10 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



it furnish local markets for practically all of the fresh vegetables and 

 the 'fruits which may be grown. In fact, at the present time, exten- 

 sive shipments of such farm commodities are made into this region. 

 As a consequence there exist excellent opportunities for the develop- 

 ment of more intensive forms of agriculture upon the Dekalb silt loam 

 of this region. At present the areas of the type are nearly equally 

 divided between tilled fields, pasture, and woodlots. Corn, oats, buck- 

 wheat, wheat, potatoes, and grass are the chief crops. 



The Dekalb silt loam is an excellent type of soil for the pro- 

 duction of Irish potatoes; it is well suited to the growing of cabbages ; 

 there are numerous varieties of apples which may be produced to ad- 

 vantage if properly drained sites for the orchards are selected ; even 

 the common farm crops now raised upon the type may be so utilized 

 as to lead to the development of profitable dairy industry and to the 

 raising of sheep and swine as a supplement to the sale of the dairy 

 products and of the fruits and vegetables which may well be grown 

 upon it in such localities as possess the necessary local markets. 



In consequence of these adaptations of the Dekalb silt loam under 

 the influence of good local markets, it is desirable that large areas of 

 the type in south-central and southwestern Pennsylvania should be 

 developed upon the basis of a combined general and special farm- 

 ing. The existence of portions of the type too rough or too re- 

 mote from transportation to justify intensive development would 

 indicate the desirability of sheep raising and of grazing as the best 

 form of occupation for such lands. The possibility that each farm 

 may support small orchards of apple, cherry, and plum trees as a 

 supplement to other forms of farming; the ability of the soil to pro- 

 duce excellent crops of potatoes and cabbages as "money crops " ; the 

 ready sale of dairy products at excellent prices; these conditions 

 should all lead to the diversification of cropping and of farm de- 

 velopment upon the Dekalb silt loam in the vicinity of the Pittsburg 

 mining district and in near-by industrial sections. The markets are 

 excellent and the necessary transportation to market exists. 



Elsewhere in the platea*u and mountain sections, because of lack 

 of near-by markets, dependence must be placed upon the production of 

 those general farm crops which are suited to such a silty soil and to 

 the local conditions of climate. For the central portion of the region, 

 from northern West Virginia to eastern Tennessee, the crops best 

 suited to production upon the Dekalb silt loam are corn, winter 

 wheat, oats, and timothy and a-lsike clover for hay production. In 

 addition, there are many thousands of acres of the type suited to the 

 growing of the Elberta peach where market facilities may be had and 

 where the soil and air drainage as well as the exposure of the orchard 

 sites are proper. Thus, in the central region of its development the 

 Dekalb silt loam is limited by its altitude and its relation to trans- 



