130 THE SOILS OF ST. MAKY's COUNTY 



the upland from the low-lying foreland border. The gravel works down 

 across the slopes wherever it reaches the surface, and forms long, narrow 

 bands of a distinctly gravelly soil. While of no great importance either 

 in area or in agricultural value, it forms a marked feature of the land 

 surface. In some instances the component materials are coarse enough 

 to form stony bands and patches along the slopes. In other cases the 

 finer gravel accumulates sufficiently to form small areas of poor or 

 almost useless soil. This is the case on some of the smaller hills of the 

 northeastern part of the country, where broken fragments of iron crust 

 mingle with the gravel and sands. 



Grapes are cultivated to advantage on similar soils in other regions, 

 and their adaptalnlity to this soil should be tried on a small scale in 

 St. Mary's County. In general, it woiild be better to allow forest growths 

 to occupy the larger, more intractable areas. 



The proportion of gravel in some of these areas is as high as 50 per 

 cent, and with so coarse a texture it becomes almost impossible to main- 

 tain a suflicient supply of moisture to mature any long-gi-owing crop. 

 This is especially the case where the gravel areas lie on steeply sloping 

 surfaces. 



The Windsor Sand. 



The AVindsor sand areas are found only in the northern portion of 

 St. Mary's County. They are marked by a strong growth of pitch pine 

 and by the gravelly and sandy texture of the soil. At present these 

 areas are imperfectly tilled to tobacco and gTain crops, or occupied by 

 small land holdings devoted to producing garden crops for household 

 consumption. 



The soil consists of a coarse to medium sand, containing considerable 

 gravel. It extends to about 10 inches in depth, and is underlaid by an 

 even coarser sandy and gravelly subsoil, frequently containing iron crusts 

 in sheets and in broken fragments. 



The vahie and capabilities of this soil have not been recognized as 

 yet in this region. Its coarseness of texture, while precluding the profit- 

 able cultivation of grain crops, adapts it especially to the culture of 



