
but on drying it assumes an ash-gray shade on the surface. In cultivated
fields the plowed soil is slightly less dark than the underlying
material. The surface soil grades into dark-gray moderately compact
acid clay. This upper part of the subsoil is less compact and slightly
darker than the underlying material, and on drying it breaks naturally
into irregular moderately hard aggregates, about three-fourths
of an inch in diameter. This material grades at a depth of about 15
inches into gray slightly acid or neutral extremely tough blocky clay.
The lower part of the subsoil is almost massive in place. When broken
apart, the mass separates into large irregular extremely hard
and tough clods. At a depth of about 36 inches the subsoil gives way
to lighter gray very compact noncalcareous heavy clay, and this
grades at a depth of about 72 inches, into the parent material con-
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Templin, E. H. (Edward Henry) & Marshall, R. M. (Richard Moon). Soil survey of Hunt County, Texas, book, February 1939; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth19778/m1/25/?q=tex-land: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.