THE PORTSMOUTH SANDY LOAM. 5 



out of rank undergrowth will frequently serve to bring the soil into 

 a condition satisfactory for the production of some farm crops. In 

 general, however, an adequate system of open ditches constituting 

 the main outlets should be established, and the tilled fields should be 

 drained into these open ditches through the establishment of lines of 

 tile underdrains. Such reclamation of the land will entail a con- 

 siderable cost to the individual farmer who desires to reclaim areas 

 of the Portsmouth sandy loam found upon his farm. The cost of 

 constructing the open ditches and the tile drains under normal condi- 

 tions will vary from $15 to $30 an acre. The cost of clearing the land 

 of the hardwood timber and the vines and undergrowth will not 

 infrequently amount to an additional charge of $15 to $20. This high 

 initial cost of bringing the land under cultivation has thus far pre- 

 vented the utilization of the Portsmouth sandy loam in any regions 

 except where the demand for land has already become pressing. It 

 also accounts for the considerable areas of this and similar soil types 

 which remain undrained along the Atlantic coast from Maryland 

 southward. In due process of time, when the particular crops which 

 can be most successfully grown upon the Portsmouth sandy loam are 

 in greater demand, when the facilities for transporting these crops to 

 market become greater, and when the considerable agricultural value 

 of the soil itself is better understood, it is safe to predict that increas- 

 ing areas will be cleared, drained, and brought under cultivation. 



LIMITATIONS OF YIELD. 



In the discussion of crop yields upon the Portsmouth sandy loam, 

 it is essential to recall that these yields have usually been limited more 

 directly by the factors of adequate or inadequate drainage than by 

 any other characteristic of the type. In general, where the Ports- 

 mouth sandy loam has been well drained, well cultivated, and limed, 

 the yields of the general farm crops have been found to be satisfac- 

 tory. The type is considered a good soil for the production of corn 

 from Delaware to South Carolina. The normal yields of this crop 

 upon unlimed soils range from 20 to 30 bushels. Where burned 

 stone lime has been applied to the extent of 1,000 pounds to 3,000 

 pounds per acre, these yields have been doubled. It has also been 

 found in the practice of the best farmers that the application of com- 

 mercial fertilizers containing a high' percentage of potash has been 

 attended with excellent increases in the yields of the crops. In 

 some localities kainit has been used with considerable success as a 

 source of the potash salts. In the case of cotton many farmers claim 

 that the use of kainit tends to reduce the liability of the cotton to 

 rust and consequently increases the vigor of its growth, thus insur- 

 ing better yields than any other form of fertilizer which may be 



