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SOIL SURVEY OF LUBBOCK COUNTY, TEXAS. 21 The native vegetation consists principally of a scattered growth of dwarf mesquite and catclaw, with a good growth of the native pasture grasses. Broom weed (Gutierezzia sarothrae) is apparently more abundant than on the typical Amarillo fine sandy loam. AMARILLO CLAY LOAM. The soil of the Amarillo clay loam is a dark reddish-brown to darkred sandy clay loam, or a brown to reddish-brown fine sandy loam or loam, passing quickly into reddish clay loam. Beginning at a depth of 8 to 12 inches the subsoil is a stiff, dark reddish or reddishbrown clay. Below 24 to 36 inches it is lighter red or salmon colored and more calcareous. The structure of the subsoil changes at about 3 feet, the material below this depth becoming drier and more friable and granular. A substratum of whitish, soft, impure lime rock or greenish-gray, calcareous clay is encountered at depths of 3 to 5 feet. The surface soil generally is not highly calcareous, but the subsoil at 20 to 30 inches contains sufficient lime to cause free effervescence with acid, and the lower subsoil, at 36 to 40 inches, generally is highly calcareous. When dry the immediate surface soil may have a brown color. Some of the soil included with this type has a covering of 4 to 6 inches of heavy fine sandy loam over clay, but the mixture of the two layers when found to a depth of 8 to 10 inches constitutes a fine sandy clay loam. The soil here generally has a more pronounced reddish color than typical. Such areas are encountered principally in the central part of the county. It is not everywhere possible to draw accurate lines of division between the Amarillo clay loam and Richfield clay loam, since there is little difference in topography in many places, and no material difference in the color of the top soil. Small spots of Richfield clay loam are included in the larger areas of the Amarillo type. The Amarillo clay loam is widely distributed. The largest and most uniform areas occur in the northern and western parts of the county. The surface is generally level. Where the type is associated with the Amarillo fine sandy loam it occurs in the flatter and less undulating situations. Where associated with the Richfield clay loam it generally occupies slightly higher elevations than that type. There is very little run-off, but the land is rarely too wet for successful cultivation. The Amarillo clay loam is one of the more extensive types in the county. Probably not more than 10 per cent of it is under cultivation. As in the case of other types, this is due to the thinly settled condition of the county rather than to the unsuitableness of the type for farming. The virgin soil supports a thick cover of grasses, grama
Veatch, J. O. (Jethro Otto) & Lewis, H. G. (Henry Guy).Soil survey of Lubbock County, Texas,
book,
1920;
Washington D.C..
(https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth19771/m1/25/:
accessed May 5, 2024),
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu;
crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.