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44 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1907.
The average results of mechanical analyses of samples of the soil
and subsoil of the Sanders silt loam are shown in the following table:
Mechanical analyses of Sanders silt loam.
Number. Description. arse Mdium Fine VeryfineSilt Clay
gravel. sand. sand. sand. sand.
Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent.
16631,16633. Soil........... 0.1 0.5 0.5 6.8 6.0 60.6 24.9
16632,16634 --. Subsoil ... .0 .1 .3 18.3 5.4 50.4 24.8
WABASH CLAY.
The Wabash clay isa dark-drab to black stiff clay underlain at a
depth of 4 to 8 inches by an extremely stiff, compact, nearly black or
dark-brown clay mottled with drab. Occasionally, where the surface
is hummocky, the subsoil is drab or dark gray and may be exposed on
the surface of the hummocks. The soil becomes extremely sticky
when wet.
The Wabash clay occurs largely inthe bottom land of the Navasota
River and Steele Creek. The strip along the Navasota varies from a
few rods to over a mile in width, averaging nearly a mile. There is a
considerable area in the lower Brazos bottom at the mouth of Campbell
Creek and several smaller areas elsewhere in the bottom lands of
the Brazos. The surface is flat or broken only by the channels -of
tributaries and old stream beds or sloughs. There are several shallow
lakes in the Navasota bottom. The soil consists of fine dark-colored
material deposited from overflow waters. Derived largely from the
black lands along the upper courses of the Navasota and its tributaries,
the material of the Wabash clay offers an interesting contrast with the
red colored Miller clay of the Brazos River-a soil derived from the
Permian Red Bed region of its upper courses. The stiff, unyieldy
nature of this soil, as compared with the tractable Miller clay, is due
to a very much lower lime content. The organic matter content is
about the same as that of the Miller clay, being 2.31 per cent for the
soil and 2.29 per cent for the subsoil. With the exception of an
occasional glade or small "prairie," like that at Graysons Crossing,
the entire Navasota and Steele Creek bottoms are heavily timbered
with pin oak, post oak, elm, hackberry, and a scattering of holly and
hickory.
On account of frequent overflows none of the type, except narrow
strips along the outer edge and the areas in the Brazos bottom, is
cultivated. The soil is very productive, sometimes producing a bale
of cotton and from 30 to 75 bushels of corn per acre.
The Navasota bottom can be successfully cultivated only through
the construction of dikes and levees. This would be an immense
undertaking on account of the necessity of diking the creeks and