230 



THE SOILS OF CECIL COUNTY 



AREAS OF THE DIFFERENT SOILS. 



Soils. 



Cecil loam 



Sassafras loam 



Norfolk sand 



Susquehanna gravel 

 Cecil clay 



Acres. 



Per 



cent. 



53,600 

 50,500 

 46,600 

 45,600 

 13,500 



31.9 

 31.0 1 

 19.4 

 18.7 

 5.3 



Soils. 



Susquehanna clay. 

 Cecil mica loam — 



Elkton clay 



Conowingo clay — 

 Conowingo barrens 



Acres. 



11,000 



10,000 



7,000 



3,000 



3,000 



Per 

 cent. 



4.5 

 4.1 



1.3 



CECIL LOAM. 



The Cecil loam constitutes a type of soil characteristic of portions 

 of the Piedmont Plateau, not only of Cecil county, but also of large 

 areas of northern central Maryland and adjoining states as far south 

 as the Carolinas. Beginning at the gorge of the Susquehanna river, 

 in the western part of the county, it continues in an unbroken area 

 several miles in width to the Delaware line on the eastern border. 

 Along its southern border it presents a ragged outline, being buried 

 under the outlying gravel deposits of the Coastal Plain formations. 

 On the northern boundary these formations merge into the other for- 

 mations of the Piedmont Plateau, with no sharp lines of demarcation 

 of the soils or decided change in the surface features of the country. 



The topography of this formation partakes largely of that of the 

 Piedmont Plateau. Along the Susquehanna there is a steep descent 

 of 200 feet or more from the upland to the river bed, steep, rocky 

 hills characterizing this portion of the formation. The remainder 

 of the formation is a rolling upland, broken by the steep, narrow 

 valleys of the various streams which cross it. Many parts of this 

 formation are those which have been referred to as the most level 

 of the Piedmont Plateau in Cecil county. The drainage of this en- 

 tire area has for a long time been thoroughly established, so that there 

 are no swampy areas; for the formation is not only well drained but 

 also well watered by the many small streams which traverse it in a 

 southerly direction. 



The Cecil loam is derived from the slow weathering of the granites, 

 gneisses, schists, etc., which occur in the Piedmont Plateau. Situ- 

 ated south of the limit of ice action during glacial times, the slow 

 processes of subaerial decay have had ample time to accumulate a soil 



