alamanceNC1901

SOIL SURVEY OF ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA.
By GEORGE N. COFFEY and W. EDWARD HEARN.
INTRODUCTION.
Alamance County is situated between north latitude 350 52' and 360
17' and west longitude 79116' and 790 34'. It lies in the north -central
Piedmont section of the State, about 50 miles northwest of Raleigh. It
contains 233,820 acres, or about 365 square miles. Since the base map
was constructed the southern boundary of the county has been changed
and about 30,000 acres, which, however, were not mapped, have been
added to its area. (See fig. 8, p. 273.)
HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT.
In the year 1700, Lawson, an English explorer, made a journey
through this region. He reports finding it heavily forested —the oaks
then, as now, predominating —with the exception of occasional savan-
nas covered with wild pea vines. The Saxapahaw Indians, a scat-
tered, unimportant tribe, were in possession of the territory, but seem
to have removed soon after, judging from the absence of accounts of
difficulties between them and the whites. The Saxapahaws practiced
very little, if any, agriculture.
It is not known just when the first white settlers came to Alamance,
but the settlements made here were among the earliest in middle
North Carolina. The country was probably taken possession of as
early as 1730, and by 1744 a steady stream of Scotch -Irish, Germans,
and Quakers was pouring in, chiefly from Pennsylvania. The Scotch -
Irish Presbyterians settled around Haw Fields Church, east of Haw
River; the Germans, along the Greater Alamance; and the Quakers,
north of Cane Creek. Wheat, corn oats, and tobacco were the prin-
cipal agricultural products, and these continue to be staple crops.
The history of the tobacco industry forms the most interesting
chapter in the agricultural development of the county. The first
tobacco raised was a dark, heavy shipping tobacco, which was cured,
closely packed in barrels, and hauled to market at Fayetteville, N. C.,
or Petersburg, Va. This tobacco was cultivated on the red clay lands
that extend across the central portion of the county. The large sandy
area in the northeastern corner of the county, which is now the chief
297

298 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1901.
tobacco section, was considered practically worthless until after the
civil war.
The production of a finer grade of tobacco was first begun in the
State in the adjoining county of Caswell. In 1852-53 Eli and Elisha
Slade grew, by chance as they supposed, a crop of yellow tobacco.
Its peculiarities were attributed to special methods of culture and
curing, but it was soon discovered that the character of the soil was
the controlling factor, and that the poorer sandy soils were best adapted
to growing this type. The cultivation of this tobacco spread rapidly
until the outbreak of the civil war, when its production was practically
suspended. At the close of the war and the general resumption of
agriculture, the cheap and abundant production of export tobacco
farther west directed the attention of the tobacco growers of Alamance
to the cultivation of a fancy leaf, and as this could be grown only on a
light sandy soil, there arose a large demand for the land that in the
early days of settlement had been considered almost worthless. Land
that in 1860 could scarcely be sold at from $1 to $3 an acre brought in
1880 from $20 to $100 an acre. As these lands increased in value and
the cultivation of this profitable tobacco crop extended, the influence on
local agricultural conditions was very marked, and was soon evidenced
in the construction of well-built houses and convenient barns. The
demand for and the resultant high price of this quality of tobacco caused
the extension of its cultivation to other sandy soils in this and other
States. The great increase in the production, combined with other con-
ditions, has more recently caused such a decrease in price as to bring
about the abandonment of large areas formerly used in growing yellow
tobacco, until at present there is probably not more than one-third as
much tobacco raised in the county as there was ten or fifteen years ago.
The war necessarily had a depressing effect upon the agricultural
development of the county. Until the emancipation of the negro, a
large proportion of the work was done by slave labor. The freeing of
these necessitated the abandonment of large areas of land, some por-
tions of which have not been reclaimed. Although greatly discouraged,
the planters went to work and in a few years agricultural conditions
were established on the present basis.
CLIMATE.
The Weather Bureau has no station in Alamance County, but the
table following, compiled from its records at two points, Greensboro
and Chapelhill, the former 15 miles west and the latter an equal dis-
tance southeast of the county boundaries, is believed to represent
fairly the conditions in the county. The figures of temperature and
rainfall at Chapelhill are normals for periods of forty-one and twenty-
one years, and those at Greensboro for fifteen and five years,
respectively.

