Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
20 <br />Table 8 <br />Soil Limitation Rating <br />Soil Characteristic <br />1 <br />Rating <br />2 <br />No limitations 1.00 <br />Clayey 0.40 <br />Excessive wetness 0.10 <br />----------------------------------------------------- <br />Notes: See Appendix E. <br />Source: Soil Survey of orange County, NC <br />USDA, Soil Conservation Service <br />Where no limitations exist, a soil is assigned a rating of <br />1.00. Ratings for clayey and wet soils were based on similar <br />ratings used in a county in the Piedmont section of Virginia. <br />FOREST LAND RELATIVE VALUE RATING <br />To develop relative values for Orange County soils, the <br />ratings derived above are first displayed for each soil (see Table <br />9). Next, a composite value is obtained by adding the ratings for <br />each soil series. As an example, the composite value for Appling <br />(ApB) soil is 3.60, the sum of columns 3, 4, 6, and 8. The <br />composite value for Herndon (HrC) soil is 3.35. <br />Relative values are obtained by arranging the soils in <br />descending order of composite value, dividing the composite value <br />of each soils series by the highest composite value obtained, and <br />multiplying the quotient by 100 to produce a whole number. For <br />example, the relative value of Appling (ApB) soil is 100 (3.60/3.60 <br />= 1.0 x 100 = 100). The relative value for Herndon (HrC) soil is <br />3.35/3.60 = 0.93 x 100 = 93). <br />FOREST LAND GROUP VALUE RATING <br />unlike- cropland, forest land soils are rated and placed into <br />groups using -_a ;different technique. Group 1 still contains the best <br />soils for - forest land use and is assigned a relative value of 100. <br />.The relative ralue.for lower groups, however, is the average of the <br />relative value range. <br />Based on their relative values, soils are again grouped into <br />approximately 10 groups. Less than 10 groups are permissible, <br />though, depending upon the number of soil types present and their <br />suitability for forest land use. A range in values for all of the <br />soils in each group is then assigned, with no overlap occurring in <br />the ranges of adjacent groups. The average of each relative value <br />range is then calculated and becomes the relative value for that <br />group. As an example, the relative value range for Group 3 is 83 to <br />88. The group relative value is the range average or 86. <br />