History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio, Part 38

Author: R. S. Dills
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1037

USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio > Part 38

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

43 2.605

Greenfield, High'd Co. Yellow Springs;

Waterlime,

2.648

Clinton,

12 2.664

Columbus,

Corniferous,

30?

2.664

Cincinnati,

2.700

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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.

III. DRIFT.

The Drift of Greene County agrees closely in all particulars with that of the adjacent counties. All of the distinguishing features of this most interesting but perplexing formation are here shown with great distinctness. In other words, the materials for a perfect the- ory of the Drift are found spread over the rocky floor of Greene County.

1. In the first place, the face of the Niagara limestone has been universally planed and polished by glacier agency. It does not, it is true, show the marks of this agency everywhere, for the upper beds of the limestone have often been partially dissolved by the action of atmospheric waters infiltrating through the Drift beds; but wherever the surface has not been thus affected it exhibits the glaciated markings now under consideration. These markings have been noted in every section of the county in which the cliff limestone is exposed; but they are shown most plainly in the un- covered surfaces of the Yellow Springs quarry, and of McDonald's quarry. The grooves and striæe have a direction in most instances of ten to fifteen degrees west of north. In the Yellow Springs quarry their line of direction cuts the line of direction of the Glen, which is immediately adjoining, at an angle of about twenty de- grees, showing that even such deep furrows as this had no influence in changing the course of the abrading ice-sheet.

2. Over the polished surface of the rocks, as well as over those more extensive areas where the rocks retain no markings of this kind, lies, in deposits of varying thickness, a covering of boulder clay. This is an unstratified mass, thickly set with pebbles and bowlders of small size, many of which have rubbed or striated faces, like that of the rock on which they rest. In its original state it is a very compact formation, as is shown in the deeper sec- tions of it; but where the deposit is shallow it has been considera- bly transformed by atmospheric agencies. The partial or complete solution of the limestone pebbles that make so prominent an ele- ment in it renders the whole bed more porous and permeable than the unaltered deposits are. With this transformation of texture a change of color is also connected, the lower oxides of iron in the bowlder clay being converted into peroxides by the presence of air and water, and the bed becoming a yellow clay instead of blue clay.

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The unaltered blue clay is often struck in wells, and is also shown in the banks of streams, where the weathered materials are re- moved as fast as formed.

As elsewhere, seams of sand and gravel are intermingled with the bowlder clay.

3. A third phase of the Drift formations is also abundantly shown in Greene County, in the beds of clean sand and gravel, which occur everywhere throughout its area, and especially on the highest lands of the county. These beds are distinctly stratified, oftentimes with conspicuous lines of false or uneven bedding, differ- ing in composition from the bowlder clay in this respect, namely, that they contain water-washed instead of striated pebbles, and that they present unmistakable indications of having been sifted and arranged under water. Examples of these high-level grades can be seen at various points, but at none more clearly than in Miami Township; as, for example, at the Yellow Springs gravel bank, at the banks of W. C. Neff, Daniel Jobe, and J. II. Little; and also in the Hamma neighborhood, along the Yellow Springs and Fairfield pike. All of these points belong to the high grounds of the county, and some of them constitute its summit levels. From some peculiarities in its structure, the Yellow Springs bank deserves a somewhat more extended notice.

It is located to the south of the village, about half a mile from the railroad track. It rises forty feet in height above a very flat- lying area, and thus makes a conspicuous feature in the topography. Its summit is not far from ten hundred and sixty feet above the sea. It embraces an area of somewhat more than two acres. It is com- posed of sand and gravel, with considerable quantities of clay, the three orders of materials being, however, quite well separated from each other. Some bowlders are met with, the largest one now ex- posed measuring seven feet in length. Like almost all of the largest-sized bowlders of southern Ohio, this one is composed of gneiss, conspicuously banded with rose-colored felspar.

