THE CHESTEB LOAM. 5 



fairly well suited to the production of special crops where the market 

 demands for truck crops exist. It is probable that 75 per cent of 

 the entire extent of the type which has thus far been encountered 

 in the soil surveys can be used agriculturally in the manner described. 

 The remaining 25 per cent of the type consists of the steeper slopes, 

 the rougher areas, and those where residual bowlders or rock ledges 

 obstruct tillage operations. 



It is only upon the steeper slopes along the main drainage ways 

 or within the foothill district of the Blue Ridge Mountains in central 

 Virginia that erosion constitutes any serious problem in connection 

 with the tillage of the Chester loam. Upon such steeply sloping areas 

 it is frequently found necessary to maintain the slope in permanent 

 pasture, or at least in mowing land, in order to prevent excessive 

 washing of the soil. Where this has not been done the surface soil 

 has frequently been bodily removed, and even the subsoil has been 

 eroded until there remains only a shallow layer, consisting of about 2 

 feet of somewhat gritty and sandy loam, which rapidly grades down 

 into the disintegrated underlying rock. Such areas have necessarily 

 suffered greatly in their crop-producing power and in many instances 

 have been thrown out of cultivation. They are frequently found 

 growing up to second-growth hardwood timber. 



Practically all other areas of the Chester loam are well farmed 

 to a wide variety of staple crops, while certain special crops are grown 

 in the vicinity of the larger cities or where transportation facilities 

 to market are adequate. 



IMPROVEMENT IN SOIL EFFICIENCY. 



It is probable that the prevention of erosion upon the steeper slopes 

 found within the area of the Chester loam would constitute the most 

 necessary improvement in connection with increasing the efficiency 

 of this soil. In nearly all of the more northern areas of its occur- 

 rence such slopes are either left in forest to supply fuel for the farm 

 or else when cleared are maintained as far as possible in permanent 

 pasture. This usually is sufficient to prevent the further encroach- 

 ment of gullies and eroded areas upon the tilled fields. 



Wherever this treatment has not been adopted on the steeper 

 slopes within the Chester loam, erosion has become a serious problem. 

 In some of the more southern areas where the type is encountered 

 terracing and contour farming would tend to decrease the erosion 

 upon its surface and in time would restore considerable tracts of this 

 valuable type of soil to its earlier high crop-producing efficiencyl 



In connection with such methods for the prevention of erosion, a 

 regular rotation of crops should be adopted which would permit 

 the growing of mixed grasses for at least two years out of the four 



