THE PORTSMOUTH SANDY LOAM. 11 



SUMMARY. 



The Portsmouth sandy loam is an extensive soil type lying at low 

 elevations from near tide level to approximately 100 feet in the tide- 

 water portion of the Coastal Plain from Maryland to Mississippi. 



It is marked by dark-gray, brown, or black mucky surface soils, 

 and by gray or mottled yellow and gray subsoils. Its surface is flat 

 or depressed and the natural drainage conditions are poor. 



It constitutes an excellent soil for the production of corn and oats 

 when drainage has once been established and particularly when the 

 soil has been limed. 



It is more valuable in the more northern locations for the produc- 

 tion of the medium and late truck crops, especially cabbage, kale, 

 spinach, celery, onions, lettuce, late strawberries, and dewberries, 

 than it is for general farming purposes. 



It is only in the more northern areas and near market facilities 

 that any large proportion of the type has been cleared and culti- 

 vated. 



The cost of clearing and draining any extensive areas of the 

 Portsmouth sandy loam is so great that until land prices where it 

 occurs have materially increased it will remain as an unappropriated 

 part of the soil resources of the region. 



