220 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 
It has a wide range of adaptability and is a warm, early soil. Canta¬ 
loupes have been and are still an important crop. Yields of ioo 
crates to the acre are obtained with the use of 600 to 700 pounds of 
commercial fertilizer. The Rocky Ford variety is grown exclusively 
and is of excellent quality. Cucumbers, snap beans, and eggplants 
are other truck crops that succeed. Watermelons yield as high as 
a carload to the acre, while one-half carload is considered a fail- 
yield on most soils. At least two crops are taken every year from 
this soil. Where truck crops are grown the common practice is to 
follow with corn and peanuts. Cowpeas sometimes succeed canta¬ 
loupes or watermelons, and after these later planted crops mature 
a cutting of crab grass can be obtained for hay. Where general 
farming is practiced corn and peanuts are grown, and then the crab 
grass is cut, or beggarweed, if it happens to come in. The peanut 
crop is either harvested or left on the ground as feed for hogs. 
This land is held in good-sized farms, and the owners generally 
are prosperous. It lies close to the towns and railroads and is held 
at prices ranging ordinarily from $20 to $75 an acre, and much of 
it cannot be purchased even at the higher figure. 
Mechanical analyses of typical samples of the soil and subsoil of 
the Gainesville loamy sand gave the following results: 
Mechanical analyses of Gainesville loamy sand from 2 mi. southeast of Ocala 
(soil 0 - 10 , subsoil 10-36 in). 
Number 
Descrip¬ 
tion 
Med- 
Fine Coarse ium 
gravel sand sand 
Fine 
sand 
Very 
fine Silt 
sand 
Clay 
Per ct. Per ct. Per ct. Per ct. 
Per ct. Per ct. Per ct 
260811 _ 
Soil- 
0.6 12.9 26.5 
40.1 
10.4 4.3 
5.2 
260812 _ 
,SubsoiL. 
.2 12.8 25.6 
39.4 
10.7 3.8 
7.5 
GAINESVILLE FINE SAND. 
The surface soil of the Gainesville fine sand consists of 5 to -8 
inches of a brown or brownish-yellow fine sand to loamy fine sand, 
underlain by brownish-yellow loamy fine sand that becomes lighter 
colored with depth. Like the Norfolk fine sand, it is often loose and 
incoherent in the lower depths. Just below the surface of a great 
deal of the type there is a compact dark layer, resembling a hardpan, 
which contains considerable organic matter. When dry this com¬ 
pact layer breaks up into slafoby pieces which soon crumble. The 
type also includes some areas- of gray-colored surface material and 
