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16 BULLETIN 677, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
SOIL AND CROP SURVEY OF THE FREEHOLD AREA. 
The area immediately south of Freehold was studied and mapped . 
during August, 1914. It is located upon the Amboy Division of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad and upon the Central Railroad of New Jer- 
sey about 40 miles from New York City, 30 miles from Trenton, 
N. J., and 70 miles from Philadelphia, Pa. Its location with respect. 
to both markets and transportation, therefore, is favorable. 
The area mapped is located just. south of the ridge which divides 
the Atlantic drainage from that of the Delaware River. The high- 
est elevation within the area of the map—190 feet above tide level— 
occurs within the hmits of Freehold. There is a gentle slope to the 
south throughout the area and an altitude of 140 feet is reached . 
along the southern border of the map. 
The location of this detailed map is indicated on Plate A, page 16. 
The topography and soil conditions of the general region are shown 
on the large map of the Freehold area published to accompany the 
regular soil survey of that section.* 
SOILS. 
Freehold is located within what is known as the “marl belt ” of 
southern New Jersey. Asa result, the underlying materials within 
the limits of the map consist chiefly of glauconite, or greensand, con- 
taining variable proportions of clay and quartz sand. To a small 
extent the area is also underlain by the rusty, red, sticky sand of 
the Redbank formation, which contains plates and angular frag- 
ments of iron crust. 
Over the greater part of the area this basal material is covered 
to varying depths by later deposits, and the deeper layers are chiefly 
exposed along the margins of streams upon rather steeply sloping 
areas. 
The underlying marl beds have influenced the surface layers from 
which the dominant soils are derived to some degree and the deeper 
subsoils sometimes show unmistakable evidences of admixture of 
marl. 
Sassafras loam.—The surface soil of the Sassafras loam, to an 
average depth of 10 or 12 inches, is a mellow, brown to dark-brown 
silty loam. It is underlain by a yellowish-brown to brown, heavy 
silty loam, which is rather more compact than the surface soil. The 
total depth of surface soil and subsoil in the Freehold area ranges 
from 1 or 2 feet along the slopes to the streams to 5 or 6 feet over the 
greater part of the upland. 
In the Freehold area, as elsewhere in southern New Jersey, the 
type occupies nearly level to gently sloping uplands, and natural 
drainage is well established over the greater part of its surface. 
1¥ield Operations of the Bureau of Soils, 1918, p. 95,- 
