SAMPLES COLLECTED. 



During the summer of 1904 a party was sent to Leonardtown to 

 carry on investigations on different phases of the Leonardtown loam 

 and to ascertain if the wire-basket method which had recently been 

 devised for a study of the fertility of soils was sufficiently perfected 

 to make it of practical use. The results obtained during the summer 

 demonstrated that the method was capable of showing the same order 

 in the crop-producing power of the soils as was observed in the field, 

 and that it was also useful in determining Avhat fertilizing materials 

 would give the best returns. The facts gathered during the summer 

 were thoroughly in accord with what had been previously observed 

 in making a soil survey of this county and also with the experience 

 of the more progressive farmers. 



In 1905 samples w r ere taken from two phases of the Leonardtown 

 loam. The sample designated " good " was taken from a field in a 

 high state of cultivation located within the borders of Leonardtown. 

 For quite a number of years this field had received annually liberal 

 applications of stable manure. It was then put dow r n to grass and 

 remained for five or six years, when the grass ran out. In the spring 

 of 1903 the field was plowed and planted to corn without the appli- 

 cation of manure or any kind of fertilizer. The result was a fine 

 crop of corn, estimated at about 80 bushels per acre. The following 

 year, 1904, it was again plowed and planted to corn without fertilizer, 

 but there was a marked falling off in the crop, which may have been 

 caused by one or all of three conditions, namely, poor cultivation, 

 shortage in rainfall, or the fact that the same crop had been grown 

 the preceding year. 



The other large sample of soil, designated as Leonardtown loam 

 " poor," was taken from a field several miles distant from Leonard- 

 town, and although it had been owned by the same man for more than 

 twenty years he had always rented the place and knew very little 

 as regards its past treatment. The tenants were not permanent, and 

 very little information could be gained from that source. The land 

 was considered in the neighborhood as very unproductive, and this 

 statement is further emphasized by the fact that the entire tract of 

 something over 100 acres brought the owner an annual rental of only 

 $50. In 1902 it was occupied by a colored tenant. The following 

 year it was unoccupied and uncultivated. In 1904 it was again cul- 

 tivated, and in the field where the sample was taken corn averaged! 

 about 2 feet in height and produced practically no grain. 



The chief differences in the appearance of these two soils in the 

 field is that the poor one is somewhat lighter in color, contains less 

 organic matter, and is much more compact and difficult to cultivate. 

 In texture it may contain slightly more silt than the good sample, 