SOIL SURVEY OF ALARANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. 299
Normal monthly and annual temperature and precipitation for Alamanee County.
Temperature.
Precipitation.
Month.
Greens-
boro.
Chapel-
hill.
Greens- I Chapel-
boro. hill.
°
OF.
Inches . Inches*
January......................................................
40.4
39.8
2.09 ' 4.41
February .....................................................
43.7
44.3
4.00 3.81
March .....................................................
50.6
49.0
3.80 4.16
April.........................................................
59.0
69.2
2.93 3.50
May..........................................................
68.4
67.8
4.69 4.44
June........................................................
75.8
75.9
5.31 3.43
July..........................................................
78.3
78.4
5.26 j 4.73
August........................................ ..............
76.6
76.5
4.18 4.54
September ....................................................
71.0
71.3
3.98 3.90
October.......................................................
61.0
59.6
3.55 3.34
November ....................................................
48.3
49.9
3.29 2. 79
December ....................................................
41.9
42.6
2.71 8.70
Year ----------------------------------------------------
59.6
59.5
45.79
I 46.75
An examination of this table shows that the distribution of rainfall
is fairly uniform throughout the year, the greatest amount of precipi-
tation occurring during the summer months, largely in the form of
frequent thundershowers. The annual relative humidity is about 70
per cent, the maximum being reached in July and August. The season
is rather short for cotton to mature fully. During the last eight years
the latest killing frost in spring at Chapelhill occurred April 21, and
the earliest in fall, October 1. At Greensboro the latest killing frost
of spring, during a period of five years, was April 21, and the earliest
in fall, October 28. The average date of latest and earliest killing
frosts, using the records of both stations, was: Spring, April 7; fall,
October 31.
PHYSIOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.
As before stated, Alamance County forms a part of the broad Pied-
mont Plateau. In past geologic time the surface of the country, by
means of the long -continued, slow processes of erosion, was reduced to
a comparatively level plain. The Cane Creek and Stony Creek moun-
tains, on account of the hard, resistant character of the rocks of which
they are composed, more successfully resisted these wearing -down
agencies, and were left as monadnocks, as elevations that tower a few
hundred feet above the general upland level are called. Later there
came an uplifting and a tilting of the surface to the east, and the
sluggish streams were urged to greater activity and began to erode
their channels and carve out valleys. This process has gone on until
the larger.streams are now from 50 to 150 feet below the general level
and have narrow valleys with steep slopes. Back from the larger
streams the country retains in some measure its former features. The
surface is rolling and hilly, sloping to the southeast. In the southern

