DIVISION OF SOILS. 123 



The results of the survey indicate that these lands can be easily and 

 cheaply reclaimed, and a few cases in wliich this has been done show 

 plainly that they will then become exceedingly fertile and profitable. 

 There is very little ready money in the county and some of the farms 

 are heavily mortgaged, which, with the scarcity and inefficiency of 

 the labor, has a deterrent effect upon improved and more thorough 

 methods. 



Large areas of Norfolk sand were mapped, wliich is a typical soil 

 for early trucking, but the industry has not developed to any very 

 great extent in either of these counties. There are numerous water- 

 ways, with cheap transportation by water to the markets of Baltimore 

 and Washington. The Windsor sand of the old pine barrens is used 

 to some extent now for peaches, and the trees are healthy and long- 

 lived and produce a fruit of high color. About 23 per cent of the area 

 in St. Mary County and about 11 per cent of Calvert County consist 

 of meadow lands, which, if underdrained and properly cultivated, 

 would i^roduce excellent corn and wheat, but in their present state 

 they are lightly estimated. 



On the completion of these areas the party moved to Kent County 

 and surveyed an area of about 315 square miles. This area is also 

 within the coastal plain, and many of the soils are similar to those 

 just described. There is less of the meadow land and none of the 

 Leonardtown loam, but large areas of Sassafras loam were mapped, 

 and these soils and other soils in this area are in a high state of culti- 

 vation and are used for crops that seem to be particularly adapted to 

 them. 



In the spring of 1901 the party made a survey of Prince George 

 County, Md., comprising an area of 460 square miles. Several new 

 men were added to the i^arty at this time for training in field methods. 

 The area lies north of St. Mary and Charles counties, and is practically 

 all within the coastal plain. All of the soils are encountered here that 

 were found in St. Mary County, and several new and important types 

 were discovered. In this area, also, the soils are not used entirely for 

 the crops peculiarlj^ adapted to them. 



There are great possibilities in the specialization of crops in this 

 area. It is quite close to both the Washington and Baltimore markets, 

 and there are many industries that could be developed that are now 

 but slightly recognized. The soil maps show the distribution of these 

 different types, and should form a basis for intensive cultivation of a 

 variety of crops. There is an opportunity for stock raising on the 

 Leonardtown loam and on the Sassafras loam; for small fruits and 

 truck farming on the Norfolk sand, the Malboro sand, and the Col- 

 liugton sand; for wheat and corn on the Collington sand and the 

 Susquehanna clay loam, and for fruit growing on several of these 

 and on some of the other formations. 



The Smith party. — In the summer of 1900 a soil survey was made 

 from Raleigh to Newbern, N. C, and an area of about 100 miles in 

 length, averaging about 9 miles in width, comi)rising a total of about 

 900 square miles, was surveyed. Sixteen distinct soil types were recog- 

 nized and their agricultural value determined. Tliis great variety 

 was due in large measure to the proximity of the Neuse River, which 

 has considerably altered the materials within a few miles of its channel. 



The area surveyed extends from the Piedmont plateau to the tide- 

 water region. In the Piedmont plateau the soils are derived from 

 residual decay of metamori^hic rocks, and are adapted to cotton and 



