History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 6

Author: Reifel, August J
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1648

USA > Indiana > Franklin County > History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 6

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The following table shows the extent of each of these soils :

AREAS OF DIFFERENT SOILS.

Soil.

Square Miles. Per cent.

Miami silt loam

140

35.5

Miami black clay loam

2.5

Oak Forest silt loam

195

49.5

Limestone slope clay loam.

6.1

Huntington loam

5.I

Hamburg loam

1.3

Total

394 (5)

IO0.0

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.

MIAMI SILT LOAM.

This soil as it appears at the surface is a light brown or dark gray to almost white silt loam extending to a depth of six to eleven inches. It gen- erally has a loose, flour-like feel, and the content of organic matter is very small, but in some localities where it is associated with the Miami black clay loam the color is dark and the amount of organic matter high. Where there is considerable wash, the soil is frequently more sandy than when found in the gently undulating plains.

Below the plow soil, and continuing to a depth of two or three feet, a mottling of white and yellow frequently occurs, the white color often being a residual matter left when the limestone pebbles are, or have been, in the process of decomposition. At a depth of thirteen inches the subsoil takes on a light brown color. It is more clayey than the surface soil and becomes more so at a depth of sixteen inches, where it is a clay loam. Below this the clayey character plays out, and at eighteen inches a silt loam or a sandy clay is found, which continues to a depth of three feet.

Twenty-five years ago much of this land was considered to be fit for little more than grazing purposes. Corn crops of twenty bushels to the acre were as good as could be expected, but since tiling, crop rotation and green manuring have been put into practice, the corn yields have more than doubled. A very progressive farmer in White Water township says that some years ago his farm would not product over twenty-five bushels of corn to the acre, but since tiling his land to a depth of four feet in the Miami black clay loam and three and one-half feet in the Miami silt loam he can be reasonably certain of at least sixty bushels of corn to the acre. He keeps up a careful rotation of corn, wheat and clover, plows under crops of clover, and culti- vates his corn to a depth of two inches every few weeks until it is silked out. By a careful selection of seed he will be able to continue to increase his yields.

By using commercial fertilizer, farmers realize an average wheat pro- duction of fifteen bushels to the acre. Oats average about thirty bushels and clover or timothy one ton.

Many of the Miami black clay loam areas have, only in the last two decades. been reclaimed from the marshes. By careful tiling this soil has become the best for corn and most valuable of any in the county. A corn crop of sixty bushels to the acre is about an average for the better class of agriculturists, but wheat does not do as well as on the light-colored soils.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.

The soil occurs as a heavy loam or clay loam, with a depth varying between eleven and sixteen inches. The color to a depth of one and one-half feet is black, but below this grades rapidly into a heavy clay loam, which at two feet or a little deeper often grades into a sandy clay or loam. In other textural properties it bears a close resemblance to the Miami black clay loam soil treated in the general discussion.

The surface of the Miami black clay loam is practically level. Its oc- currence is found in all parts of the Miami silt loam area, but most especially in Bath, the eastern half of Springfield and the eastern quarter of White Water townships. The average selling price of the land is about one hundred dollars per acre.

A casual observer might pass from the Miami silt loam to the Oak Forest silt loam without noting the change, but upon more careful examina- tion the latter would be found to be a shade lighter in color, to contain less organic matter, less crystalline rocks, to have very few limestone pebbles or boulders, and to be underlain by a light colored subsoil, which has more segregations of yellow iron stains and iron concretions.

The average surface soil of the Oak Forest silt loam is a light ashy gray silt loam, with a depth varying between four and eight inches, but on slopes the pale yellow mottled silt loam subsoil occurs at the surface over large areas. By tasting the soil or subsoil almost invariably one detects a very tart taste, which indicates sourness. This soil and subsoil resemble very closely the Scottsburg silt loam of Scott county, Indiana.