300 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1901.
part of the area it is broken by slate and quartzite hills, which rise to
the elevation of low mountain chains. The average elevation of the
county is about 650 feet above sea level.
The area is well watered by the Haw River and its tributaries, Cane
Creek, Stinking Quarter, Greater Alamance, Back, and Stony creeks,
and numerous smaller streams. The Haw River enters at the north-
west corner and flows across the county in a southeasterly direction,
dividing it into two almost equal parts. There is considerable differ-
ence in the elevation of this stream in the upper and the lower portion
of the area, and numerous falls and rapids occur along its course.
The available energy of this stream and its tributaries within the
county has been estimated at 4,000 horsepower. Much of this has
already been developed, which has made Alamance one of the leading
manufacturing counties in the State.
The geology of Alamance County, like that of most of the Piedmont
Plateau, is complex. 'rho rocks are all of pre -Cambrian age, and are
either igneous or metamorphic. The metamorphic rocks occur princi-
pally south of an irregular line commencing about 3 miles, north of
Mebane and extending toward the southwest corner of the county.
These rocks are chiefly slates, schists, and quartzites. The slates are
everywhere folded, tilted, and broken. They form a part of a great
slate belt which extends across the entire State in a general northeast
and southwest direction. North of this irregular line lies the area of
basic igneous rocks, including gabbros, diorites, and similar formations,
while north of a line drawn from Burlington to the point where Back
Creek enters the eastern limit of the county is a large area, underlain
principally with granite, which occasionally outcrops, and which would
in some instances make fine building stone. This granite is cut by
numerous dikes of a dark -colored rock. The relation of the different
rocks to the several soils will be discussed in the particular descriptions
of the soils.
sorLs.
The soils of Alamance County fall naturally into six types, all of
which, excepting the Alamance silt loam, have been correlated with
soils found and named in other areas where soil surveys have been
carried on. The types and the areas which they occupy are given in
the following table:
Areas of diferent soils.
soil.
Acres.
Pei
cent
soil.
Per
Acres. cent.
Cecil clay . . . . . . . . . . . .. ........... 101, 370
43.4
Alamance silt loam .............
7,860 I 3.4
Durham sandy loam ............. 84,900
36.3
Meadow....,....................
4,960, 2.1
Iredell clay loam ................. 18,760
8.0
Total ......................
233,820
Herndon stony loam ............. i 15,970
6.8

SOIL SURVEY OF ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. 301
CECIL CLAY.
This is one of the most important types of soil found in the
county, whether we consider the area occupied or its agricultural
value. It is locally known as "red land." Its greatest development
is south of Burlington and Mebane, around Alamance and Swep-
sonville, and east of Saxapahaw. These are parts of one broad
area which extends across the entire south central portion of the
county. Areas of less extent are found north of Cane Creek and
northwest of Ossipee, while small patches are scattered over almost
the entire county. On the broad uplands the surface is gently rolling,
becoming more hilly as one approaches the streams, along which it is
often steep and rough. The surface is more broken in the south-
-eastern portion of the area. The Cecil clay is a residual soil, having
been derived from the decomposition of gabbros, schists, and other
metamorphosed and crystalline rocks. These have been acted upon
by the various disintegrating agencies until they have decayed to a
considerable depth below the surface. In railway cuts and wells it
was frequently noted that such decomposition had reached a depth
of 25 feet or more. Only the harder, more resisting portions of the
rocks have been able to withstand decay to this time, being left as
bowlders or " niggerheads" scattered through the soil and upon the
surface.
The soil is a brownish to red heavy clay loam about 6 inches in depth,
usually containing but a small percentage of stones, although in some
instances these amount to as much as 35 per cent. This stony condition
is most frequent upon the hills in the southeastern section of the
county. Many of the more stony fields have been picked over and
the stones piled or made into fences. The subsoil is a stiff, tenacious
red clay. Both soil and subsoil vary somewhat in character, being
looser and of a more spongy nature in some places than in others.
This lighter phase is locally known as "spongy red land."

302 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1901.
Below are given the analyses of samples of Cecil clay.
3feehanical analyses of 0cil clay.
[Fine earth.]
No.
Locality.
Description.
Y
q
° 3
ti
�+
p E�
o
S
d w^
v A
q
o
N
Rq�
q
0
q• q
al
y�
i.
O
;d
d
P.
_
P
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct. P. et.
P. ct.
5729
11miles S. of Ala-
Heavy clay loam,
0.01
4.46
1.88
3.52
& M
21.72
11.10 36.44
15.89
mance.
0 to 7 inches.
5727
2 miles N.of Sax-
Reddish -brown
.01
7.52
1.26
2.46
1.90
6.60
9.42 41.54
29.31
apahaw.
heavyclayloam,
0 to 7 inches.
5728
Subsoil of 5727....
Stiff, tenacious
' .01
9.04
.24
.86
.78
2.78
3.16 33.24
49.79
red clay, 7to30
inches.
5730
Subsoil of 5729....
Stiff red clay,7 to
.01
10.28
Tr.
.24.
.48
3 64
3.18 29.08
53.39
30 inches.
The principal crops grown on this soil type are wheat, corn, oats,
clover, grass, and, in the southern part of the area to some extent,
cotton. All these crops do well, but the soil is best adapted to wheat
and the grasses. The average yield of wheat is about 12 bushels,
but there are instances where as much as 40 bushels to the acre have
been raised. From 2 to 3 tons of hay have been cut from an acre.
The Cecil clay is recognized as the strongest soil found in the area.
It retains manure well, is easily improved, and by proper care and
cultivation can be made very productive. It is, however, a little diffi-
cult to till. Better results would follow were the depth of the soil
increased, giving more room for root growth and permitting the
rains to soak in more readily. This would not only increase the
capacity of the soil to withstand drought, but would also in a large
measure prevent the washing of the fields. These improvements are
accomplished in some degree by subsoiling every few years, a method
practiced by some of the best farmers and. believed by them to give
profitable results. The surface drainage is good and underdrainage
is usually unnecessary.
DURHAM SANDY LOAM.
The Durham sandy loam, locally known as " gray sandy land,"
occupies a large area extending from the vicinity of Elon College in
a northeasterly direction to the limits of the county. The area gradu-
ally widens as it approaches the county line, until it covers almost the