The peculiarity of this gravel bank consists, however, in none of the facts already stated, but in the order of arrangement of the materials, which are aggregated in all sorts of irregular masses, while the bed-lines of the sand and gravel are curiously twisted and contorted, their section sometimes showing them to accomplish two-thirds of the circumference of a circle. The only satisfactory explanation of these facts would seem to be found in the deposit of

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these materials from melting ice. An iceberg breaking loose from the northern water-shed of the state, and loaded with glacial detri- tus, if stranded and slowly melting here, might account for these peculiarities of structure.

As to several of the other deposits referred to above, it is impos- sible for any one to examine them without feeling certain that they were sorted and sifted and arranged under water, and that their presence where we find them now is proof conclusive of the sub- mergence of the country, at least to the elevations which they mark. The bank belonging to Daniel Jobe, Esq., and located near the intersection of the Grinnell pike with the Clifton and Oldtown pike, may be taken as a good representative of this class.

These high-level or bank gravels of the county furnish an inex- haustible supply of excellent materials for road-making; and, un- der the wise state legislation of the last ten years upon this subject, the county may be said to have been lifted out of the mud. This work of improvement is sure to go on with the increasing wealth of the country, until every public road is changed from a bed of miry clay-which, in its natural state, it becomes for about one- third of the year-into a solid and civilized highway all the year through.

The bottom lands of the county, in its western and southwestern portions, are considerable. They do not, however, demand ex- tended treatment here, agreeing as they do exactly with the simi- lar areas already reported upon. They consist of first and second bottoms chiefly, the third terrace that appears in the lower reaches of the streams being either wanting or but indirectly shown here.

IV. SOILS.

A brief discussion of the soils of the county will here find place. (a.) Origin. The soils of Greene County are, in the main, de- rived from the Drift. There are small tracts, it is true, scattered through the county in which the bedded rock has lately formed the surface, and by its weathering has given rise to the thin stratum of soil that now covers it. Examples of this sort may be seen on Reed's Hill, in Bath Township, where the weathering of the Clin- ton limestone has furnished a very productive but shallow soil to quite a number of acres. Along the boundary of the Lower and Upper Silurian formations, again, little patches of these native soils

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are to be seen, as at Goe's Station, in Miami Township, and on the farms of Franklin Berryhill and Thomas J. Brown, of Sugar Creek Township; but the aggregate of all such cases is insignifi- cant, and the statement that the soil of the county is derived from the Drift scarcely requires qualification.

There is a very important sense, however, in which the soils of Greene County may be denominated native soils. Naked beds of bowlder clay are no more soil than are raw shales or quarry spalls. All can be converted into soils by sufficient exposure to atmospheric influences. In point of fact, the shales that constitute so large a part of some Ohio formations, and notably of the Cincinnati series, are converted into soils far more rapidly than the bowlder clay. The soils of the county, then, have been formed where we find them by the same slow processes that are required to transform a stratum of limestone rock into soil. It is principally by the pro- cess that is termed "weathering" that the stubborn and impervious clays of the unaltered Drift are changed into the porous, light, and permeable layer that we call soil. The action of the atmosphere can be easily traced in such cases. There are always present in our Drift clays, grains, pebbles, and bowlders of limestone. In south- ern and central Ohio they constitute by far the largest proportion of the rocky fragments of the Drift beds. But limestone is soluble in rain and surface water. These fragments then, both small and great, are slowly dissolved, their lime being carried away in drain- age water, while the sand and clay and iron which made a part of their substance are left to contribute to the soil. Similar changes go on in other substances in the Drift bed, and the results of all are to open these stubborn clays to air and water, to change their color, to alter their texture, and thus, also, to alter their specific gravity. The incorporation of vegetable matter with the forming soil goes on through all the stages of its growth. Until the pro- portion of such matter reaches at least five per cent. of the whole mass, the clay is scarcely to be called a soil.

