14 
BULLETIN" 46, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
and outcrops of limestone are of common occurrence. The topography 
is undulating to gently rolling, well suited to cultivation. The soils 
are very productive and admirably adapted to com, small grain, 
clover, bluegrass, timothy, apples, and in the Southern States to 
cotton. 
The stony loam, owing to its rough topography, is best adapted to 
forestry, and, in favored localities, to peaches and winter apples. 
In local areas corn and wheat may be produced. The loam 
has long been recognized as one of the most valuable soils for 
general farming in the Eastern States. It is a natural bluegrass soil, 
and therefore makes the finest of pastures, while clover and timothy 
do almost equally as well for hay. It is admirably adapted to corn 
and well adapted to wheat and apples. The York Imperial, Wine- 
sap, Smokehouse, and Ben Davis varieties of apples do particularly 
well. The sandy loam in the lower lying areas and valleys is well 
adapted to corn, grass, and clover, 
and locally to wheat. The ridges 
and slopes are suited to peaches 
and apples, and several large or- 
chards have proved successful 
financially. Medium to late truck 
and canning crops give fair re- 
turns. The clay is a strong soil 
and well adapted to clover, grasses, 
wheat, and corn. Clover and tim- 
othy mixed give large yields of 
hay. Bluegrass is the natural pas- 
turage. The soil is heavy and re- 
quires the heaviest farm equip- 
ment. It is adapted to intensive 
dairying, where the cows are confined and a minimum of pasturing 
practiced. The silt loam is an excellent heavy general farming soil, 
being well adapted to corn, wheat, and hay, and also to late fruits and 
vegetables. The clay loam is practically similar in crop adaptation 
and yields to the Hagerstown clay. It occupies a very small area. 
Conestoga series. — The soils of this series are yellowish brown to 
brown, with yellow and gray mottled subsoils, having a greasy feel 
and often showing a reddish cast. They are derived from calcareous 
shale modified by associated thin sandstone and shaly limestone and 
often contain enough finely divided mica to impart a greasy feel to 
the subsoil. Shaly limestone, fragments of the parent rock, are of 
common occurrence in the subsoil and throughout the soil section. 
The soils are not quite so productive as the corresponding members 
of the associated Hagerstown series, but are suited to the production 
of general farm crops, such as wheat, oats, corn, clover, and grass. 
Fig. 6. — Relative area of Limestone 
soils. 