X
X
X
w
F-
a
J
a
CHARACTERISTIC VIEW OF FARM BUILDINGS ON CECIL CLAY.

SOIL SURVEY OF ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. 303
entire northeastern section of the county. Smaller areas are found
west of Saxapahaw and southwest of Rock Creek. The surface is
gently rolling to hilly, being more broken near the streams. Almost
the entire area of this type of soil is underlain by granitic rocks.
Around Union Ridge a coarse -grained biotite granite is found; north
of Burlington the granites become finer grained and more acid, and
west of Saxapahaw quartz and feldspar are often the only minerals
present. North of Sutphin there is a small area where the feldspar so
largely predominates that the decomposed rock gives rise to a clay
soil. Feldspar succumbs readily to atmospheric agencies and decom-
poses, forming clay, and consequently the rock crumbles to pieces, but
the quartz, being relatively insoluble, is left as sand. The rocks under-
lying the Durham sandy loam are usually decayed to a depth of several
feet, but in the northeastern section of the county they are sometimes
exposed at the surface.
The soil is a gray sandy loam with a mean depth of 12 inches,
containing on an average 10 per cent of rock fragments, although in
some instances from 30 to 40 percent of such material is found. The
type is not uniform over large areas, being generally more sandy on
the uplands than on the slopes —a condition due largely to washing,
which is very pronounced in some sections. Around Union Ridge the
sand is coarser and the underlying granite nearer the surface. The
granite is often cut by dikes of the rock from which the Iredell clay
loam is derived, and this gives a heavier character to the soil. The
dikes are of most frequent occurrence in the area north of Burlington
and west of Stony Creek, where there is sometimes a gradual change
from the Durham sandy loam to the Iredell clay loam. The subsoil is
a rather light, porous yellow clay, intermixed with some quartz sand.
North of Altamahaw it occasionally grades into a reddish clay.
The Durham sandy loam in Alamance County forms a part of what
is known as the "golden tobacco belt." It produces a leaf from which
the finest grade of cigarette and smoking tobacco is manufactured
and which is also used extensively as a plug wrapper. The heavier
leaf and the tips are rated high as plug -filler tobacco. Generally, the
lighter and more yellow the subsoil, the finer the quality of the tobacco.
The average yield is about 750 pounds per acre. From 300 to 600
pounds of fertilizer per acre is applied. This tobacco brings from 4 to
50 cents a pound, according to the quality of the leaf, but the average
price is between 8 and 10 cents a pound. Truck also does well on this
soil type, but there is little demand for it. Wheat, corn, and oats are
also grown, and in southern areas largely take the place of tobacco,
being thought more profitable. The soil, however, is not well
adapted to the growing of these crops, as the yield is only moderate.
The soil contains little organic matter. It leaches easily, and conse-
quently does not retain fertilizers long and is difficult to maintain in a