But in the final stages of its preparation, to another division of the living creation a very important office is assigned, one, however, which is seldom estimated according to its real value. The insect king- dom, beetles, ants, earth-worms, etc., bring up from below the surface, for very different objects in the economy of their several existences, partieles of sand, clay, and vegetable mold. The whole substance of the soil is honey-combed by their agencies, and rendered vastly

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more permeable to air and water. To them, indeed, the fineness and homogeneity of the surface are largely due. Whoever thinks this agency an insignificant one, has but to examine carefully the surface of any square rod of ground in early summer, to be convinced of his mistake. Such an examination will show to any one who has eyes to see, that an enormous amount of mechanical labor, most useful in its results to man, is being performed by these despised insects. The porosity of the ground, which is partly due to these agencies, is illustrated in the well known fact, that the earth taken out from an excavation, will never fill the space from which it has been removed. But the porosity that nature gives to soils, is not produced in a day. It is the result of these seemingly insignificant agencies extended through periods of time sufficiently long.

This stratum of soil, thus prepared, is the sole dependence of the brick-kilns which are possible in almost every square mile of the surface of the county, and from it brick of excellent quality are cheaply produced.

Mention has thus far been made of the formation of soils from the bowlder clay alone, but processes precisely similar to those already described, only far more rapid in their action, are going on in the beds of modified or stratified Drift, which makes so important an element in the surface of . the county. The opening of every gravel bank, shows these processes with the greatest distinctness. The solution of the limestone pebbles, has been carried on for one or two feet below the surface, until most of them have entirely dis- appeared, the only pebbles that remain being the hard and stubborn greenstones, and granites of northern origin. Vegetable mold has been mingled with these weathering products, to the same depth to which the solution has advanced, and thus the boundary line between the soil and what it covers, is marked by color as well as texture. The incipient stages of the solution of limestone pebbles, can be seen below this boundary, in the softened and corroded surfaces which they show, but the mass below is, after all, a gravel bank and not soil.

(b.) Varieties The soils of the county may be divided into the following classes, which will be readily recognized by those familiar with the area under consideration :

1. The valley soils, consisting principally of the first and second bottom lands.

2. The soils formed from the high level gravels.

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3. The yellow and white clays, the common upland soils of the county.

4. The black uplands or blue grass land, most largely shown in Ross, New Jasper, Silver Creek, and Jefferson townships. Each of these divisions will be briefly considered.

1. The soils of the first division are principally confined to the main valleys of the county, namely, to the Little Miami, Mad River, and Beaver valleys, but some of the minor streams have bottom lands of limited extent.

There is a notable difference in constitution between the first and second bottoms, the former being strictly alluvial in character and receiving fresh accessions of matter with every flood, while the second bottoms are gravel terraces, the surfaces of which have been transformed into soils according to the processes described above. The latter areas constitute the most attractive, but not, perhaps, the most durable, farming lands of the county. The Oldtown flats may be taken as one of the very best examples of this class. We know that portions of this beautiful plain were the favorite corn-grounds of the Indians before the occupation of the country by the whites, to say nothing of the still earlier tenure of the mound-builders, whose works abound in this neighborhood. Since the occupation of the country by civilized man, the whole area has been constantly under the plow. There are large parts of it which have not failed for at least fifty consecutive years to produce a crop either of corn or wheat, without any application of manure or fertilizers. No charge can be made against this particular area as lacking in dura- bility, for the average production is still very good, but other tracts of equal original fertility show themselves now to be in a state of incipient exhaustion. It is a disgraceful system of farming that brings lands like these to such a state within fifty years of the time when they were covered with primival forests.

The first bottoms are sometimes so largely calcareous as to be- come partially unfitted to act as soils. Among other defects is this, that they are unable to withstand ordinary summer droughts. They are generally covered however, with forest trees in a state of na- ture, and when cleared they furnish pasturage for the spring and early summer.