No land in the group of seven counties of which Franklin is one has been so sadly neglected. Rarely is it tiled and very seldom is green manur- ing practiced. There is no systematic cropping. Corn is planted about the first of June, the land not being sufficiently dry earlier. Often the corn has not time to ripen before the autumn frosts. More care should be exercised in the selection of seed and cultivation. Judging by the results that a few progressive farmers have realized by using up-to-date methods in carrying on their farming, there remains no doubt but that this land can be made to yield fifty bushels of corn to the acre. Oats average about twenty-five bushels to the acre and wheat, by using commercial fertilizer, fifteen.

Many farmers say they cannot build their soil up by plowing under clover, because they cannot get a stand. Upon examining a number of clover fields the writer found that where manure had been stacked in little piles over the fields the clover grew heavy and the soil was not sour. The same held true wherever the manure had been heavily applied, but where thinly, or not at all, the acid had not been neutralized and the soil was sour. Tiling

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.

or an application of lime will also sweeten the soil. As a hay, timothy is grown more than clover.

Small fruit orchards are found on most of the farms and a few exten- sive fruit farms. One of these, which is owned by D. O. Secrest, is situated three miles east of Andersonville. Fifteen years ago ninety acres of this farm were set out to apple trees which were planted thirty feet apart. They yield twenty-five thousand bushels in a good year. Peach trees were set out between the apple trees over twenty-two acres of the ninety. These, in 1906, produced two thousand bushels. One acre set out to pear trees thirty feet apart yields six hundred bushels in an average year.

LIMESTONE SLOPE CLAY LOAM.

This is the only residual soil of the area. It occurs as a dark brown to black silt loam, averaging from eight to sixteen inches in thickness. It contains a high percentage of organic matter, and to this may be attributed the dark color. With increased depth the color becomes lighter, the subsoil at twenty inches having a light to medium brown color, while at two feet it is a light brown with a reddish cast. The subsoil from eighteen to thirty inches is more clayey than that at the surface, but below this may become rather sandy.

Although the above section is the most uncommon, yet where the lime- stone is very close to the surface we find a black clay, changing very little in texture until the bed-rock is reached. In this case the soil has had its derivation wholly from the decomposition and disintegration of the lime- stone.

Owing to the topographical position on the main valley slopes, lime- stone slope clay loam grades into the Miami silt loam or Oak Forest silt loam at the upper portion of the slopes, while at the base it borders the Huntington loam or Hamburg loam. The origin of an average section seems to be mostly from the weathering of the Cincinnati limestone, to some extent from the wash of the silt loam above it, and in a few cases from the decomposition and disintegration of the underlying Cincinnati shales or the Laurel limestone. The effect that slumping, freezing, thawing, chemical reaction between the calcium carbonate of the limestone and the organic acids of the soil and other processes of disintegration are having upon the Cincinnati limestone, can be partly determined by the fact that E. R. Quick, living one and a half miles south of Brookville, in 1883 gathered a large

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.

amount of limestone talus from a hillside where today there is fully as much as then.

This type seems to be especially rich in plant foods, and is known, locally, as the tobacco soil, one thousand pounds to an acre often being realized. No soil in the county is as well adapted to blue grass. Corn also does well and alfalfa gives as good yields as on the bottom land. Probably the first alfalfa grown in the county was sown by Herman Muller, living a few miles east of Cedar Grove, about twenty-four years ago. It yielded from four to five tons per acre. Where the limestone is close to the surface and the soil is so full of the fragments that it is considered untillable, and would be classed as a stony clay or stony clay loam, alfalfa has grown well.

Owing to the very steep slopes upon which the limestone slope clay loam occurs the soil wash is very great, and a decade will leave the fields almost bare and worthless unless great precaution is taken. More care should be given when plowing so that the water cannot run in furrows. Crops like tobacco and corn are dangerous to the preservation of the soil, because they leave the ground bare for a considerable interval. In the long run, blue grass and alfalfa would be more profitable, since they would hold the soil in place.

HUNTINGTON LOAM.

