72 BULLETIN 67*7, U. S. DEPABTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



SOIL AND CROP GEOGRAPHY. 



The result of all of the facts thus ascertained concerning the dis- 

 tribution of the different soils in southern New Jersey is plotted on 

 the map. (Plate A, page 16.) 



The salient facts with respect to crop distribution are similarly pre- 

 sented in the form of the map. (Plate B, page 64.) 



These two maps exhibit in a graphic way the broader facts of the 

 uses of specific soils and groups of soils for the production of dis- 

 tinct crops and associations of crops. 



The striking features of correspondence between the two maps are : 



The sandy soils of the Lakewood series have been found to be too 

 droughty for the common practices of crop production, and the 

 greater part of their area remains in forest. 



The undrained soils of the tide-marsh areas have been reclaimed 

 only to a small extent, and they are chiefly unused or only occupied 

 for the growing of forage crops or for pasturage. 



The soils derived from the outcroppings of the marly deposits of 

 Cretaceous and Eocene age are chiefly occupied for general farming 

 purposes, and to a limited degree for the growing of special crops. 

 Only steep topography and excessive erosion interfere with coni- 

 plete occupation of the soils of the Collington and Colts Neck series, 

 which are the chief soils derived from these deposits. 



The soils derived from the later sediments which mantle a large 

 area within the Earitan and Delaware Valleys and which occur as 

 a terraced border around a large part of southern New Jersey are 

 occupied almost to the limits of their occurrence for the growing of 

 a wide variety of crops. The soils of this origin belong chiefly to 

 the Sassafras series. Within this series the selection of particular 

 soils for specific crop uses has proceeded further and has reached a 

 greater degree of specialization than on any other group in the 

 region. 



In a general way the distribution of soil series and types in south- 

 ern New Jersey is marked by zonal alignment and the distribution 

 of dominant groups of crops follows that form. 



Neither climatic differences, which are small, nor differences in 

 distance to market, which are relatively slight but which occur, nor 

 differences in local transportation facilities, which exist to a limited 

 degree — tw one, nor all of these influences, has been sufficient to 

 obscure the evident dependence of crop production upon the geo- 

 graphical distribution of soils suited to the growing of certain crops 

 and uMswited to the growing of others. 



REVIEW OF SOIL USES BY SERIES, CLASSES, AND TYPES. 



For the purposes of the production of the general farm crops — 

 hay, corn, wheat, oats, and grass for pasture — the heavier loam soils 



