The black letters on the map refer to soil types, each of which is listed in the table below.

Map Symbol	Soil	Slope Range	Internal drainage	Parent Material	Color of subsoil	General productivity	Land class
A	Alluvial soils, undifferentiated	0-3	Medium to slow			Medium to moderately high	Fourth
Dse	Dunmore silty clay loam, eroded steep phase	30-60	Medium	Residual material from weathered limestone	Yellowish brown or faintly reddish brown	Medium	Fourth
Dst	Dunmore silty clay loam, eroded hilly phase	15-30	Medium	Residual material from weathered limestone	Yellowish brown or faintly reddish brown	Medium to moderately high	Third
Gs	Greendale silt loam	0-5	Medium	Local wash mainly from Elliber, Clarksville, Dandridge, Lodi, and Westmoreland soils	Brownish yellow, light brownish yellow, or yellow	Moderately high	Second
Hcr	Hagerstown silty clay loam, eroded phase	3-15	Medium	Residual material from weathered limestone	Reddish brown to brownish red	High	First
Ht	Hagerstown stony silt loam	3-15	Medium	Residual material from weathered limestone	Reddish brown to brownish red	Moderately high	Fourth
Htz	Hagerstown stony silt loam, steep phase	15-60	Medium	Residual material from weathered limestone	Reddish brown to brownish red	Medium	Fourth
Me	Melvin silt loam	0-3	Very slow	Alluvium from uplands underlain mainly by limestone	Gray, spotted with brown or rust brown	Medium	Fourth
RoL	Rolling stony land (limestone material)	3-30	Medium to slow			Medium to moderately high	Fourth
RsL	Rough stony land, limestone material	30-60+				Moderately low	Fifth
TLe	Teas-Litz silt loam, eroded steep phase	30-60	Medium	Residual material from weathered shale and some limestone and sandstone	Purplish brown, dark purplish brown, or purplish red (Teas); light brown or yellowish brown (Litz)	Moderately low	Fourth
TLr	Teas-Litz silt loam, eroded phase	15-30	Medium	Residual material from weathered shale and some limestone and sandstone	Purplish brown, dark purplish brown, or purplish red (Teas); light brown or yellowish brown (Litz)	Moderately low to low	Fourth
TLv	Teas-Litz silt loam, very steep phase	60+	Medium	Residual material from weathered shale and some limestone and sandstone	Purplish brown, dark purplish brown, or purplish red (Teas); light brown or yellowish brown (Litz)	Moderately low to low	Fifth

A few symbols can also be found on the map.  A diamond divided by a vertical line denotes a depression which is easy to cultivate across.  A circle denotes a spring, while a small "v" denotes a rock outcrop. 


Implications For Farming
Soil maps are most useful in determining which areas to use for agriculture.  Each soil type is classified, ranging from first class soils which are good for both crops and pasture, to fifth class soils which are poorly suited to any sort of agriculture.  Of the soils found at Wortroot, only Hcr (found on the southwest corner of the property) and Gs (found in a small patch along the road) are well suited for growing crops.  Dst soil, found along Beech Bluff, is rated as poor to fair for crops and poor to good for pasture.  The majority of the rest of the property is suited to pasture, with Middle Cave Ridge and Upper Cave Ridge unsuited to any form of agriculture. 


Erosion
Red letters on the map refer to erosion at the time the survey was completed (in 1951):

Since that time, the forest has grown up in most regions and has stabilized the soils.  During this inventory, I did not notice erosion at the locations marked on the map.  However, I did see two patches of erosion on extremely steep hillsides - on northwest Middle Cave Ridge and on the west side of Upper Cave Ridge.  The erosion is currently minimal, but any type of disturbance to these areas, such as logging or road-building, would result in an erosion problem. 


Further Study
I did not inventory the small animals found in the soil layer.  In particular, millipedes reach a great diversity in our region and can be used as an indicator of soil depth and health.  A survey of these invertebrates at a later date would be a useful addition to our knowledge of the property. 


Source
United States Department of Agriculture.  1951.  Soil Survey: Scott County, Virginia. 

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