304 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF BOILS, 1901.
high state of fertility. The timber growth is principally scrub oak.
The surface drainage is in most instances good, and underdrainage
is seldom necessary.
The following table shows the texture of the Durham sandy loam:
Mechanical analyses of Durham sandy loam.
Wd U
0
G
lJ
C
...
E
G
m V
No.
Locality.
Description.
N F
db
A
ti
b
b
CV
6
-0
q
O A
N
C
.-W. o
a1
'S
T
m
O
0
U
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. d.
P. et.
P. cf.
P. et.
; P. ct.
5741
3 miles W. of
Gray sandyloam,
0.01
3.28
1 7.38
17.42
13.34
.30
11.74
16.94
6.03
Burlington.
0 to 12 inches.
5749
21 miles NE. of
Coarse sandy
_ _ _ _ ..
1.38
19.62
14.70
7.96
15.52
12.18
19.26
8.92
Union Ridge.
loam, 0 to 12
inches.
5750
Subsoil of 5749....
Yellow clay, 12 to
......
4.00
10. 22
8.20
4.46
9. 32
7.10
19.04
37.68
28 inches.
5742
Subsoil of 5741 ....
Yellow clay, 12 to
......
8.36
3.42
7.98
4. 50
7.70
3.42
14. 72
48.48
30 inches.
i
IREDRLL CLAY LOAM.
This type of soil is the third in importance in the area. It is known
as "black jack," "black gravel," and "pipe clay" land. It usually
occurs in small areas, which are scattered over the greater part of the
county. It is most often found upon the rolling uplands, and seldom
reaches down to the lower levels of the larger streams. It is a resid-
ual soil, formed from the gradual decomposition of diorite and highly
metamorphosed ultra -basic rocks. Certain more sandy phases of the
type occur. These are due to the decomposition of the occasional dikes
of aplite granite, which are intruded here and there over the areas.
The soil is a heavy, dark -gray sandy loam, grading into a yellow
loam. It varies in depth from 8 to 24 inches, with an average depth
of 15 inches, and contains from 10 to 70 per cent of iron concretions
and rock fragments. The iron concretions are usually from one -eighth
to one-half inch in diameter and are not found in the subsoil. They
make the soil porous and keep it from packing. In some in -
Stances, however, the iron has cemented the grains of sand together
and formed a hardpan. The subsoil is a stiff, very impervious, sticky
yellow clay. The impermeable and waxy nature of the subsoil is the
distinguishing feature of the Iredell clay loam. Upon exposure the
subsoil turns to a dirty, yellowish -brown color, and upon drying it
cracks open, shrinking as much as 10 percent. It grades into soft, rot-
ten rock at a depth of from 30 to 36 inches.

X
X
X
N
FIELD OF BRIGHT TOBACCO ON THE DURHAM SANDY LOAM.
The Durham sandy loam is the soil upon which the bright tobacco industry- was started, and the introductiou of this Industry increased the
value of these sandy lands several fold.

