OF MARYLAND. 37 



whole territory of Maryland. It will have been perceived 

 that its soil chiefly composed of sand and clay, is evidently 

 one of transportation, and although very variable accord- 

 ing to localities, possesses, considered as a whole, great 

 uniformity of character. It presents on the other hand, a 

 striking difference when compared with that of the division 

 of country next to be considered. The portion of Maryland 

 included within this division embraces the upper part of Cecil 

 county on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake bay, nearly 

 the whole of Harford and Baltimore counties, the upper part 

 of Anne Arundel and most of Montgomery county, on the 

 Western Shore. It comprises a low chain of hills having a 

 north-east and south-west direction, with short spurs to the 

 south-east that present rounded summits, and between which 

 the drainage of the country is effected; all the rivers and 

 water courses in this portion of the state running north-west 

 and south-east. The bed of the rivers is usually at the bot- 

 tom of a narrow and deep ravine, with steep sides that afford 

 but very small tracts of alluvial soil on their margin. Althouo-h 

 the entire mass of hills rises towards the north-west, attaining 

 an elevation not exceeding nine hundred feet above mid-tide, 

 its summit rarely presents any distinct ridge, but rather forms 

 an elevated plateau, intersected, in the direction already 

 assigned to the water-courses, by deep trenches. It affects 

 the appearance of a ridge on its lateral limits, or, in other 

 words, it is itself a broad ridge, from twenty to thirty miles in 

 breadth. The soils that occur upon it have been produced by 

 the disintegration and decomposition of the subjacent rocks, 

 and consequently vary according to the nature of these. 

 Generally speaking the best soil is superincumbent upon 

 limestone ; this usually consisting of a dark mould very fa- 

 vourable to the growth of wheat. An excellent wheat soil is 

 also produced by the decomposition of hornblende rocks, 

 forming what in some parts of Baltimore and Harford coun- 

 ties are termed the red lands. The coarser granitic aggre- 

 gates likewise form a tolerable soil, which readily improves by 

 tillage and by the use of plaster and clover, but more espe- 

 cially by the application of lime. On the other hand the 

 disintegration of the magnesian rocks seems to be totally 

 unfavourable to vegetation. 



