THE CECIL SANDY LOAM. 7 



able to increase the depth of plowing as before mentioned. Upon 

 the deep phase shallow plowing and manipulation of the soil to com- 

 pact the sandy loam immediately below plow depth is preferable. 



The topographic attitude of the areas occupied by the Cecil sandy 

 loam also imposes certain limitations upon the use of the type. Upon 

 all of the steeper slopes, where destructive erosion is liable to follow 

 cultivation, timber should be grown or the slope should be seeded 

 with permanent grasses for pastures. Upon the more gentle slopes 

 the practices of contour farming, terracing, and the use of cover crops 

 are essential, while upon the gently undulating or nearly level sur- 

 faces these practices are not so requisite and the intertilled crops 

 may be grown with the exercise of few precautions beyond proper 

 tillage, crop rotation, and the restoration of organic matter to the soil. 



The climatic surroundings of the type, extending as it does from 

 the Middle Atlantic States to the Gulf region, also embody certain 

 restrictions upon its use. In the more northern regions the staple 

 crops of tobacco, corn, wheat, and grass prevail, and these are best 

 suited to the higher elevations in even more southern latitudes. In 

 the extreme southern portion of the Piedmont cotton, corn, winter 

 oats, and cowpeas constitute the best general farming crops, but even 

 here the early maturing varieties of cotton should be planted at the 

 higher elevations. 



Holding in mind these limitations, which are enforced chiefly by 

 the surroundings of the type, although partly by its inherent charac- 

 teristics, the variations in crop practice and crop yield within the 

 limits covered by the Cecil sandy loam are more easily understood. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN SOIL EFFICIENCY. 



The fundamental requirement for the improvement of crop yields 

 upon the Cecil sandy loam is the selection of those crops and varieties 

 of crops which are best adapted to production upon the type under its 

 varied climatic surroundings. In the more northern regions where 

 the Cecil sandy loam is developed it is probable that general farming 

 will always remain the dominant type of agriculture upon this and 

 associated soil types. Within this region, which includes Virginia 

 and the northern portion of central North Carolina, the production 

 of tobacco, corn, the small grains, and grass dominates the crop prac- 

 tices on the type. 



It has been found through experience that the best crop yields are 

 secured when a short-term crop rotation is adopted, consisting of 

 tobacco followed by winter wheat, followed by one or two years of 

 grass, with the red clover constituting a large proportion of the seed- 

 ing. The heavy applications of fertilizer made to insure a satisfac- 

 tory yield of tobacco show a residual effect in increased yields for the 

 succeeding wheat and grass crops, while the seeding to grass during 



