1134 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXX, No. 12 
a background of information as to 
chemical composition would indicate 
also the other uses to which the various 
varieties are adapted. This paper 
presents the results of an attempt to 
secure such a background. 
THE EXPERIMENT VINEYARD 
Location 
The Office of Horticultural Investi¬ 
gations of the Bureau of Plant Industry 
established an experiment vineyard of 
selected varieties at Vineland, N. J., in 
1908, which was the source of the 
material used in the work. 
Vineland is located near the north¬ 
ern boundary of Cumberland County, 
which borders upon Delaware Bay at 
the extreme southern tip of New Jer¬ 
sey. The experiment vineyard is lo¬ 
cated about 1miles southeast of the 
town limits. The Millville area, within 
which the vineyard lies, has been de¬ 
scribed in detail by the Bureau of 
Soils, United States Department of 
Agriculture, ( 20 ) 2 and the chemistry 
of the soils of the area has been studied 
by the New Jersey Agricultural Ex¬ 
periment Station (IS). The descrip¬ 
tion of the locality given here is sum¬ 
marized from the publications just re¬ 
ferred to. 
The area is on the Coastal Plain, and 
is characterized as a whole by its flat¬ 
ness and lack of relief. The region 
adjacent to Vineland has a number of 
low, flattened ridges rising from 10 to 
30 feet above the general surface, which 
is 109 feet above sea level at Vineland. 
The soils of the whole area are of com¬ 
paratively recent and largely marine 
origin, the Cohansey sand formation 
overlying most of the area, and con¬ 
sist for the most part of sand and 
gravel with a small percentage of clay. 
In the locality in which Vineland is 
situated the soil is classified as Sassa¬ 
fras gravelly sandy loam. The surface 
soil is a light brown loamy sand to 
sandy loam, 6 to 8 inches in depth, be¬ 
neath which is a yellow or yellowish- 
red sandy loam 4 to 8 inches in depth. 
The subsoil is a dull red or reddish- 
yellow sandy clay with some grave 
and coarse sand, which are in greater 
proportion with greater depth. White 
and yellow quartz gravel one-eighth 
to three-fourths inch in diameter occur 
in varying proportions throughout 
both surface soil and subsoil. While 
somewhat deficient in plant food and 
requiring addition of lime, as indicated 
by the analyses in Tables I and II, the 
soils have good drainage, become 
warm early in the spring, and are easy 
to cultivate. About 50 per cent of 
the Sassafras gravelly sandy loam in 
the area has been cleared and is de¬ 
voted to the cultivation of vegetables 
and fruits. Sweet potatoes, peppers, 
tomatoes, sweet corn, strawberries, 
raspberries, Lima beans, and peas are 
the principal truck crops. The area 
immediately adjacent to Vineland has 
become a rather intensive peach¬ 
growing district, and the planting of 
apples is increasing. The tree fruits 
have to a considerable extent dis¬ 
placed grapes, which were formerly 
much grown but which gradually be¬ 
came unprofitable on account of im¬ 
proper management. Where effective 
methods of controlling disease and 
maintaining soil fertility have been 
adopted the vineyards continue to 
yield profitable crops. 
Table I.— Composition of Sassafras loamy sand and Sassafras gravelly sandy 
loam , Vineland , N. J. 
Percentages of— 
Soil type and location 
Depth 
sam¬ 
pled 
Nitrogen 
(N) 
Phos¬ 
phoric 
acid 
(P 2 O 5 ) 
Potash 
(K 2 0) 
Lime 
(CaO) 
Mag¬ 
nesia 
(MgO) 
Carbon 
(C) 
Sassafras loamy sand 1 mile east of 
Vineland, at Spring Road and Landis 
Avenue _ _ _ 
Inches 
Oto 9 
0.050 
0.083 
0.373 
0.750 
Snbsnil, same 
9 to 36 
.023 
.043 
.947 
.215 
Sassafras gravelly sandy loam, near 
Vineland.. _ 
Oto 8 
.089 
.083 
.685 
0.315 
0.290 
1.589 
Subsoil, same - _ _ 
8 to 34 
.028 
.035 
.685 
.210 
.319 
.309 
Sassafras loamy sand at Norma, 3 
west of Vineland_ _ 
Oto 10 
.053 
.077 
.338 
.105 
.152 
.764 
Subsoil, same_ __ _ 
10 to 36 
.021 
.034 
.382 
.203 
.232 
.089 
2 Reference is made by number (italic) to “Literature cited,” p. 1175. 