SOIL SURVEY OF ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. 305
The Iredell clay loans is esteemed a poor farming land. When first
cleared it produces fairly well, but it soon begins to "wear out." It
does not hold fertilizers well and is difficult to maintain in a state of
high fertility. The character of the subsoil makes it easily affected
by drought and wet weather. Ponds occur upon some of the more
level areas. Underdrainage is difficult and expensive, owing to the
underlying stratum of impervious yellow clay. The soil produces
best where the topography is such as to give good surface drainage.
The principal forest growth is composed of black -jack and post oak.
These are found wherever this soil occurs. Crops of wheat, corn, oats,
and cotton are grown. Wheat yields about 8 bushels, corn 10 to 15
bushels, and cotton one-third of a bale to the acre. The land is best
adapted to the growing of small grain.
The mechanical analyses of the Iredell clay loam are given in the
following table:
Mechanical analyses of Iredell clay loam.
[Fine earth.]
No.
Locality.
Description
p
w
q
Qn
O
N
U
U
P. ct.
Fq
v
✓
n
g
U
P. et.
P. et.
P. et.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. et.
P. ct.
5765
2milesN.ofGlen-
Heavy sandy
0.01
2.20
6.34
9.14
7.24
28.34
11.10
28.78
6.1i
Coe.
loam, 0 to 12
inches.
5761
2 miles S. of Gra-
Gray loam, 0 to
.01
1.84
4.60
6.12
4.12
17.20
12.34
45.40
8. &
ham.
10 inches.
5763
1 mile NE. of
Lark -gray loam,
.01
4.06
14.66
7.94
3.48
11.12
10.70
38.80
9.0;
Alamance.
0 to 9 inches.
5764
Subsoil of 5763....
Stiff, tenacious
......
7.40
1.98
1.94
1.50
8.42
8.04
29.76
40.2E
yellow clay, 9
to 24 inches.
5767
Subsoil of5765....
Stiff, tenacious
.01
8.06
1.50
1.76
2.02
13.16
4.68
19.34
47.6,
yellow clay, 16
to 30 inches.
5762
Subsoil of 5761 ....
Stiff, tenacious,
.01
7.80
1.28
1.50
1.60
8.06
7.84
16.20
at.41
waxy yellow
clay, 10 to 30
inches.
HERNDON STONY LOAM.
The name Herndon stony loam has been applied to a soil occurring
upon the rough hills in the southern and, to a less extent, in the north-
ern portion of the county. The hills, which usually rise a few hun-
dred feet above the level of the plain, are formed of quartzites, slates,
2889-02 20

306 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1901.
schists, and other highly metamorphosed rocks, and have quite rough
and broken surfaces. Their summits afford some fields suitable for
cultivation, but their slopes are too steep, rough, and rocky to be of
much value as farming land.
The soil is a grayish or brownish loam about 6 inches in depth, and
contains from to 20 to 80 per cent of rock fragments. The subsoil is
a reddish or yellowish clay, and also contains many stones. Small
patches of corn, wheat, and oats are grown on this type. Fine fruits,
especially peaches, can also be produced, and by reason of their eleva-
tion the orchards on these hills seldom suffer damage by frost. The
area is, however, still largely covered with timber, some of which will
make fine lumber.
The following table gives the analyses of the fine earth of samples
of Herndon stonv loam:
Mechanical analyses of Herndon stony loam.
[Fine earth.]
bq
o
o
o
No.
Lcxality.
Description.®p
mb
y
c
W
d
0
T,
v
N y '✓•
Ci
R
N
G
ce
.f
O
8
O
p
��mj
I
m
y
F
d q
d
m
-
C
m
O
^J
O
V � 1�+
'✓
m
I U
I - -
-
P. ct.
P. ct.
I P. ct.
P. et.
I
P. ct
P. et. P. cl. P. et,
P. et.
5759
Stony Creek
Stony ham, 0 to
0.01
4.46
112.86
4.46 1.64 8.46
14.40
1 39.46
13. 0:
Mountains.
6 inches.
5957
Bill Holt Moue-
Yellow loam, 0 to
.01
3.28
9.84
8.48 3.48 6.10
7.92
47.20
13. r,
tain.
6 inches.
5758
Subsoil of 5757 . - _ _
Yellow clay, 6 to
.. _ _ - _
3.94
8.76
4.42 1.76 4.38
6.86
47.40
22. 6t
2.1 inches.
1
5760
Subsoil of 5759....
Stiff reddish-
.01
8.14
.48
1.14 .96 11.22
6.04
26. 66
43.71
brown clay, 6
to 24 inches.
ALAMANCE SILT LOAM.
The Alamance silt loam occurs principally in two areas -one around
Cane Creek Mountain, and another west of Mount Willing. It is
sometimes called "white land." The surface is hilly and rolling, and
the soil, which is formed by the weathering of slates and quartzites,
is a yellow or light -gray silt loam about 6 inches deep. It contains
from 5 to 40 per cent of stones. There is no distinct division between
soil and subsoil, the former grading into a yellow clay which becomes
heavier with depth. All the products common to the area, except
tobacco, are grown upon the Alamanc:e silt loam. Around the moun-
tains it is still largely in forest, while west of Mount Willing it was

