SOIL SURVEY OF THE OCALA AREA, FLORIDA. 
243 
sirable soil. The hardpan stratum seems to prevent or check the 
movement of water either down or up. During rainy spells the wa¬ 
ter is held in the upper portion, and as the land lies low it is very 
often covered with water. This water can escape by lateral seepage 
and by evaporation, only the latter being probably the most effective 
means of removal. On the other hand, when the dry season comes, 
which is in the winter and early spring, the soil becomes very dry 
and will not support growing crops. This hardpan stratum, how¬ 
ever, in some of the developed trucking sections of the State, is said 
to constitute a valuable feature, in that it tends to hold up irrigation 
water in such a way as to make the artificial application of water 
cheaper and more effective. Heavy applications of nitrogenous, 
phosphatic, and potassic fertilizers have to be made in order to pro¬ 
duce good yields. Organic matter should be supplied by adding 
barnyard manure, where obtainable, or by turning under some legu¬ 
minous crop, such as cowpeas, velvet beans, or beggarweed. With 
the incorporation of sufficient quantities of organic matter and com¬ 
mercial fertilizers this soil can be made to produce a number of 
trucking crops, such as lettuce, celery, and potatoes. On some of the 
better Leon sand outside of this area cucumbers are grown with 
profit. None of the type is cleared and under cultivation within this 
area. It has a very low value. 
LEON FINE SAND. 
The Leon fine sand is similar in all respects to the Leon sand, 
with the exception that the texture is fine instead of medium. It oc¬ 
curs in association with fine-textured soils in the western half of the 
area. The type consists of fine sand to a depth of 36 inches. The 
surface portion is gray to almost white, and the subsoil almost white, 
except for a brown layer of “hardpan” which is usually present some¬ 
where in the 3-foot section. Beneath the hardpan is found white or 
slightly drab-colored sand saturated with water. Like the Leon 
sand, the material is somewhat compact in places, but upon handling 
it becomes incoherent. The texture is uniform throughout the 3- 
foot section, but there is slight variation in texture from place to 
place as it tends either toward a coarser or a finer texture. In places 
along the border with Swamp or the Portsmouth soils it is consid¬ 
erably darker here, approaching the character of the Portsmouth 
soils. 
The Leon fine sand occupies extensive areas of palmetto fiat- 
