THE ECONOMIC RESOURCES OF ST. MARYS 

 COUNTY 



BY 



BENJAMIN L. MILLER 



Introddctory. 



The economic resources of St. Mary's County are neither varied nor 

 especially valuable yet several of them are worthy of more attention than 

 they have thus far received. Aside from the soils, which are foremost 

 in importance and value and which are discussed in a subsequent chapter, 

 the county contains several deposits of considerable economic value, none 

 of which are, at present, utilized to their fullest extent. These are 

 the clays, sands, gravels, glauconitic and shell marls, and diatomaceous 

 earth. In addition, valuable water resources contribute much to the 

 mineral wealth of the region. 



Almost all of these products have an especial value to the residents 

 of the county in that they either contain ingredients for soil enrichment 

 or materials for the construction of good roads. Since agriculture is 

 the chief occupation it is believed that the general recognition of the 

 value of the natural products of the region will lead to their greater 

 use. This would eventually enhance farm lands through increased soil 

 fertility and easier land transportation. 



The Natural Deposits. 



the clays. 



The clays constitute the most valuable economic deposits of the region. 



Every geologic formation represented in the county contains argillaceous 



strata, even though, in general, the deposits are composed principally of 



sand. The argillaceous beds are quite generally distributed throughout 