SOIL SURVEY OF ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. 307
once cultivated, but is now generally abandoned. It is not a very
strong soil, but can be improved and made to yield fair crops.
Analyses of samples of Alamance silt loam are given below:
Mechanical analyses of Alamance silt loam.
[Fine earth.]
d 2
O
O
q
O
G
F
q r;
o
°
.n
o
o
•-�
y
c
o
0
g
No.
Locality.
Description.
mp
o
d
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. et.
P. ct.
R ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
P. ct.
6721
One-half mile W.
Silt loam, 0 to 7
0.01
3.32
7.02
2.82
1.28
4.98
5.94
65.54
8.43
of Mount Will-
inches.
ing,
5719
One-half mile N.
Yellowish silt
......
2.70
2.52
1.70
.70
3.28
5.86
71.28
11.42
of Clover.
loam, 0 to 6
inches.
5722
Subsoil of 5721....
Yellow clay, 7 to
• 01
3.34
3.86
1.30
.52
1. 92
3.50
59.44
24.99
30 inches.
5720
Subsoil of 5719....
Yellow clay, 6 to
.01
6.70
1.10
.30
.24
1.52
1.68
40.22
47.39
24 inches.
MEADOW.
Under this title are included the low-lying lands along all the
streams. The meadow land occurs in narrow strips, from a few rods
to one-half mile in breadth, usually raised only a few feet above the
streams, and with its surface level or gently rolling. Many of the
best meadows are along the small streams. Those along the larger
streams are usually very narrow.
The soil is alluvial, varies much in texture, and depends in many
cases upon the character of the soil surrounding it. The soil, how-
ever, is generally a sandy or silty loam 2 feet or more in depth,
grading into a grayish -colored clay. The meadows are subject to
overflow, but, despite this fact, considerable areas are planted to corn.
When not destroyed by floods large crops are produced on such areas.
The meadow land is especially adapted to the growing of grass and
pasturage. The thick mat of grass roots binds the soil partioles
together and serves as a protection against washing in times of heavy
rains and periods of overflow.
AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS.
The farms of Alamance County vary in size from a few to more
than a thousand acres, the average being 125 acres; but since many

308 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1901.
farmers own more than one farm, the average number of acres to the
landowner considerably exceeds this average. There is little doubt
that smaller farms with a more intensive system of cultivation would
prove more profitable than the present system, but as long as land is
worth only from $3 to $40 an acre, according to location and improve-
ments, with an average price of from $8 to $10, the temptation to
own a great deal of it, and to spread his energies over many acres, is
too great for the average agriculturist to resist.
The principal crops grown in the area surveyed are wheat, corn,
tobacco, and oats, with cotton, clover, grass, and cowpeas of secondary
importance. On the Durham sandy loam, which occupies the north-
eastern part of the county, tobacco, although formerly more exten-
sively grown, is still the principal product and the money crop. A
greater diversity is now being practiced, and the farmers are pro-
ducing year by year more of the commodities needed for home use.
Wheat, corn, and oats are grown over the entire area, but are best
suited to, and more profitably raised on, the Cecil clay. The best
farmers practice crop rotation. A two-year rotation is used in the
tobacco belt, corn or wheat being alternated with the tobacco. Some
think a longer rotation better, and a three and five year rotation is
more generally practiced on the Cecil clay. In the three-year rotation
wheat is followed by clover and that by corn. The five-year scheme
provides for grass and pasture two years, then wheat, followed by
corn and oats. Some of the best farmers consider the latter the most
satisfactory rotation. Trucking is unimportant here, as there is little
demand for truck products in the home markets. Fruits are grown
and nearly every farmer has an orchard, but very little fruit is
marketed. A majority of the farms are owned and tilled by the
farmers themselves, who use improved machinery to some extent
and employ some day labor. Both white and black labor is employed,
at a cost of from $8 to $10 a month and board. In order to obtain
the most profitable results from negro labor, it is necessary to have an
experienced man to direct the work.
Much of the land is cultivated under the tenant system —practiced
to some extent throughout the county. The tenant usually pays a
certain percentage of the crop grown for the use of the land, and
the landowner may furnish the stock and subsistence to his tenant, in
which case a larger part of the crop is reserved by the owner. In
arrangements of this sort the rent is customarily about one-half. This
system does not tend toward the best husbandry of the land, but rather
to the cultivation of only the better parts of the farms, leaving the
poorer fields abandoned and unimproved. There are a few large and
fertile farms in the county which are managed or tenanted by skilled
farmers. These farms are being improved continually, besides return-
ing profits to the owners.

