Soil Survey of Limestone County, Texas Page: 27
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Limestone County, Texas
peas. This adds nitrogen to the soil, helps control erosion,
and provides grazing in the early spring.
This soil is not suited to cropland. The limiting features
are severe erosion hazard, very high runoff, and slope.
This soil is moderately suited to openland and rangeland
wildlife habitat.
This Ferris soil is poorly suited to urban and recreational
uses. The most limiting features are very high shrinking
and swelling with changes in moisture, very slow
permeability, corrosivity to uncoated steel, low strength,
and slope. Good design and proper installation can reduce
the effects of these limitations. Trench sidewalls become
very unstable in this soil under certain conditions. Trenches
excavated to a depth of 5 feet or more should be shored or
the sidewall graded to an angle that ensures safe working
conditions.
This Ferris soil is in capability subclass Vle and in the
Eroded Blackland range site.
FhC2-Ferris-Heiden complex, 2 to 5 percent
slopes, eroded
These very deep, very gently sloping and gently sloping
soils are mainly on side slopes above drainageways on
uplands. The dominant slope is about 3 percent. Some
areas have rills and shallow gullies that can be crossed
with farm machinery. Other areas have gullies that are 1 to
3 feet deep, 10 to 100 feet wide, and about 50 to 500 feet
apart. Soil areas are irregular in shape and range from
about 20 to 30 acres.
This complex is 60 percent Ferris soils, 30 percent
Heiden soils, and about 10 percent other soils. Areas of
these soils are too intricately mixed or too small to be
mapped separately at the selected scale.
The typical sequence, depth, and composition of the
layers of the Ferris soil are-
Surface layer:
0 to 4 inches, dark grayish brown clay
Subsoil:
4 to 43 inches, light olive brown clay
Underlying material:
43 to 80 inches, light olive brown clay containing fragments
of weakly consolidated weathered shale
The typical sequence, depth, and composition of the
layers of the Heiden soil are-
Surface layer:
0 to 20 inches, very dark grayish brown clay
Subsoil:
20 to 35 inches, dark grayish brown clay
35 to 60 inches, light olive brown clayUnderlying material:
60 to 80 inches, olive clay containing fragments of
weathered shale
Important soil properties-
Permeability: very slow; however, water moves very rapidly
down cracks when the soil is dry
Available water capacity: high
Drainage: well drained
Runoff: high
Water erosion hazard: severe
Shrink-swell potential: very high
Water table: none within a depth of 6 feet
Bedrock: none within a depth of 6 feet
Included with these soils in mapping are small areas of
Houston Black and Leson soils. Houston Black soils are in
lower positions and have a thicker and darker surface layer.
Leson soils are noncalcareous in the upper part and are in
lower positions. Also included are small areas of Ferris and
Heiden soils on slopes greater than 5 percent. Included
soils make up less than 15 percent of this map unit.
The Ferris and Heiden soils are used mainly as cropland
or pasture.
These soils are poorly suited to cropland. The limiting
features are the severe erosion hazard and high runoff.
Close growing crops are best suited to these erosive soils.
Leaving crop residue on or near the surface helps control
erosion, aids in water infiltration, improves tilth, and
maintains organic matter. Terracing, contour farming,
grassed waterways, and conservation tillage help reduce
soil erosion.
The Ferris and Heiden soils are moderately suited to
pasture and hayland grasses. Limitations are the erosion
hazard and high runoff. A complete fertilizer and controlled
grazing are needed for improved yields of adapted grasses
such as coastal bermudagrass and kleingrass. Some
pastures are overseeded with legumes such as clovers and
singletary peas. This adds nitrogen to the soil and provides
grazing in the early spring.
These soils are well suited to rangeland. The climax
vegetation is medium and tall grasses, with an overstory of
scattered mesquite, oak, and hackberry trees along fence
rows and drainageways. Controlled grazing and brush
control are needed for maximum production.
These soils are moderately suited to openland and
rangeland wildlife habitat.
These soils are poorly suited to urban uses and
moderately suited to recreational uses. The limiting
features are shrinking and swelling with changes in
moisture, corrosivity to uncoated steel, clay texture, and
slope. These limitations are difficult and costly to
overcome, and require careful design and proper
installation procedures. Trench sidewalls become very27
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General Soil Map, Limestone County, Texas (Map)
Map displays soil types along with creeks, towns, schools, churches, power transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines, roads, and railroads. Includes legend and symbols. Scale 1:253,440
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Griffin, Edward L.; Sabo, Donald J.; Brezina, Dennis N. & Janak, Edward L. Soil Survey of Limestone County, Texas, book, 1997; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth130231/m1/33/?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.