SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES AND THEIR USE-HI. 

 THE PORTSMOUTH SANDY LOAM. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Portsmouth sandy loam occurs, chiefly in the vicinity of the 

 coast line, from central Delaware south to northern Florida, and 

 thence west along the Gulf of Mexico nearly to the Mississippi 

 Eiver. Soil surveys throughout this portion of the Coastal Plain 

 Province have included 774,052 acres of this type. The type has 

 been encountered in 21 areas located in 9 different States. The 

 Portsmouth sandy loam is found only in the lower lying portions of 

 the Coastal Plain section at elevations varying from slightly above 

 sea level to altitudes not much in excess of 100 feet. As indicated by 

 the soil surveys already made, the area of the type will ultimately be 

 found to cover many hundreds of thousands of acres within this 

 general region. Thus far the type has not been generally developed 

 as a farming soil owing to peculiarities of drainage which will be 

 made evident. 



CHARACTERISTICS OY THE SOIL AND SUBSOIL. 



The surface soil of the Portsmouth sandy loam to an average depth 

 of 10 or 12 inches is a black, dark-brown, or dark-gray medium sandy 

 loam. This is frequently underlain for a depth of 5 or 6 inches by a 

 gray, sticky sand which grades downward into a mottled yellow and 

 gray or drab sandy clay subsoil. It is not infrequently the case that 

 the surface soil over some portions of each area will be decidedly 

 mucky and practically lacking in the gritty white sand which is char- 

 acteristic of the greater portion of the type. There will frequently 

 be encountered, usually just below the surface soil, a rusty brown 

 layer of partially cemented subsoil. This " hardpan " is not par- 

 ticularly dense and is usually easily broken up by deep cultivation. 



Where fields of the Portsmouth sandy loam have been cultivated 

 for some time, and especially where they have been burned over, the 

 color of the surface soil is liable to be dark gray to light gray, and 

 accumulations of the white quartz sand may frequently be seen. 

 There are rarely any pebbles or iron concretions to be found in the 

 surface soil, although the latter may be encountered sometimes near 

 the contact between the surface soil and the subsoil. 



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