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18 FIE-JIP) ()PERATIONS ()IF THE; BUREAU OF SOILS, 1917.
to reddish brown and red with depth, the soil at the same time
becoming more compact and heavier. Some included patches represent
Amarillo fine sandy loam.
The Amarillo loamy fine sand occurs in very small, widely separated
areas. The largest bodies lie a short distance south of Lubbock
and about 6 miles northeast of Slaton. The type is developed
principally on the more undulating and higher land on the plain
and low hummocky ridges around the rims of the deeper lake basins.
Narrow strips occur on the valley slopes along Double Mountain
Fork north of Lubbock, the type here being in part made up of loose
sand washed from the adjacent higher slopes of Amarillo fine sandy
loam. In some of the areas the soil accumulation and the topography
seem to be due in part to wind action.
This soil absorbs the rainfall readily, and is retentive of moisture.
It has proved productive under cultivation. It is, however, more
subject to blowing than the heavier soils during the high winds
of the spring months, and is difficult to handle on-this account.
In its virgin condition there is a more abundant growth of bear
grass, catclaw, and mesquite on this soil than on the heavier types,
and in the area northeast of Slaton there is a growth of shin oak
Quercus lndulata, from 10 inches to 3 feet in height. There is also
a thicker growth of coarse bunch grass, a species of Andropogon,
than on the heavier soils.
AMARILLO FINE SANDY LOAM.
The Amarillo fine sandy loam typically consists of a dark reddishbrown
fine sandy loam about 8 inches deep, passing downward
through reddish-brown or dark-red sandy clay loam into the subsoil
proper, which begins at depths of 10 to 15 inches, and consists
of dull-reddish, coMpact, and moderately stiff fine sandy clay. At
20 to 30 inches the subsoil color changes to salmon or yellowish red,
and the material becomes more friable or granular and lighter in
texture, although it remains somewhat compact. At about 2 feet
whitish marly material frequently appears, and a substratum of
soft, whitish marl or impure lime rock is commonly encountered at
depths ranging from 24 to 4 feet. Where the underlying rock is
hard, there is commonly a sharp plane of separation between the
subsoil and the substratum. The surface soil appears to be fairly
well supplied with organic matter to a depth of 6 or 8 inches. It is
not highly calcareous, but beginning at about 2 feet the material
effervesces with acid, and it becomes increasingly careous with
depth. Around old prairie-dog and badger holes there is a small
amount of gravelly fragments of marl.
The type is fairly uniform throughout the county, but in some
places the marl substratum is not encountered above 6 feet. In