SOILS OF THE SASSAFRAS SERIES. 51 



These soil materials thus comprise debris of glacial origin, sedi- 

 ments derived from the Appalachian and Piedmont soil provinces, 

 and reworked material from the older Coastal Plain deposits which 

 they overlie. 



The soils of the Sassafras series are confined in their distribution 

 to the northern portion of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, extending 

 from the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay region through 

 central and southern New Jersey to the western end of Long 

 Island, N. Y. 



Within this region they occupy low-lying terraces which border 

 the ocean and the chief tidewater estuaries, lying at altitudes which 

 range from approximately sea level to elevations of 200 feet or more. 

 In general the surface of the different types is nearly level to gently 

 undulating, although some small hills and eroded areas are found. 



The drainage of the soils of the Sassafras series is generally good 

 and only the more level areas and those remote from stream channels 

 are decidedly in need of artificial drainage. 



In texture the soils of the Sassafras series range from a gravelly 

 loam through sands and sandy loams to a heavy silt loam. These 

 differences in soil texture give rise to differences in the crops which 

 may be grown to best advantage upon the different types in the 

 series. 



The Sassafras sand, loamy sand, and fine sand are best suited 2 

 under favorable circumstances of markets and transportation, to 

 the production of vegetable and fruit crops. 



The Sassafras sandy loam is the coarsest-grained type suited to 

 general farm crops and it is also well suited to the growing of 

 many of the fruit and truck crops. 



The Sassafras loam and silt loam constitute excellent soils for 

 the growing of corn, wheat, and hay and are also used for the plant- 

 ing of orchards of apples and pears. 



The character of agriculture conducted on the different types of 

 the series differs both with the texture of the soil and with the ac- 

 cessibility to markets and to transportation. Areas of the more 

 porous soils in the vicinity of large city markets are largely occu- 

 pied for market- gardening and trucking, as in southern New Jer- 

 sey, portions of Delaware, and some sections of Maryland. Areas 

 not thus favorably located are used to a small extent for the produc- 

 tion of staple crops with only moderate yields. 



The more dense and retentive types are chiefly used for the grow- 

 ing of grain and grass. Corn and wheat are the chief grain crops. 

 Mixed timothy and clover and clover alone are grown for hay. 

 Dairying and stock raising are conducted to a limited degree upon 

 portions of these soils, particularly in southwestern New Jersey and 

 in the northern part of the Maryland-Delaware peninsula. The 



