74 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. IJail., 



THE STORY OF SOILS AND PLANTS IN THEIR RE- 

 LATION TO LIMING. 



By H. J. Wheeler, Ph.D., 



Director of the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station. 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : It gives me much 

 pleasure to greet a Connecticut audience. This pleasure is 

 that of a former Massachusetts neighbor and as a neighbor and 

 resident of Rhode Island. 



Only those who have gone from another State with the 

 plan of making Rhode Island the home of their adoption, can 

 full}' realize what it means to become a full fledged Rhode 

 Islander. The two years of probation before one can cast a 

 ballot inculcate a high appreciation of the blessings of true citi- 

 zenship, and give ample opportunity for intelligent American- 

 born citizens to arrive at a correct conclusion how to vote. 

 Not being burdened at the outset with this duty of citizenship, 

 my first two years in Rhode Island were devoted without inter- 

 ruption to becoming acquainted with her soils, the products of 

 her farms, her people, and the agricultural problems to be 

 solved. As a result of visits to every nook and corner of the 

 State one could not fail to be struck with certain peculiarities 

 which were markedly different from those that are to be ob- 

 served in many other States and countries. An abundance of 

 common sorrel, blackberry vines, certain varieties of St. John's 

 wort, violets, five-fingers, and wild-grass were visible at every 

 turn. The absence of a good stand of clover in freshly seeded 

 mowing lands, the rapid disappearance of timothy, and the 

 usurpation of its place by redtop and Rhode Island bent were 

 most characteristic features. 



Few of the soils are derived from the underlying rocks, but 

 where they are, and whether from slate, pudding-stone, sand- 

 stone, conglomerate, or granite, the characteristics of the na- 

 tural vegetation are much the same as those of the other areas 

 where the soil is composed oi granitic glacial debris. 



While skirting the western borders of the State it happened 

 occasionally that I inadvertantly found myself in Connecticut, 

 but neither the soil, the vegetation, nor even the people, gave 

 a hint that the limits of the State had been overstepped. Per- 

 haps it was the same recognition of the fact that there may be 



