SOILS OF THE SASSAFEAS SERIES. 25 



The soil of the Sassafras fine sand, to an average depth of 8 or 10 

 inches, is a brown or reddish-yellow fine sand. It is friable and 

 powdery when dry but slightly adhesive when moist. The subsoil 

 is a lighter colored, yellow or pale orange fine sand which is usually 

 rather incoherent to a depth of 2 feet or more but may be somewhat 

 cohesive below that depth. 



The surface configuration of the Sassafras fine sand varies con- 

 siderably in the different localities where it is found. Along the 

 Delaware River it occupies level-topped to undulating terraces at 

 elevations varying from 10 feet to 80 feet above tide level. In the 

 Maryland counties it occurs as level terraces at various elevations 

 above the Patuxent River and also as rolling to rather hilly country 

 at some distance back from the river. In all of these positions there 

 are numerous steep slopes within the limits of the type. The ter- 

 race occurrences present considerable areas of level arable land, 

 while the rolling areas frequently show not more than half of the 

 surface sufficiently level for tillage purposes. In all positions the 

 natural drainage of the type is good and sometimes excessive. On 

 the steeper slopes there is constant danger from excessive erosion and 

 this limits the uses to which the land may be put as well as the 

 total area which may be used for tillage. The steeper slopes are 

 usually forested with mixed hardwood growths. 



In New Jersey and Pennsylvania the areas of the Sassafras fine 

 sand exist near to large city markets and there has been a consider- 

 able development of this type for the purposes of market gardening 

 and trucking. Very little use is made of it for the production of 

 general farm crops. In Maryland, however, it is not favorabty 

 located with respect to market or to transportation, and the crops 

 grown are those of the general agriculture of the community. It is 

 probable that nearly three-fourths of the entire area of the Sassafras 

 fine sand has been cleared and occupied for some form of agricul- 

 tural production. 



The class of crops grown upon the Sassafras fine sand depends 

 chiefly upon the market facilities. Thus, upon the larger areas of 

 the type along the Patuxent River, corn, wheat, grass, and the 

 Maryland pipe-smoking tobacco constitute the chief crops. Corn 

 gives moderate to low yields, ranging from 15 to 30 bushels per acre. 

 Wheat gives yields which range from 10 to 15 bushels. Hay is not 

 generally grown, but where produced yields of less than 1 ton per 

 acre are common. The quality of the Maryland pipe-smoking to- 

 bacco produced upon this soil is fair to good, but the yields are fre- 

 quently low. In fact, the water-holding capacity of the type under 

 normal conditions is not great enough to mature large yields of the 

 staple crops. Cowpeas and crimson clover have only been grown to 

 a small extent upon the Sassafras fine sand. The general introduc- 



63555°— Bull. 159—1-5 — -4 



