EARLY HISTORY OF CHERRY COUNTY, NEBRASKA

VALENTINE-NUECES-DUNE SAND AREAS

By S. R. McKelvie

     (46) Dune sand, Valentine sand, and similar or associated soils, occupy a large area in central and western Nebraska called the sandhill section. Similar loose sandy soils lie in smaller areas in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Colorado. On the Coastal Plain of southern Texas an area is covered largely by Nueces fine sand and dune sand. Dune sand areas are characterized by a monotonous succession of dune hills and ridges with occasional intervening valleys, pockets, and swales, many of which include grassy meadows. There are very few natural surface drainage outlets, but rainfall is as a rule quickly absorbed by the porous sand. Most of the dune sand is covered by grass sod and thus kept from blowing, but there are occasional blow-outs where the grass cover has been removed. Valentine sand is less strongly rolling and has a slightly darker surface layer. Nueces fine sand has a comparatively level surface with some small duny areas.

     Average annual precipitation in the Nebraska sandhiIl section ranges from 16 to 25 inches. Mean annual temperature is about 47 degrees. Average frost-free season is about 140 days. The wind velocity is high. In the area in southern Texas, the climate is semitropical and subhumid. The average frost-free season is about 300 days. Average annual rainfall ranges from 20 to 25 inches.

     A great number of species of short and tall grasses.

     In Nebraska, wind-blown sands released by disintegration of Tertiary sandstones. In Texas, wind-blown sandy beach deposits over Pleistocene clays.

     Dune sand consists of incoherent fine to medium sand. Locally decayed grass remains have slightly darkened the surface to a depth of one or two inches. Over the greater part of the area, however, dune sand is uniform in texture and consistence and shows little or no change in color from the surface downward. The color of the sand is light grayish (47) brown. The material is thoroughly leached of lime and other soluble constituents. Valentine sand has a more gently rolling surface and a dense grass cover, and in consequence greater stability. Nueces fine sand is a gray loose fine sand to an average depth of about three feet, overlying a slightly mottled gray stiff clay.

     Dune sand and Valentine sand areas are used for the production of livestock under a system by which the animals are grazed on the land during the summer months and during the winter are fed hay cut on the meadows. The loose nature of the sand and the high velocity of the winds make it unwise to plow the land and destroy the grass cover. The soils of meadows of the sandy areas consist of the heaviest types of the Valentine and Gannet series. These soils have accumulated organic matter and support a more or less luxuriant cover of grasses depending on the moisture supply. The nueces soils are used mainly for pasture, but small areas are used for cotton and truck crops.

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