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THE SOILS OF ST. MAEY's COUNTY 



formations given in considerable detail for Calvert County also applies 

 to St. Mary's. 



Tlie chief geological diSerence between the two counties lies in the 

 fact that in St. Mary's the Eocene strata do not reach the surface, 

 while in Calvert they do, and the St. ilary's formation is mucli more 

 widely developed in southern St. Mary"s than in Calvert. 



The Soil Types. 



The soils have approximately the following areas : 



Areas of the Diffebent Soils. 



The Norfolk Loam. 



Norfolk loam extends as a long narrow strip along the highest portion 

 of the divide between the Patuxent Eiver drainage and that of the Poto- 

 mac Eiver. It also occupies small, irregular, scattered areas covering 

 the flat plateau of the northern portion of the county. 



Along the Three Notch Eoad, which follows the main divide of the 

 county, the area occupied by the Norfolk loam presents a slightly rolling 

 upland, varying from 120 to 165 feet in elevation. The highest eleva- 

 tions and the intervening hollows are included in the area covered by 

 this soil. 



The soil itself consists of a fine sandy to silty loam, reaching to an 

 average depth of about 1 foot. When dry it is powdery and loose, re- 

 sembling corn meal in texture, distinctly lacking the smooth, clayey 

 feeling of the finer-grain Leonard town loam. When wet it packs to 

 a firm surface, which cakes slightly through sun drying. In plowed 

 fields this soil, though distinctly sandy, may clod into large-sized lumps. 

 The subsoil is a reddish yellow sandy loam, finer in texture than the 



