66 



BULLETIN 677, r. S. DEPAKTMEXT OF AGEICULTURE. 



Xew Jersey, letters were sent to nearly 4.000 farmers, principally 

 located within the sections where the detailed soil and crop surveys 

 were made, but also distributed to some extent over other sections of 

 tke region. 



In these letters inquiries were made concerning the individual 

 preference of each farmer for a sand, sandy loam. loam, or " clay " 

 soil for the growing of each of 14 crops. Additional inquiries were 

 included concerning yields, the use of cover crops for green manur- 

 ing, the use of stable manure, and the amount and formula of the 

 commercial fertilizer commonly used for the more important crops. 



Answers were received from about 1.000 persons. The material 

 thus obtained was classified with regard to the preference for par- 

 ticular soils in the growing of each crop. 



Table XIII shows, in terms of the percentage of all answers re- 

 ceived, the soil class preferred for the various truck crops : 



Table XIII. — Xurnher of answers received, and percentage of preference for 

 each soil class for the various truck crops. 



Crop. 



Answers 



Sand. 



Sandy 



received. 



loam. 





Per cent. 



Per cent. 



245 



61 



39 



151 



56 



41 



163 



26 



62 



178 



25 



63 



142 



17 



62 



82 



10 



65 



69 



29 



45 



147 



13 



60 



114 



7 



47 



359 



3 



49 



201 



3 



38 



96 



5 



33 



4-50 





34 



187 



1 



17 



I>oam. 



Clay. 



Sweet potatoes 

 Watermelons.. 



Asparagus 



Cantaloupes . . . 



Peas 



Cucumbers 



Eggplant 



Beans 



Peppers 



Tomatoes 



Sweet corn 



Onions 



Potatoes 



Cabbage 



The largest number of answers was received concerning the potato 

 crop. In slightly less than one-half the replies received a definite 

 choice of soil was expressed and 450 decisive answers were tabulated. 

 The answers with resjDect to tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and sweet corn 

 were also numerous. These four crops lead in acreage among the 

 special crops grown within the territory under consideration. 



Some explanation is needed with regard to the soil-texture terms 

 used in connection with these incjuiries and answers. In the first 

 place, only soil texture is considered. The classification into soil 

 series is not yet well enough understood nor generally enough used 

 among farmers to permit of more than a broad application to the 

 answers submitted. In the case of the texture of soils the soil survey 

 classification so closely parallels the common usage of farmers that 

 there is little chance for mistake, except where the survey classifica- 

 tion goes into greater detail than in the common usage. Hence only 

 four groups were included in the inquiry. 



