SOIL SURVEY OF THE OCALA AREA, FLORIDA. 
229 
cept that the high hammock land now supports a growth of pine. 
There is, however, considerable variation throughout the type, par¬ 
ticularly in depth of the surface soil and to some extent in texture. 
These variations occur within short distances. The type consists of 
a sandy mantle overlying mottled clays. The surface soil in most 
places is between 6 inches and 2 feet deep, but occasionally it is 
deeper. The first few inches of the surface soil usually consist of 
black to brownish-black sand or loamy sand rich in vegetable matter. 
The texture varies in places to a sandy loam'. Beneath this dark sur¬ 
face portion the color becomes lighter, the subsurface consisting of 
a brownish-yellow to drab medium sand, which is frequently slightly 
sticky in its lower part. In some places the surface portion is gray, 
grayish drab, or dark gray in color in the upper part and light drab 
below. Cultivated fields soon assume a dull-gray or drab color on 
the surface and differ markedly in appearance from the surrounding 
gray sand of other types. The subsoil consists for the most part of 
a mottled drab and yellow plastic sandy clay. Generally the mot¬ 
tling increases with depth. Occasionally there are some streaks or 
mottlings of brick-red color, but, except in small spots, the red mot¬ 
tling is not conspicuous. On examination the drab-colored portion 
of the clay is found to consist mostly of clay particles and to be very 
stiff and plastic, while the yellow and brown colored material is 
sandy, showing in places, especially on the high hammocks, decom¬ 
posing fragments of sandy rock. In places the clay is quite sandy, 
and yet very stiff, while in other places there is very little sand and 
the clay is stiff, sticky, and plastic. The clay is always moist, and 
often has a greasy feel in addition to its plasticity. The clay content, 
as a rule, increases somewhat with depth. In some areas the subsoil 
includes sandy strata throughout the heavier clay and vice versa. In 
road cuts the material has a characteristic dingy bluish-drab and 
brown mottled color. The roads when wet become very sticky, and 
are sometimes described as “clabber.” When dry, however, they 
become smooth and very hard. 
The Fellowship sandy loam has a larger development than any 
other of the Fellowship soils. While its areas are not widely dis¬ 
tributed, they are extensive. The high hammock area lies in two 
bodies, one immediately south of Ocala and the other northwest of 
Ocala in the vicinity of Fellowship Church. The largest develop¬ 
ment of the low hammock areas of this type is east of Ocala, where 
it is associated with the swamp of Silver Springs Run and Dead 
