RELATION TO FERTILITY 21 



having little power of retaining water ; it is therefore char- 

 acteristically warm and dry. With abundant dressings of 

 farmyard manure, it produces spring-sown garden vegetables 

 about ten days earlier than any other soil in the State. It is 

 the coarsest soil in the series, and contains nearly 73 per cent, 

 of coarse to fine sand. 



The market-garden soil is of much the same character as 

 the preceding, but it contains more clay, and the sand is of 

 a finer description. Its power of holding water is greater, and 

 it produces larger crops of vegetables than the previous soil, 

 and is much superior to it for small fruits, peaches, and for 

 autumn-sown crops ; but the produce of spring-sown crops 

 matures later than on the first soil. 



The tobacco lands of Southern Maryland contain 10-20 per 

 cent, of clay. The lighter soils yield the smallest crop, but the 

 finest tobacco. Wheat is grown on tobacco land as part of 

 the rotation, but the soil is too light for wheat to be made 

 the principal crop. 



The wheat land represents the lightest soil on which wheat 

 can be profitably cultivated in the climate of Maryland. The 

 soil is too light for permanent meadow or pasture, and too 

 heavy for the best quality of tobacco. Market-garden crops 

 are late in coming to maturity on this soil. 



The wheat and grass land represents the heavier wheat 

 soils ; it is considerably more productive than the preceding, 

 and is sufficiently retentive of water to make good grass land. 



The grass and wheat land is an example of a still heavier 

 soil lying on a limestone formation ; it possesses considerable 

 fertility. 



This series of typical soils is most instructive ; their com- 

 position ranges from soils consisting chiefly of coarse particles 



UNIVERSITY 



CF 



