Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-14
SOIL CONDITIONS
DOWN DELAWARE
Report of a Study Made by the
Government in Cooperation
With Delaware College.

A DO0klCi HAS USSt asNstNNi ~
United States Department of Agncui-
t,,re IN co-operation with the Delaware
College and agricultural experiment sta,
tion. dealing with the subject oi sou
survey of Kent county, Delaware, made
by ]. f. Dunn, in charge, and j. M. ony-
der of the United States Department oil
Agriculture, and Elwood I1offecker, OF
the Delaware agricultural experiment sta
ton. The survey, was made during tne
field season Of 1918 with the selection OF
the area made after conference with state
officials The manuscript report ana map
covering the area were recomIncnded LOT
publication rs advance sheets OF held op-
erations of the bureau OF soils tor 1919, Is
provided by law.
Contents of the booklet cover de-
scription of the area, climate, agriculture
soils There follow after the last dlvl-
SION descriptions Of Sassafras sand, Sassa-
fras losnv sand. Sassafras sandy loan
savs,fras loan SaSSafras silt loan, Leon
ardtown sandy loan, Leonardtown loan,
EIktou sandy loan, Elkton silt loan,
Portsmouth sandy loan, Portsmouth
loan. Portsmouth silt loan, meadow,
swamp, tidal marsh and coastal beach. In
conclusion there is a general summary
There are two illustrations, ono sketch
man showing location of the Kent county
area. and the other n soil map. Portions
Of the survey follow:
Kent county comprises about one
third of Delaware, and has total land
AREA of 59I square miles or oSll, lhu acres
The county Is embraced within the
phvsioCraphic division known rs the
Atlantic Coastal Plain. 1t can he divided
into the poorly drained, trceiesS tdA
marshes along Delaware Bay second, 4
broad belt of wcll-draincd fertile farming
land which extends in general north and
south direction through the central part
of the county: third, the western section,
which is nat and frequently poorly drained
The tidal-marsh belt lies nearly mt sea
level and IS subject to inundatlon during
high tides II contains numerous slougHS
and ponds. This belt is quite irregular IN
outline. with q maximum width OF over
4 miles and q minimum Of less than one.
II extends several miles up the streams,
entering the bav rs tidal-rnarsh cstualIeS.
In places in the part it is separated from
the bav bv narrow sand barrier
Back of this foreland a plain slowly
rises 10 the central part OF the county,
where the MAXIMUM elevation IS about %
feet The stream courses here have SUI
hcient fall for adequate drainage, IN
contrast to this the western belt lhciud.~
many depre<sionS and flats near the heaas
az streams. The channels are frequently
indefinite. and the drainage Of much q
the land is very imperfect
The drainage Of about three-fourths Of
the county is into Delaware Bay through
the SMYRNA river Murderkill river, DUCK,
LATHE Duck, st. Jones and MIspllllon
creeks and their tributaries white the
western fourth is drained into Chesapeake
Bav through the Chester and Choptank
rivers and Marshvhope creek The streams
arc rather sluggish, and IN most places
their banks are not over 10 to - icet
below the general upland level
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS.
In summer the DAYS are hot, but not
excessively so only for short periods.
The humidity IS high, which has ten
dencv to make the heat oppressive. Dur
ing the winter months the atmosphere Is
generally damp and penetrating.
Thc moan rainfall Is 43 80 inches, pre-
cipltation being distributed evenly
throughout the year. The average snow
f,u i "a inches Wind and hailstorms
are Of rare occurrence,
Since the earliest settlement, the primer
nal industry Of Kent county has occn agrl--
culture Wheat, corn, tobacco, oats and
peach growing arc some oi the principal
products HAY IS also an important crop
Tomatoes are the most important can
ming crop. Many kinds Of vegetables are
produced
Kent county r. entirely in the coastal
plain province. which region was at one
time submerged III the sea during this
.tere various sediments washed down
from the older land regions accumulated
Later the land surface was elevated above
sea level and the deposits subjected 70
change through ages Of weatherlng. ero-
sion and plant growth.
The soils of this county, all Ofwhich have
been derived from these sedImentary
materials, are classified IN IS types with
2 Dhases and miscellaneous types
The tvpes and phases are grouped Ia tour
series The Sassafras soils are the best
and the most important IN the county
Some of these soils are very productive
and rank among the most desirable OF the
Atlantic coastal plain. The sandy loan
and loan have a WIDE crop range and are
we'll adapted 10 fruit growing as Well as tc
the production Of tomatoes and the gen.
eral farm crops The silt loan Is an eX-
cellent soil and produces good yields o.
corn, wheat and hay The sander types
are well suited for sweet potatoes, Der
ries and trucking crops.
The Leonardtown soils are relatively
unirnDOrta nj on account OF their SINAI
extent. The surfa &c soils are like those 0
the Sassafras series, but the subsol, hk'
that OF the Elkton types, Is inadequatel,
drained. This makes these soils less de
sirable than the Sassalras soils.
The Elkton series in tins county com
pr1ses a sandy loan, a loan and sil
loan. These are typlcally gray soils
occupying fat or nearly level areas witt
poor drainage Wheat Is the principa
crop grown, but hay, corn and tomatoe
are also important.
The Portsmouth soils are black in IN
surface LAYER and high N organic ma tteT
They occupy fiat areas and are poorl,
drained. The series IS represented by til