CONSTRUCTION OF SIDEHILL TERRACES TO PREVENT WASHING OF LAND.
The soils of the area, even with most gentle slopes, are liable to trash badly, necessitating terraees or sidehill ditches and eontour cultivation.

SOIL SURVEY OF ALAMANCE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. 309
A vast amount of commercial fertilizer is used in Alamance County.
In most cases a complete fertilizer is bought, but some of the best
farmers are experimenting and buying only those constituents which
they find the soil needs, and which they can not supply by plowing
under leguminous crops.
The farms in Alamance County are not generally incumbered.
Many of them have neatly built and painted frame buildings and good
barns and outhouses. As a rule, however, the barns are small and
inexpensive, and the farm implements comparatively few and of old
patterns. Fairly good grades of farm animals are kept, and here and
there considerable interest is taken in growing pedigreed stock. A
few small dairies were noticed.
While there are some fertile and well -improved farms in the area,
the greater part of the land is not now in a high state of cultivation,
though it is evident that conditions are improving. There are striking
examples of the results of better husbandry in the Cecil clay area.
Farms that a few years ago were poorly cultivated and comparatively
unproductive, with many washed and abandoned fields, are to -day in a
high state of cultivation, with all abandoned places reclaimed and
capable of producing the highest yields of the crops suited to that soil
type.
The North Carolina Railway, running through the center of the
county in an eastward and westward direction, has been an important
stimulus in the development of its industries and the promotion of its
prosperity. Alamance County contains 500 miles of public roads.
These are almost entirely of dirt, yet they are in fairly good condi-
tion the greater portion of the year. Modern road machinery has
been introduced, and some of the more important roads are being
graded, straightened, and macadamized. Much money is also being
expended in the construction of iron bridges across the larger streams.
Throughout Alamance County one finds abandoned fields. The
extent of such land is greatest in the northern and southeastern portions
of the county, and in all parts probably amounts to 15 per cent of the
area of cleared land. In the northern section the abandonment has
taken place in quite recent years, the land having been cleared since
the close of the war and cultivated in tobacco until the fall in price
made its production of uncertain profit, under existing cultural and
social conditions. The establishment of many cotton mills in the region,
with the consequent sharp demand for operatives, has also taken many
laborers from the fields, especially of the tenant class. In the south-
eastern part of the county the abandonment of the fields took place
soon after the war, and is directly traceable to the scarcity of labor
consequent upon the loss of life in the war, the liberation of the slaves,
and the attraction of farmers to those parts of the county better
suited to the production of bright tobacco. In some parts of the

310 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1901.
county this abandoned land is a strong soil and can be improved easily.
Social conditions, not lack of fertility, have frequently been the cause
of the cessation of cultivation.
Considerable lumbering has been done in the county, especially
along the railroads, but there yet remains some heavily timbered land
in the northwestern section and on Cane Creek Mountains. The forests
are almost entirely of hard woods, oaks predominating, with some
hickory and dogwood.
Alamance County possesses good agricultural resources, which are
at present largely undeveloped. Those of her farmers who are pro-
gressive, who use modern machinery, and who keep in touch with the
latest agricultural methods, have their farms in a high state of culti-
vation and make money. With equal investment and the exercise of
the same skill and energy many other farms in this area could be
brought to the same high plane of productiveness.

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