60 BULLETIN 677, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The soils of this group were not arranged, however, with respect 

 to their utilization for truck-crop production, since that is a matter 

 which is of secondary importance in their case. The arrangement 

 is made on the basis of the percentage of their areas given to general 

 farm crops. The Portsmouth sandy loam takes second rank, not so 

 much because of its texture as because of its low-lying topographic 

 position. It is so situated as to be permanently moist and this gives 

 rise to its use for the growing of hay and corn to a degree exceeding 

 what might be expected from its sandy texture. 



Without reference to the absolute figures, it should be noted that 

 each type in this group supports a higher percentage of general farm 

 crops than of truck crops. 



The single type in the fine sandy loam group is hardly sufficient to 

 form a basis for any decided conclusions beyond the fact that it falls 

 between the extremes set by the sandy soils on the one hand and the 

 more loamy soils on the other. 



No very definite conclusions with respect to the crop occupation of 

 the subordinate soils should be drawn from the figures given. It 

 is evident', however, that the CoUington sand is found to be too 

 porous and droughty for any large amount of farm occupation. The 

 use of the CoUington loam and sandy loam and the Elkton loam 

 for the growing of general farm crops and potatoes is in accord with 

 the general conditions observed over considerable areas of these types 

 included in the reconnoissance work in southern New Jersey. 



It is apparent from these tables that soils may be classed according 

 to their textural peculiarities in rather close accord with the fact of 

 crop occupation within an area of well developed and specialized 

 farming such as that of southern New Jersey. 



The table shows that the l^alance between general farming and 

 truck-crop production within these four areas is a graduated matter 

 of soil-texture control. The truck crops dominate the sandy soils, 

 and the general farm crops dominate the loamy soils. There is 

 a fairly definite graduation in the crop occupation of the types 

 from the sandy soils, through the coarser sandy loams and the 

 heavier sandy loams, to the loams at the other end of the scale. The 

 consonance between texture and crop uses is too close through the 

 entire set of dominant soils to be considered as any mere matter of 

 accidental coincidence. Moreover, the four areas are too widely 

 separated geographically to permit one to attribute this consonance 

 to the possible influence of prejudice in soil selection for crop grow- 

 ing as might be the case in a single community more or less wedded 

 to a traditional system of agriculture. 



The practical application of the soil-survey classification of soils 

 to the needs of progressive agriculture with respect to the selection 



