16 BULLETIN 677^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



SOIL AND CROP SURVEY OF THE FREEHOLD AREA. 



The area immediately south of Freehold was studied and mapped 

 during August, 1914. It is located upon the Amboy Division of the 

 Pennsylvania Eailroad and upon the Central Eailroad of New Jer- 

 sey about 40 miles from New York City, 30 miles from Trenton, 

 N. J., and 70 miles from Philadelphia, Pa. Its location with respect 

 to both markets and transportation, therefore, is favorable. 



The area mapped is located just south of the ridge which divides 

 the Atlantic drainage from that of the Delaware Eiver. The high- 

 est elevation within the area of the map — 190 feet above tide level — 

 occurs within the limits of Freehold. There is a gentle slope to the 

 south throughout the area and an altitude of 140 feet is reached 

 along the southern border of the map. ~ 



The location of thiscletailed map is indicated on Plate A, page 16. 

 The topography and soil conditions of the general region are shown 

 on the large map of the Freehold area published to accompany the 

 regular soil survey of that section.^ 



Freehold is located within what is known as the " marl belt " of 

 southern New Jersey; As a result, the underlying materials within 

 the limits of the map consist chiefly of glauconite, or greensand, con- 

 taining variable proportions of clay and quartz sand. To a small 

 extent the area is also underlain by the rusty, red, sticky sand of 

 the Redbank formation, which contains plates and angular frag- 

 ments of iron crust. 



Over the greater part of the area this basal material is covered 

 to varying depths by later deposits, and the deeper layers are chiefly 

 exposed along the margins of streams upon rather steeply sloping 

 areas. 



The underlying marl beds have influenced the surface layers from 

 which the dominant soils are derived to some degree and the deeper 

 subsoils sometimes show unmistakable evidences of admixture of 

 marl. 



Sassafras loam. — ^The surface soil of the Sassafras loam, to an 

 average depth of 10 or 12 inches, is a mellow, brown to dark-brown 

 silty loam. It is underlain by a yellowish-brown to brown, heavy 

 silty loam, which is rather more compact than the surface soil. The 

 total depth of surface soil and subsoil in the Freehold area ranges 

 from 1 or 2 feet along the slopes to the streams to 5 or 6 feet over the 

 greater part of the upland. 



In the Freehold area, as elsewhere in southern New Jersey, the 

 type occupies nearly level to gently sloping uplands, and natural 

 drainage is well established over the greater part of its surface. 



1 Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils, 1913, p. 95. 