For texture and colors of the Huntington loam and its subsoils, the oc- currences in Franklin county are much like those described elsewhere, but the topographical occurrence differs somewhat from the other counties in that the upper terraces are so much higher above the flood plains than in the other six counties. The fourth terrace, which has its development on the east side of White Water valley, south of Brookville, is one hundred feet above the bed of the river. At the surface it is a rich farming loam of seven to seventeen inches, grading into a fine sandy loam and at two feet into a sandy loam. At two and one-half feet it is a fine sand. Underlying this is ten to twenty inches of a tough yellow clay containing gravel, and lower down occurs boulder clay of a bluish gray color. The third terrace is about seventy-five feet above the stream bed and is more sandy than the fourth, while the second is the most extensive and furnishes a splendid grade of farming land. The first terrace averages about twenty feet above low water mark and also takes its rank, in many places, as a most excellent farm land. Four miles south of Brookville a well was drilled in this terrace to a depth of one hundred and fifty feet before bed-rock was reached.

The best farmers of the Huntington loam raise an average corn crop

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA. 1

of sixty bushels, wheat fourteen, and alfalfa four and a half tons. This soil is well adapted to tobacco, but it is not considered equal to the limestone slope clay loam. Although the land is very porous, and manures will leach away rapidly, yet the application of stable manure, green manures and com- mercial fertilizer is reported to pay well for increasing the production.

The selling price of this type varies from fifty dollars to one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre.

HAMBURG LOAM.

Found in the bottoms of the narrow valleys of the smaller streams on the west side of White Water river and its west forks, is a mixture of lime- stone talus, which has washed down from the valley sides, with the wash from the Oak Forest silt loam. On the east side of Whitewater the lime- stone talus is mingled with the wash from the Miami silt loam. The texture varies from a loam to a stony loam.

Where there is a widening of the bottoms, so that agriculture can be carried on. crops equal to those produced on the Huntington loam are ob- tained, but these areas are very limited and comprise only small portions of farms.

ANCIENT EARTHWORKS.

Dr. Rufus Haymond, of Brookville, who was at one time assistant geologist in the scientific corps of the state, made a professional survey of the natural features of Franklin county about 1870, which has ever been considered as standard authority up to that date of research, and concerning the ancient earthworks of this county he remarks as follows :

There are few earthworks, except mounds, found in this county. Three miles north of Brookville, and immediately west of the East fork, upon the top of a hill nearly three hundred and fifty feet high, there is a semi-circular wall of earth three hundred yards in length. It is built across a narrow ridge which is formed by two deep ravines, one on the south, the other on the north, which, with the river on the east, isolate the flat top of the hill (containing fifteen or twenty acres), to protect the inhabitants from an enemy approaching from that direction.

There are quite a number of earthen mounds in the county, but none of large size. I have seen none more than four feet in height and many of

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.

them `are not more than three or four feet high. Those on the highlands bordering the river are uniformally upon the highest places, and always in view of the river and its valley. These mounds are so situated with refer- ence to each other, that a person standing on a mound in the most northern part of the county, overlooking the valley of the river, could see the next mound below him, and from the second the third was in view, and so on with all the others, thus forming a chain of observatories, from which the approach of an enemy could be telegraphed with great celerity from one to the other, either by smoke or some other intelligible signal. Though these mounds were used for burying mounds, I have no doubt they were also used as signal posts. Very probably these signals were made by fire, for the clay of which they are composed in some cases has been burned to near the color of brick.

The Mound Builders were a people possessing rare good taste, which is evidenced by the situation of their mounds. These were always built in picturesque positions-either on the highest grounds or in the valleys upon the edges of the highest river terraces overlooking the water and the lower portions of the valley.

Two miles below Brookville there are, within the distance of two fur- longs, upon the edge of the highest river terrace, nine small mounds. Be- sides these nine, which appear to have been completed, there is one barely commenced and abandoned. The commencement was made by digging up the earth to the depth of about twelve inches, which was then thrown out from the center and heaped up around the circumference forming a circle within, on which the superstructure was to be erected, and which has very much the appearance of a shallow basin. It was in these basins that the dead were burned, or rather partly burned, for they were not usually en- tirely consumed. Not many mounds in this neighborhood have been thor- oughly explored, and in such as have few contain anything more than bones and charcoal. In two of them bracelets of copper were found and in some others a pipe or two. One of these, found in a mound eight miles below Brookville, was said by those who found it to have still retained the scent of tobacco: if this be true, it conclusively proves that these people used tobacco as well as their successors, the modern Indian. There are upon many of the high points, mounds of stone which have been erected by a different people from the Mound Builders. These contain vast quantities of human bones, both of adults and children, as well as the bones of squirrels, skunks and other small animals. These were not probably the burial places of the dead,

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.

but a collection of their bones, brought together from many places for final sepulture.

