134 THE SOILS OF ST. MART's COUNTY 



easily worked medium grade of soil for general farming purposes. 

 Pears and other fruits, together with tomatoes, asparagus, and canning 

 crops should be introduced to give a greater variety in crops with increased 

 opportunities for profits. 



The use of lime and of green manures and stable manures will benefit 

 this soil, though not so essential as in the case of heavier types. 



The table on Page 133 gives the analyses of Sassafras loam. 



The Sassafras Sandy Loam. 



Sassafras sandy loam occupies the low-lying forelands along the Pa- 

 tuxent and Potomac rivers and along the shores of the numerous estuaries 

 and creeks tributary to those rivers. In fact, this soil formation extends 

 as a discontinuous belt of choice farm land almost entirely encircling 

 the county. 



Lying between the more elevated uplands and the tide-water courses 

 of the chief rivers of the section, the Sassafras sandy loam slopes gen- 

 tly down from an elevation of about 35 feet nearly to water level, and 

 presents a very nearly flat, though gently inclined, surface. x\reas located 

 on adjacent forelands are usually separated from each other by lower- 

 lying strips of meadow lands located along the margins of the minor 

 streams. To the rear of each area the surface usually rises with quite 

 a steep slope to the more elevated plateau region. 



The soil itself is probably a marine deposit, laid down at a time when 

 the relative level of tide water in this region was at least 40 feet higher 

 than at present, though the plateau portion of the county existed as 

 dry land even then. The deposition of material derived from the upland 

 by the streams of that day took place closely adjacent to the land area 

 which existed there, and the coarser sands were deposited in those stream 

 courses as noted elsewhere. The finer sand and silt, carried to a greater 

 distance seaward because of the lightness of individual grains, were 

 deposited in the region of tide water, with the coarser materials falling 

 in shallower water near shore, as is the case with the present deposition 

 in all regions. Thus, small sandbars and spits would be formed, and 



