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SOIL SURVEY OF SAN SABA COUNTY, TEXAS. 63
for irrigation than in the case of the broader silt loam bottoms.
The uncleared areas support a large growth of pecan, cottonwood,
elm, and live oak. The pasturage both for cattle and hogs is good.
BASTROP FINE SANDY LOAM.
The typical Bastrop fine sandy loam consists of 3 or 4 inches of
light-brown loamy fine sand, underlain by reddish-brown fine sandy
loam, which gradually changes into rather compact, red to light
chocolate red clay at a depth of 12 to 20 inches. The subsoil is
rather stiff when moderately moist, but somewhat friable when
drier. It frequently has a brick-red color, and in places an orangered
color in the lower subsoil, rather than the chocolate-red characteristic
of the Miller soils, and apparently is less calcareous than
those soils, the samples tested showing little or no effervescence
with acid.
This type includes a few areas in which the soil is somewhat
coarser than typical and carries considerable chert and flint gravel.
These areas are indicated on the soil map by symbol. In some small
areas of the highest bottom land along the Colorado River, lying
slightly above the level of the highest recorded overflows, the soil
is the same as the Miller soils, except in elevation.
The Bastrop fine sandy loam is confined to the Colorado River
Valley, where it occupies narrow, discontinuous and eroded terraces,
lying for the most part 60 to 80 feet above the river. The land is
nearly level or has only a moderate and smooth slope. It is mainly
too high above the river for irrigation.
The total area is small, but the land is adapted to farming and is
fairly productive. Probably more than one-half the type is under
cultivation. Corn, cotton, and oats are the principal crops. The
deeper areas retain moisture well and are easily tilled. The crop
yields are about as sure as and probably but little lower than those
obtained on the lower bottom lands. The more extensive production
of such crops as cowpeas and peanuts should prove profitable on this
type.
Bastrop fine sandy loam, heavy phase.-The heavy phase of the
Bastrop fine sandy loam consists of chocolate-brown clay loam or
sandy clay loam, underlain at 6 to 10 inches by chocolate-red clay.
In most places the surface material to depths of about 1 to 4 inches
is a fine sandy loam, and in places the subsoil is a sandy clay.
This soil occurs on the slopes and eroded parts of the terraces along
the Colorado River in close association with the typical Bastrop
fine sandy loam. The total area is very small, and the phase is of
minor agricultural importance. The greater part of the land is
under cultivation and utilized for the staple crops-corn, oats, and