


SOILS OF SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY AND THEIR USES. 1083 
of these types when distributed among broader areas of less desirable 
types have been sought out and cleared. Such areas are found in 
many of the smaller clearings which are interspersed through the 
forested area, and they constitute an excellent illustration of the in- 
fluence exerted by the character of the soil upon the agricultural 
occupation. 
It is not by chance that the intensive forms of truck and fruit 
erowing and the more extensive forms of staple cropping have been 
developed upon these particular soils. Years of experience have 
taught that soils of these groups constitute the safe foundation for 
agriculture and that they excel all other soils of the region for staple 
and special crop production, 
A comparison of the map showing the general distribution of soil 
groups with that showing the tilled and forested land in southern 
New Jersey will at once demonstrate this selective use of the soils 
of the region. 
The specialization of agricultural development within southern 
New Jersey has not rested merely with the occupation of certain 
general soil groups for farming purposes while others have remained 
uncultivated. 
Among these chosen agricultural soils, experience has shown that 
certain soils are most successfully used for certain crops and succes- 
sions of crops, and there has arisen a segregation of cropping prac- 
tices which follows to a rather are degree the specific character- 
istics of soils. 
One of the best examples of this selection of soils for specific uses 
over a considerable territory may be observed in Salem County, N. J., 
and in adjacent portions of Cumberland County. 
To the north and east of Salem and extending nearly to Elmer, 
quite to Shiloh, and almost to Bridgeton, N. J., is a large area of 
heavy loam soil, locally termed a “clay” in some cases. This large 
area of the Sassafras loam has long been the location of an excellent 
- system of general farming in which corn, wheat, and hay have occu- 
pied the most prominent positions. In connection with these crops 
dairying has been practiced. Yields of each of these crops decidedly 
in excess of the average yields of the State or of the section are ob- 
tained. Until recent years this form of agriculture was almost the 
only one followed. The demand for certain special crops has lately 
brought about some changes in the cropping system, introducing po- 
tato growing and the production of tomatoes for the canning factory. 
Both of these special crops are well suited to the land in question. 
Few attempts are made to produce early market tomatoes, and in the 
case of potatoes dependence 1s chiefly placed upon the size of the crop 
rather than upon early maturity. Thus, even with increased special- 
ization in cropping, careful attention is paid to the natural capabil- 
ities of the soil of this section. | 
