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SOIL SURVEY OF DICKENS COUNTY, TEXAS 499 MILES FINE SAND The surface soil of the Miles fine sand is a brownish-gray to grayish-brown, loose fine sand, 2 to 6 inches deep, slightly darkened in places by a scant accumulation of organic matter. The subsoil consists of pale yellowish red fire sand, ordinarily at least 36 inches deep and 6 or 8 feet deep in places. The fine sand is slightly hard when dry. Locally it has only a faint reddish cast even in the deep subsoil, although many included areas are yellow in the subsoil and therefore are not typical of the Miles series. The subsoil rests upon a heavy red clay at depths of 36 inches or more. In places the transition from fine sand into the red clay is through a layer of a few inches of light purplish red or salmon-colored loamy fine sand. As mapped in Dickens County, the type includes small areas where the clay comes within less than 3 feet but rarely within 2 feet of the surface. The larger of these have been mapped as the shallow phase of the Miles fine sand. When thoroughly dry the clay substratum becomes extremely hard. The material does not effervesce with hydrochloric acid in the soil section or the clay substratum. At depths of about 5 to 8 feet whitish lime material was seen in a few exposures. It may be that much of the soil has lime in the deep substratum, but exposures were too scattered to supply much evidence bearing on this question. The Miles fine sand has a total extent of about 21 square miles. It occurs in a narrow belt in the northeastern part of the county, several miles east of Afton, and in small areas in the extreme southwestern part. The type occupies rather high ridgelike swells and elevations, surrounded by large areas of the shallow phase of Miles fine sand. There are many small circular hillocks only a few feet in elevation and less than one-half acre in size, mostly less than 100 feet across. In general the surface is rolling, with a somewhat ridgy or dunelike appearance. The surface drainage is good; the soil is so loose that much of the rainfall is quickly absorbed. The clay underneath the soil acts as a good reservoir for water, and even in dry seasons the grasses on this type attain a considerable height. The Miles fine sand is used only for pasture. It supports a growth of the low-growing shin oak (Quercus undulata), the stand of which in many places is very thick. Bear grass, a species of yucca, is also a characteristic plant as also is sweet wormwood, or sagebrush (Artenisia filifolia). A heavy growth of rather coarse rank-growing grasses occurs over this type. One of the most important of these is broom sedge (Andropogon scoparius), and in places there is also a heavy growth of Indian grass (Sorghastrumn nutans), sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandius), and considerable of another coarse grass (Eragrostis trichodes). Small amounts of tall needle grass (Aristida wzrightii) and hairy grama (Bouteloua hirsuta) also appear, and there may be a few other species. These grasses start growth early in the spring; they afford good grazing when young and afford some grazing the year round. Practically all this land is in pasture, the most of it in a large area extending from a point west of Deer Lake School northward to within 3 miles of the north county line.
Map displays soil types along with creeks, springs, towns, schools, churches, ranches, experiment substations, roads, and railroads. Includes legend and symbols.
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Carter, William T. (William Thomas); Hendrickson, B. H. (Bertram Higbie) & Strike, W. W. (Wendell William).Soil survey of Dickens County, Texas,
book,
1926;
Washington D.C..
(https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth19797/m1/29/:
accessed March 19, 2024),
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu;
crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.