MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 107 



THE SASSAFRAS LOAM. 



The Sassafras loam covers an area of about 14 square miles. It is 

 found in flat-topped terraces along the Potomac and Patuxent rivers 

 and their major tributaries. It is distinctly a terrace formation, 

 occurring- here and elsewhere in ^Maryland as one of the stages of the 

 Columbia group of Pleistocene age. It is essentially flat-topped or 

 gently sloping, and the different areas are often widely separated 

 from one another by areas of soil derived from underlying and older 

 geological formations. The Sassafras loam terraces are underlain at 

 a depth of from 4 to 5 feet by a considerable layer of medium-sized 

 gravel, which generally reaches tlie surface along their frontal slopes 

 in the shape of Susquehanna gravel. 



The Sassafras loam is occupied by areas of cleared and Avell-culti- 

 vated fields, suited to general farming and the raising of wheat, 

 corn, and grass in greater quantities than the general average of the 

 county. This soil is found in several areas within the Coastal Plain 

 of Maryland, and it has been proved to be of great agricultural value 

 in all these regions. Besides the common crops already mentioned 

 peaches, pears, asparagus, late melons, late strawberries, tomatoes, 

 and cucumbers are adapted to this soil. 



The soil itself consists of a brown or deep-yellow loam, having an 

 average depth of about 9 inches. It is imiformly underlain by a 

 heavy yellow loam subsoil from 3 to 10 feet thick, which in turn rests 

 upon an underlying gravel bed. The soil is capable of maintaining a 

 good supply of moisture, and unless exposed to exceptional conditions 

 of rain wash it is easily maintained in a good condition of produc- 

 tivity. It forms one of the most desirable types of soils for general 

 farming operations, but does not produce tobacco or early truck crops 

 to advantage. The accompanying analyses show the texture of this 

 soil to differ little from the Leonardtown loam, but in the field they 

 appear quite different : 



THE SASSAFRAS SANDY LOAM. 



The Sassafras sandy loam is developed over considerable areas 

 along the second bottoms of the main river courses at an elevation of 



