28 BULLETIN 159, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



surface soil and subsoil and to avoid the areas of the type under- 

 lain at a shallow depth by thick or compacted beds of gravel. Where 

 the surface layer of loamy and gravelly soil and subsoil amounts to 

 3 feet or more the type possesses a considerable agricultural value. 

 Elsewhere it is too completely drained and the gravel bed interferes 

 too seriously with root development. 



In general the Sassafras gravelly loam is not well suited to the 

 staple farm crops. Certain special fruit and vegetable crops are 

 grown where the loam content is greatest and where the local demand 

 furnishes a good market for early vegetables or fruits. 



In all areas the Sassafras gravelly loam is benefited by the addition 

 of organic manures. 



SASSAFRAS SANDY LOAM. 



The Sassafras sandy loam has been mapped to the extent of 332,410 

 acres in the soil surveys which have been made in southern New Jer- 

 sey, Delaware, eastern and southern Maryland, and in the vicinity of 

 Norfolk, Va. It is one of the most extensively developed and agri- 

 culturally important types in the Sassafras series. It is probable 

 that additional soil surveys in these general localities will show the 

 existence of other areas of this soil. 



The soil of the Sassafras sandy loam to an average depth exceed- 

 ing 1 foot is a brown, granular sandy loam. It is characterized by a 

 fairly even distribution of the coarse, medium, and fine grades of 

 sand with a relatively large proportion of silt, which gives a decided 

 coherency to the soil mass. 



The subsoil is a reddish-yellow or broArn sandy loam decidedly 

 heavier and more coherent than the surface soil. This extends to a 

 depth of 2 or 3 feet, where it is normally underlain by coarse sand 

 or fine gravel. There are areas of limited extent where the more 

 pervious deeper layer is not found and some portions of the type, par- 

 ticularly in the New Jersey occurrences, are underlain by a stiff clay. 

 These are not strictly typical of the Sassafras sandy loam. 



Upon portions of the type which slope down to stream courses a 

 small amount of quartz gravel and occasionally a few small stones 

 are found. Such areas are of decidedly limited extent, and the type 

 as a whole is a remarkably uniform medium sandy loam. 



All of the more extensive areas of the Sassafras sandy loam possess 

 a nearh T level or very gently undulating surface topography. They 

 occur principally within the low-lying coastal terraces which border 

 the Delaware Eiver and Bay and in the broad, gently sloping plain 

 which lies between Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay. The abso- 

 lute elevation of the surface of the type ranges from 5 to 10 feet 

 above tide level near the coast line, to altitudes of 70 or 80 feet above 

 tide upon the more elevated inland ridges. West and south of Chesa- 



