Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-12-05

the original plant growth from this
soil has been removed it shows a sec
ond growth of oak and pine in about
equal quantities. The soil students
say that this soil is intermediate be-
tween the heavy grain producing and
the light tobacco and truck Soils 1t is
a fair corn land and produces GOOD
yields OF peas. tomatoes, sugar corn
and similar crops. ,
Cecil mica loan is a residual SOIL
part of Prince Georges county ana
over considerable areas in the District
Of Columbia. 1t is found along the
sleeper streams, where everything sedl,
mentary materials have been removed
by erosion. 1t is friable yellow loan:
containing considerable amounts of
mica in small fakes. In dry weather
it is loose and appears to be almost
sandy, but in wet weather, because OF
the mica scales, 1t feels slippery. The
sassafras loan type is one or the hign.
~ esteemed soil types of Prince
Georges county for general farming,
and the Norfolk loan type, which is
found in the Forests of Prince George
and along the upland of the PatuXent
river, is one of the most esteemed soils
for the production of tobacco. The
soil question is big and somewhat in
tricate question. and many different
types of soil are found in the same
neighborhood.
In a report OIL tne Wal idhu SeoioS
ical survey Is this reference to the
Prince Georges market gardens, which
help supply Washington:
At the present time the land holdings of Prince
Georges county vary In size from 100 and 2oo
acres up to a thousand acres ana more more ,, IN
the tenant system. the tenants making pay
mcnt either in cash or in farm products "nq qhf
boundary OF the District OF Columbia many Of
the larger farms have been subdivided into small
parcels and sold to persons ihce small o tracts
are produced radishes. lettuce. tomatoes, cucum-
bers, melons. green peas sugar corn anu pe taam
and there either sold from market stalls or
peddled from house to house. Upon these
rmItivat,on has been practiced in order to pro
duce steady supply OF the various ef'l'' III
season.
1t may be news to most of the people
of Washington that the forests OF
Prince George county are one of the
main sources of wealth to the county,
the value of the woodland products
being second only to the farm products.
The woodlands of the county cover
127.20O acres, or Al per cent of the
area of the county. F. w. Besley of
the state board of forestry has written
an interesting report on the forests of
Prince Georges county, and the follow
ing is an extract from a chapter on
The Distribution of the Forests:
In the early history of the county the forests
constituted by far the larger part OF the land
area: Owing to the demand for tillnble land
the forests were rapidly reduced, until practically
all OF the arabic land was cleared for growing
crops. Naturally. along the Patuxent river
where the tide OF immigration first set inn the
greatest inroads were made on the forest area,
until this section known In the early settlement
days as the Forests of Prince Georges" has
now the smallest percentage Of forest land Of
any part of the county For the last twenty
years there hns been little change. The land
that was cleared prior to that time is being
cultivated and the chances are that there will
be little change In the woodland area for a
long time to come. In the western part of the
county the conditions are quite different. The
soils of this section are moro diversified and on
the whole less adaptable to the growing Of
agricultural crops. There are large areas Of
poorly drained land. also sterile clay and ssnA