Since the organization of a local society, much attention has been given to this interesting subject by Dr. George W. Homsher, of Fairfield, who is the curator of this department. A survey of the entire county, with a care- ful study of all details and materials, is included in the plan of operation. This labor has so far been extended over the township of Springfield, Brookville, Bath and Fairfield only, but with results highly satisfactory to the observers.

On this small area no less than forty-two distinct works have been noted, and in many cases explored. Many interesting, and some rare, speci- mens of the relics and the handiwork of the ancient builders have been re- claimed.

BLUE LIMESTONE REGION.

The blue limestone is the lowest rock that has been exposed at the bot- tom of our streams in Franklin county. It underlies the whole region, and is the only rock found in the southeastern third of the county. This lime- stone, with its accompanying marls, is about four hundred feet thick at Brookville, about a mile north of which place it disappears under a drab limestone, from six to twenty inches thick.

The surface of the county was originally almost a level plain, which is now varied and cut up by ravines, valleys and streams that have worn them- selves during the long ages of the past. Beyond the heads of the streams, where the table-land has not been changed by running water, the highest land is so flat as to almost deserve the name of marsh or swamp. Yet these lands are not too wet to produce good forest timber. Thus it will be appar- ent that there is no such thing as hills or mountains, yet to a person in the valleys, or ravines, the rapid slopes give every appearance, it being a hilly country, originally.

The blue limestone in Franklin county, as I have observed it, is found in strata varying from less than an inch to twelve or fourteen in thickness. These layers seem to the eye to be nearly horizontal, and can occasionally be traced for half a mile, where the outcrop is found bordering the streams and run parallel to the dip.

It is a curious fact that, notwithstanding the immense number of rocks, from the lowest point we can observe to near the tops of the highest levels, comparatively few loose stones are found at the surface. The hills and slopes of the valleys are covered with clay and other diluvial matter, in all

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.

respects identical with that found upon the uplands, and, strange enough, though so near the lime rock, the soil of the hillsides, as is the case in all the uplands and flats, seems to be devoid of lime-a fact scarcely credible when we consider the immense amount of this mineral immediately below the sur- face. If lime ever existed in any considerable quantity in these uplands (which is doubtful) it has been leached out during the lapse of ages by the constant percolation of water charged with destructive chemical agents, ever since their deposition. The probability is that those lands, which are so defi- cient in lime, would be benefited by the application of the marls found every- where between the rocks, and that those which have been exhausted by cul- tivation might, by a proper application of lime and manures, be restored to their original fertility.

THE DRIFT DEPOSIT.

The superficial material resting upon the rocks above described consists mostly of yellow clay, mixed more or less with small pieces of broken lime- stone, gravel from the primitive rocks, and, in a few localities, almost pure gravel is found; in others, sand, and frequently sand and gravel mixed. In no instance on the uplands or tops of the hills do the rocks penetrate through these materials, and we find them only where the drift has been worn away by the action of the streams. The drift varies from four or five feet to forty or fifty feet in thickness upon the upland. The slopes of the valleys and side-hills seem to be covered with drift similar to that upon the high grounds, but not of equal thickness. In digging wells on the uplands, the roots and bodies of trees are frequently found at various depths from ten to thirty feet. Occasionally, limbs and leaves are found, with vegetable mold at various depths.

BOWLDERS.

Bowlders of granite, hornblend, greenstone, and almost every species of metamorphic rock, are found all over the county, upon the highest as well as the lowest land. They are always found upon the surface and never be- neath, except when under slides or terraces of washed-down gravel and sand. I have seen a few granite bowlders that would square five feet ; they are, however, generally much smaller, and are usually worn round by at- trition.