Analyses are furnished of two soils and one subsoil belonging to this division. It so happens that all of the following examples were derived from Clarke County.

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Analysis No. 1 is of the Mad River bottoms of John Snyder, Esq., of Springfield. They were originally covered with the ordi- nary forest growth of the first or lower bottoms. The excessive amount of carbonate of lime found in them (50.87 per cent.) will be noted. It is almost a matter of surprise that vegetation of any sort could be borne by such a mortar bank. The large amount of phosphoric acid will, however, give them high rank, so far as this priceless element of fertility is concerned, and the quantity of the alkalies (potash and soda) is also ample for all demands of vegeta- tion.

Analysis No. 2 is of the Buck Creek bottoms (prairie lands) from the same locality. The large proportion of organic matter here (29.34 per cent.) will attract attention. A soil so loose as this must necessarily be would hardly enable trees to stand against our south- west winds, and it may be that its nakedness is due to such a cause rather than to any natural want of adaptation to the production of · forests. The amount of lime falls considerably below that shown in No. 1, but is still excessive (35.85 per cent.). The other sub- stances which constitute the fine gold of every soil, namely, the phosphates, sulphuric acid, the alkalies, are all here in large amount. The lime present, however, renders the land unfit for till- age. All crops burn out in the summer months. The application of this soil to the uplands would carry to them just what they most need. The lime in it would make it a full equivalent for shell marl, while the organic matter, which makes almost one-third of its entire substance, would wonderfully ameliorate their stubborn texture. There is little doubt that, load for load, this bottom land would prove, in many areas, a full equivalent for stable manure.

Analysis No. 3 is of the subsoil of No. 2, taken from a depth of two feet below the surface. It will be seen that this subsoil has all the characteristics of a model soil. Its only obvious deficiency is in the soluble forms of the alkalies. Aside from this it would be hard to say what should be added or taken away to increase its adaptation to all the uses of agriculture.

The proportion of carbonate of lime shrinks from more than fifty per cent. in the soil to four per cent. in the subsoil. As both soil and subsoil are supposed to be derived from the same source, namely, alluvial deposits, it may be asked how this great disparity is accounted for. In reply, it is suggested that, like many other important facts which at first sight have no connection with the

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cause assigned, it will be found traceable to the clearing of the country. By the clearing of the land, evaporation has been great- ly promoted along all of the drainage courses, and the streams now sink to a point never known in the early history of the country. As they fall, pools of water, small and great, are left along their courses, which, when evaporated by a summer's sun, give rise to large amounts of calcareous travertine, which is deposited as an incrustation on pebbles, bowlders, shells, and vegetable growths. But since the drainage courses have all been opened out, a few hours' rain is often sufficient to produce a flood which easily sweeps away the light and porous travertine, to re-deposit it at lower points along the courses of the stream. It must also be added that the carbonate of lime in the soil is partly due to land shells which have lived and died upon its surface.

2. The soils formed from the high-level gravels are very closely allied in origin and character to those found on the gravel terraces or second bottoms of the rivers. They are not, however, under- lain by as porous a subsoil as the latter, and therefore prove, as a rule, more retentive and durable. They are scattered through the highlands of the county in isolated patches, often of small extent. They are as plainly recognized before the country is cleared as after the soil has been exposed by the plow, for the natural growth of forest trees which they produce distinguishes them unmistakably from the colder lands adjoining and surrounding them. On the gravel points are found the black walnut, the sugar tree, the blue ash, the hickory, etc., while the clay lands show little but oaks.

In color they are reddish-brown, verging towards black in many cases. Under cultivation they are extremely productive, and always constitute the favorite portions for tillage of every farm on which they occur.

