SOILS OF THE SASSAFRAS SERIES. 29 



peake Bay the areas are of small extent and are found upon low 

 coastal or river terraces. 



In all the areas of its occurrence the Sassafras sandy loam is well 

 drained in its natural condition and only a very small proportion of 

 the type requires artificial drainage to render it suitable for agricul- 

 ture. 



The generally level or slightly undulating surface renders the use 

 of power machinery possible over practically the entire extent of 

 this soil. It is thus admirably suited by its natural characteristics 

 for the development of many classes of farming. 



It is probable that more than 80 per cent of the total area of the 

 Sassafras sandy loam has been cleared and utilized for some form of 

 agriculture. The class of farming developed depends to a consider- 

 able degree upon the location of the particular area of the type with 

 respect to markets and transportation, since the soil itself is fairly 

 well suited to the conduct of a high class of general farming or to a 

 more intensive form of special crop production. For both of these 

 classes of farming it is held in high esteem and is consequently very 

 generally under cultivation. Only local areas of considerable slope 

 are left in natural forest. 



Among the staple farm crops, corn is more extensively grown upon 

 the Sassafras sandy loam than any other. The yields of corn re- 

 ported from this tj^pe range from 35 to 40 bushels an acre under 

 normal circumstances, while yields of 65 bushels or more have been 

 attained under especially favorable conditions of season and where 

 extra care was used in the preparation of the land and in the culti- 

 vation of the crop. In the latitudes in which the Sassafras sandy 

 loam occurs the dent varieties of corn are almost exclusively grown 

 for the field crop. 



Wheat is most extensively grown among the small grains and gives 

 yields which range from 12 to 18 bushels per acre under normal con- 

 ditions, but with authentic yields in excess of 30 bushels per acre. 

 The Sassafras sandy loam is rather porous and sandy to be classed 

 as a first-rate wheat soil, but the jdelds obtained show that the crop 

 may be used successfully in the general farm rotation. 



Oats and rye are both grown to a small extent upon this soil. The 

 yields are not sufficiently high to warrant increasing the acreage. 



Cowpeas are grown to some extent on the Sassafras sandy loam in 

 Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The crop is not 

 common, however. 



Crimson clover, or " scarlet " clover, as it is locally termed, has 

 been grown upon the Sassafras sandy loam and associated soils for 

 nearly 30 years. Excellent fields in eastern Maryland are shown in 

 Plate III, figures 1 and 2. Within the past 10 years the area 

 annually seeded to this crop has been greatly increased, and the value 



