SOILS OF SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY AND THEIR USES. 



37 



tain some dairy cows from the pasturage and forage crops furnished 

 by the diked lands. The areas of Tidal marsh are not included in 

 the measurements of the detailed crop and soil map. 



None of these soils differ materially from their normal charac- 

 teristics in southern New Jersey, except that the outer margins of 

 the Sassafras sand areas show a sticky clay underlying the type at a 

 depth ranging from 24 to 36 inches. This narrow belt of land ex- 

 presses the thinning out of the material and the near approach to 

 the surface of the older, underlying clay beds. 



A part of the Tidal marsh is diked and used for hay production 

 and for grazing. The swampy stream bottoms are used for grazing, 

 while the steeper slopes from upland to stream bottom are chiefly in 

 forest. Nearly every available acre of upland is occupied by some 

 crop or by the homestead and necessary lanes. 



The total and relative areas of the different soils are shown in 

 Table VI: 



Table VI. — Extent of different soil types, Thorofare area. 



Soil type 



Area 

 occu- 

 pied. 



Propor- 

 tion of 

 total oc- 

 cupied 



area. 



Sassafras sand 



Acres. 

 940.5 

 248.9 

 123.5 

 45.6 



Per cent. 

 69 3 



Sassafras sandy loam 



18.3 



Portsmouth sandy loam 



9.1 



Collingtion fine sandy Inam . : . . 



3.3 









Total 



1,358.5 



100 







USES OF SOILS. 



In the Thorofare area the Sassafras sand dominates; the Sassa- 

 fras sandy loam is the only other important upland soil, and the 

 Portsmouth sandy loam and the CoUington fine sandy loam are 

 areally of decidedly less importance. The study of the crop uses 

 of the soils of this area is essentially a study of contrasts between 

 the Sassafras sand and the Sassafras sandy loam. 



The character of the agriculture supported by the more sandy 

 soils along the low terrace which borders the Delaware River from 

 Trenton to the vicinity of Penns Grove is well represented by the 

 soil and crop map of the Thorofare area. 



Table VII shows the absolute and relative importance of each 

 crop within the area surveyed and upon each of the tilled, upland 

 soil types. 



