MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



137 



The large meadow areas of the forelands are frequently cultivated to 

 the general farm crops, but in wet seasons they are difficult of tillage, 

 and even in the most favorable seasons they produce only wheat and 

 grass to good advantage. They require extensive underdrainage ; even 

 open ditches are inadequate, for the soil is so dense and so near water 

 level that surface drainage fails to lower the level of standing water 

 sufficiently to aerate the soil thoroughly. The presence of excessive 

 water in the soil thus tends to keep the ground cold and to delay seed 

 germination and plant growth. Then, too, the organic acids tend to 



Mechanicai:. Analysis of Meadow. 



accumulate to excess, proving harmful to plant life and not fulfilling 

 their function in the preparation of mineral matter to serve as plant 

 food. 



Proper underdrainage by lowering the water level will not only drain 

 oif surplus moisture, but will also permit a circulation of air, and thus 

 aid in the natural improvement of the soil. 



Many thousand acres of meadow land, now producing only a rank 

 growth of grass or an uncertain crop of gTain, can be made highly valu- 

 able by relatively cheap methods of underdrainage. 



The soil of the meadow areas usually consists of S to 10 inches of 

 gray silty loam underlaid by a subsoil of ash-gray clay loam. The soil 

 mass is apt to be cohesive and clay-like when wet, but when subjected 

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