ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 73 



has a yellowish to reddish sandy loam or sand passing beneath into 

 sandy loam varying from 6 or 8 to about 20 inches deep over the stiff 

 clay. This occupies much of the smoother eastern slopes of Mount 

 Hamilton and also occurs on the western slope of Hickey Hill. It is 

 a moderately good vegetable, corn, oat, and berry soil. Oak is the 

 principal tree. There is some hickory, tulip poplar, and, in the east- 

 ern part. pine. The soil is easy to handle. The gravelly sandy loam 

 (21) differs from the sandy loam chiefry in the presence of an abun- 

 dance of quartz gravel. 



The fine sandy loam (8) has a shallower depth to clay, is more 

 compact, and in the flat areas is poorer drained than the sanely loam. 

 It is best suited to small grain. On the flat areas crops make slow 

 growth, especially during cool or wet seasons. 



The coarse sandy loam (57) consists of grayish coarse sand and 

 gravel in the surface few inches, with yellowish coarse sandy loam 

 beneath, extending to depths of about 12 to 24 inches before the red 

 clay is reached. The principal area is on Hickey Hill. There is 

 much pine and some oak. This is not a very good type of soil. It is 

 thoroughly drained and warm natured and consequently could be 

 used for early plants, such as early vegetables and flowers. 



Along the slopes just south of the Pennsylvania Railway, in the 

 eastern part of the tract, there is some deep, loose Susquehanna sand, 

 representing a drought} 7 soil. Pine is one of the principal trees on 

 this type. 



The Susquehanna clay (39) is an unwieldy soil. On drying it 

 hardens and can not be satisfactorily tilled ; when wet it is extremely 

 plastic and sticky. It is a soil of very undesirable characteristics 

 from the standpoint of crop production, but oak trees succeed on it. 

 Grass can be grown, and with proper tillage and good seasons some 

 wheat could be grown. Sweet clover also will succeed, at least in 

 some places. It is being used for the manufacture of flower pots. In 

 the lower depths nodules of lime (calcium carbonate) are found in 

 places, as, for example, in the excavations made for the sewer line in 

 the central part of the tract. The stony areas of the clay (29) are 

 still less valuable. 



The cla}' loam (2) can be worked easier than the clay, since there 

 is a surface covering of 5 to 10 inches of red clay loam or reddish 

 sandy clay loam. Wheat and grass can be grown on land of this 

 kind with a fair degree of success. 



The classification, clay, clay loam, and loam (56), occurs on steep 

 slopes in the eastern part of the tract. In places there are some 

 fragments and outcrops of sandstone. On these steep slopes beech, 

 oak, and black gum, and some laurel and fern were seen. 



The silt loam (58) is a grayish silt loam overlying the reel, heavy 

 clay at shallow depth. It is a fair soil for wheat and grass. The 

 loam (17) and gravelly loam (11) are not extensive types. They 

 are fairly well suited to grass and small grain. 



Brownish to yellowish soils with yelloiu or mottled yellowish, 

 reddish, and grayish compact subsoils — Leonardtown group. — These 

 soils are not so extensive as the Susquehanna. The sandy loam and 

 fine sandy loam classification (6) comprises the largest area. This 

 occurs chiefly on the upper slopes of Mount Hamilton. There are 

 fragments of the locally formed sandstone on the surface in places, 

 and this rock is frequently found in the subsoil, but there is less of it 