An analysis of one of these gravel point soils is given below (No. 4). The specimen submitted was taken from the farm of John Howell, Esq., in Mad River Township, a few miles north of the Greene County line. It will be seen that the testimony of chemistry fully accords with that of experience with reference to these soils. Like analysis No. 3, this soil might almost be assumed as a model. Its seventy per cent. of silica, mixed with nine per cent. of alumina, render it certain that it will work light, especially when its nine per cent. of organic matter is taken into account. It contains over three and one-half per cent. of the alkalies, soda and

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potash, while the supply of phosphoric acid is ample for generous harvests. Though derived from the decomposition of limestone pebbles very largely, but little lime remains in its composition (less than four per cent. of lime and magnesia). This fact seems sur- prising at the first statement, but a little reflection shows us that it is a. necessary consequence of the mode of formation above described. The pebble that is to be turned into soil consists of carbonates of lime and magnesia in large proportion, and of sand, clay, iron, etc., in much smaller proportions. But these latter sub- stances are all that are turned over to the forming soil, and they are set free only by the solution and removal of the lime and magnesia. The percentage given above is more than sufficient, however, for the demands of vegetation.

3. The next group to be treated constitute a much larger portion of the surface than either of the others already described. It comprises the light-colored clays, whitish or yellow, which makes the common upland soils of the country. Being generally derived from the bowlder clay, nothing more needs to be said in regard to their mode of origin, as this topic has already been considered. They are strong and durable to a high degree, but under unwise or negligent husbandry they become stubborn and unproductive. On the other hand, they are no soils of the state that respond more kindly to a rational system of tillage. Their great lack is that of organic matter, which is needed even more to ameliorate their phy- sical condition than to supply plant food. The system of farming, however, to which these clays are generally subjected robs them as rapidly as possible of the small amount of vegetable mold with which they are supplied at the outset. In this way their color is bleached to whitish, from their usual yellowish tint.

The native forest growths of these soils consist largely of oaks of various species, among which the white oak largely predomi- nates. It gains here a magnificent growth, and supplies the coun- try with invaluable resources in the way of staunch timber.

Several analyses are appended of this most important division of the soils of central Ohio.

The first of them, No. 5, is of a white clay on an overtaxed and temporarily exhausted farm (McClure farm, Mad River Township, Clarke County). It is to be added that the soil of this area was never equal to that which immediately surrounds it.

The next analysis, No. 6, shows the composition of the subsoil of

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these same white clays, taken at a depth of fifteen to eighteen inches below the surface.

In examining these analyses, it will be noticed that the organic matter in the soil but slightly exceeds that in the subsoil (2.85 per cent. against 2.58 per cent). It is safe to say that any process which should double the amount of organic matter in it would increase its productive power in a high degree. There is no lack of phos- phoric acid, of potash, soda, or sulphur in either, the vital elements of all soils. On the contrary, the proportions which these substances attain in them would give them place among the fertile lands of the state. It is to their physical condition, principally, that their want of fertility must be ascribed. It is certainly assuring to find that even the poorest and most stubborn clays of the state possess untold capacities for the service of man. They hold, however, these treas- ures securely locked until a wiser system than ours shall find the key.

Attention is called to one or two other points in connection with these analyses.

(a.) The marked disparity in the amounts of phosphoric acid which soil and subsoil respectfully contain is doubtless due, in part at least, to the abstraction of this substance from the surface by the crops that have been raised here. Of all the constituents of the soil, this certainly is the one that according to theory should be most reduced by the prevalent system of tillage. There is still left in the soil a large aggregate of this substance, it is true, but it is to be remembered that plants can not go on growing until all is re- moved. To make agriculture profitable, these mineral elements of plants must not only be present in the soil, but must be every where diffused, so that each rootlet of each plant shall be able to secure its share. It is altogether probable that the change of one-tenth of ' one per cent. is enough to make the difference between sterility and generous harvests.

(b.) The chief notable lack in these analyses is in the soluble forms of potash and soda, and in carbonate of lime.

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History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio, Part 38

Author: R. S. Dills Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1037

Author: R. S. Dills
Publication date: 1881
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1037