Soil Survey of Runnels County, Texas Page: 1
[2] 62 [2] p., 73 folded p. of plates : ill., maps (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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SOIL SURVEY OF RUNNELS COUNTY, TEXAS
BY C. C. WIEDENFELD, L. J. BARNHILL, AND CLIFFORD J. NOVOSAD
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE, IN COOPERATION WITH THE
TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONRUNNELS COUNTY is in west-central Texas (fig. 1).
It is nearly square in shape. The total area is 1,060
square miles, or 678,400 acres, of which 1,860 acres is water.
The population is about 15,000 of which 8,300 is urban. The
average annual rainfall is about 22 inches, and the average
annual temperature is 65 degrees. The elevation is 1,500 to
2,300 feet above sea level.Figure 1.-Location of Runnels County in Texas.
Runnels County is one of the leading counties of Texas
in the production of grailn sorghum, cotton, sheep, and
petroleum. About 373,600 acres is rangeland, 279,900 acres
is dry cropland, and 3,500 acres is irrigated.
Most of the county is nearly level to gently sloping. There
are a few very steep limestone hills in the northeastern
part. About 40 percent of the county has slopes of less
than a 1-foot fall in 100 feet. This nearly level land is the
best farmland in the county, and most of it is cultivated.
About 33 percent of the county has slopes of a 1- to 3-foot
fall in 100 feet. This too, is suitable for cultivation, but
erosion control is needed. The other 27 percent, or 185,000
acres, is too steep, too shallow, or too sandy to be suitable
for crops.
On about 71 percent of the acreage in this county,
the soils developed in plains outwash or very old allu-vium, on 17 percent they developed in limestone, on 7
percent in recent stream alluvium, and on 5 percent
in red marine clay, sandstone, or conglomerate, or in a
mixture of these materials.
On about 65 percent of the acreage, the soils are
more than 20 inches deep, on 19 percent they are be-
tween 10 and 20 inches deep, and on 16 percent they
are less than 10 inches deep.
On about 81 percent of the acreage, the surface lay-
er is loamy, on about 18 percent it is clay or silty clay,
and on 1 percent it is sandy.
On about 86 percent of the acreage, the soils are cal-
careous throughout.
How This Survey Was Made
Soil scientists made this survey to learn what kinds
of soils are in Runnels County, where they are lo-
cated, and how they can be used. They went into the
county knowing they likely would find many soils they
had already seen and perhaps some they had not. As they
traveled over the county, they observed steepness, length,
and shape of slopes; size and speed of streams; kinds
of native plants or crops; kinds of rock; and many facts
about the soils. They (lug many holes to expose soil pro-
files. A profile is the sequence of natural layers, or hori-
zons, in a soil; it extends from the surface down into
the parent material that has not been changed much by
leaching or by roots.
The soil scientists made comparisons among the pro-
files they studied, and(l they compared these profiles with
those in counties nearby and in places more distant.
Thllev classified and illamllled the soils according to nation-
wi(le, uniform procedures. To use this publication effi-
ciently, it is necessary to know the kinds of groupings
most used in a local soil classification.
Soils lhat have profiles almost alike make up a soil
series. Except for different texture in the surface layer,
the major horizons of all the soils of one series are sim-
ilar in thickness, arrangement, and other important
characteristics. Each soil series is named for a townl or
other geographic feature near the place where a soil of
that series was first observed and mapped. Miles and
Mereta, for example, are the names of two soil series.
All the soils in the nTuited( States having the same se-
ries name are essentially alike in those characteristics
that affect their behavior in the natural undisturbed
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Wiedenfeld, C. C.; Barnhill, L. J. & Novosad, Clifford J. Soil Survey of Runnels County, Texas, book, March 1970; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth224548/m1/5/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.