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



from the inland regions gently to a rather steep frontal escarpment, 

 where the type ordinarily terminates, and is replaced at lower levels 

 by other soils. In southern New Jersey the soil type is found at 

 an altitude of 25 to 50 feet on the low terraces which border the 

 eastern shore of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay, and it rises 

 gently inland to a higher level at about 140 feet altitude. Some por- 

 tions of the type between the low and the higher terrace are rolling 

 to sloping in their surface features. In the Maryland-Delaware 

 Peninsula the highest altitudes of the type are found in the form 

 of narrow terraces where the Coastal Plain section borders on the 

 Piedmont. Some of these higher terraces rise to an altitude of 200 

 feet or more. In general the highest altitudes of the Sassafras silt 

 loam within the Coastal Plain proper are found at about 100 to 110 

 feet above tide in the vicinity of Chesapeake Bay, and the surface 

 slopes gently eastward toward Delaware Bay through Maryland and 

 central Delaware, reaching its lowest level of about 10 feet above 

 tidewater in the east-central part of the State of Delaware. In 

 southern Maryland the Sassafras silt loam exists along the west 

 shore of Chesapeake Bay and along the main tidewater embayments 

 tributary to the bay in the form of distinct terraces, having an alti- 

 tude of 60 to 100 feet above tidewater. Some of these terraces extend 

 a considerable distance inland along the principal streams, and their 

 surface rises gently with the slope of the stream bed to altitudes of 

 over 100 feet. In all regions where it occurs the surface is so level 

 that power machinery may be used upon all parts of the type when 

 it is properly cleared of its natural hardwood growth. The altitude 

 above the local water level renders the natural drainage effective over 

 the greater proportion of the type. Slight hollows and level tracts 

 remote from the drainage courses constitute the only exception to 

 this general rule. 



Although the Sassafras silt loam is remarkably uniform in its 

 inherent characteristics from its most northern extension to its 

 southern limits, there are noticeable variations in the yields of the 

 general farm crops which are produced upon the type. In the more 

 northern regions, where this soil is highly esteemed for general 

 farming, it has been the subject of the most careful tillage and treat- 

 ment. As a result the yields of all the farm crops are high, and the 

 soil is rarely sold at a price lower than $75 to $100 an acre. Farther 

 south, where a different and less effective system of farming has 

 been in use, the yields are less, the price of the land is not more than 

 one-third as great, and the surface soil is more yellow and lacks suffi- 

 cient organic matter. It is also more likely to be compacted and 

 clodded when cultivated in a moist condition. These differences in 

 its condition indicate the chief limitations upon the producing ca- 

 pacity of the Sassafras silt loam. Where a careful and systematic 



