Field Operations Of The Bureau Of Soils 1908 General Review Of The Work

Author : Milton Whitney
Publisher : Rarebooksclub.com
ISBN 13 : 9781230066707
Total Pages : 426 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (667 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils written by Milton Whitney and published by Rarebooksclub.com. This book was released on 2013-09 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ...mixed with the soil. This grades into a stiff, tenacious clay subsoil of lighter color than the soil, which rapidly becomes stiffer and more tenacious as the depth increases. The subsoil is of a dark drab color and usually contains a much smaller percentage of gravel than the surface soil, but thin beds of gravel are sometimes encountered at a depth of 2 or 3 feet. However, loose, rounded cobbles are usually found embedded in the heavy clay throughout the entire 3-foot section. From 30 to 50 per cent of the surface is sometimes covered by rounded gravel, but as a rule the content is much lower, not more than 15 per cent. The gravel is not so noticeable on areas which have been recently cultivated, as it is turned under and mixed with the soil. The soil breaks up into the same loamy, friable condition as the Houston black clay, and the stones when not too numerous are considered by many to be more beneficial than harmful, as they tend to reduce evaporation, with the result that the Houston gravelly clay suffers less from drought than the other heavy clay lands occupying the same topographical position. The largest area of this type occurs in the southwestern part of the survey, where it covers a large proportion of the rolling prairies, but smaller areas are found on the ridges and higher elevations in almost every section of the black prairie belt. The principal topographic features of this type consist of low, rounded hills and ridges, but it also occupies areas of a less rolling character on the higher plateaus of the black prairie. The soil suffers very little from erosion and is naturally well drained. The Houston gravelly clay is derived from the remains of an old gravel deposit which was laid down over the calcareous clay marls...