TERRACES.

Upon the hillsides, parallel to the course of the main river, and upon all of its branches, there are benches of ancient terraces-upon the river-

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.

slopes usually but two or three, but upon the smaller streams there are more. I have counted as many as ten upon a side-hill bordering Blue creek. Upon these ancient benches or beaches we find no gravel or sand, nothing but soil, clays and rocks in situ. On the main river, throughout its course in the county, there are from two to four terraces composed of gravel, sand. broken limestone and small bowlders. The first terraces or lower bottoms are usually not more than ten to twelve feet above the water; the highest ranging from seventy to eighty feet. Where the terraces occupy the points just above the river and its tributary, we find the lower ends composed of fine sand. drifted in strata, first to the east, then to the west, as though they had been washed up by the waves and heaped upon each other. as the wind changed from east to west.

MINERAL SPRINGS.

No mineral springs of medical character are known to exist in this county, with the exception of a few which contain a small amount of iron, with possibly a small percentage of saline sulphur. Springs of any kind are much fewer than we would suspect from the configuration of the coun- try. I think the limited number may be accounted for by the fact that all the rock strata, as well as the marl beds, are divided by vertical seams, which allow the water to pass through them. It is true there are in this county quite a number of springs, but they are not by any means so numerous as I have observed them in other hilly countries. The water of all our springs contains a quantity of lime, and is, therefore. familiarly called "hard water."

The blue clay marl beds are too numerous to be mentioned, for every- one observes this material. In one locality, in Laurel township, there is a bed of whitish or cream-colored marl, about eighteen inches thick, lying im- mediately above the "cliff." or Devonian rocks. Also in Fairfield township, one and one-fourth miles from the mouth of Wolf creek, there is a bed of white marl, varying in thickness from six to thirty-six inches.

PRECIOUS METALS.

In both Laurel and Posey townships there have been discovered along the banks of Seine creek and its branches, traces of gold in very small par- ticles. In a wash-pan of dirt about two or three particles of pure gold are washed out. None has been discovered larger than a small grain of wheat.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA.

Gold has also been found on Duck creek, though in small particles. The gold is usually found accompanying the black sands.

A single piece of copper was found, weighing about six pounds. This evidently was brought here from the copper regions of the Northern lakes by the drift process.

SALT IN THE COUNTY.

Seventy to eighty years ago (about 1835) salt was made at four dif- ferent places in Franklin county. None of the present generation, and but few of the preceding generation, recall those saltworks. Three of these salt wells were on Salt creek -- two on the farm of George and David Hawkins, section 4, township II, range 12 east, and one on the farm of Alexander Hawkins, in the same section. The latter is the well of which the largest amount of salt was made. The fourth well was on Pipe creek, section 8, township 10, range 13 east, in Butler township. These wells were situated in the blue limestone and clay marls of the lower Silurian group. On the hills near them is found the magnesian and bituminous nodular series. The saline element was not of sufficient strength to make the production of salt profitable.

The belief was so strong among early settlers that lead existed here in paying quantities, that most of the early deeds had a "lead reserve clause" inserted in them. But careful research has proven the mistaken notion and no lead exists in the county.

BUILDING MATERIALS.

In every part of the county, says the geologist, clay of a good quality is found for brick-making. Bricks are made on the uplands of the fine-grained yellow and whitish clay of first rate quality. Many have been made at Brookville on the flat lands, but these occasionally contain fragments of lime, which make them only suitable for inside walls.

Stone. generally known as "blue Cincinnati limestone," is abundant everywhere and is the surface rock in this county. It is a valuable and very durable stone, but there are but few strata thick enough to make the quar- ries a paying proposition. The thin layers have long been used in walling wells and laying foundations. Many of thicker strata are so shelly and composed of broken corals and fossils that they are not suited to ordinary stone-mason work. The thin strata was originally largely used for flagging the side walks, until the more recent introduction of cement side walks.

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History of Franklin County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 6

Author: Reifel, August J Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1648

Author: Reifel, August J
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1648