10 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



and cropping. The arrangement of flood gates to allow the exit of 

 drainage water without permitting the entrance of stream waters is also 

 one of the important points in arranging for the drainage and pro- 

 tection of reclaimed areas of Meadow. This is usually accomplished 

 by inserting in the embankment valve gates which open outward by 

 the pressure of drainage waters when the stream is at low levels and 

 automatically close by the inward pressure whenever the stream rises. 

 Extensive use has been made of these methods of reclamation along 

 the Atlantic coast and upon some of the larger riverside areas of 

 Meadow. 



The soils of the Meadow, as already stated, vary extremely in 

 texture, composition, and physical condition of compactness. In 

 consequence, the inherent properties are extremely variable when 

 the planting of tilled crops is considered. In addition the climatic 

 surroundings are diversified in the extreme. Consequently, no 

 general recommendations as to specific crop adaptations may be 

 made beyond the statement that such soils are best suited to those 

 crops which thrive under moist soil and subsoil conditions. Uni- 

 versally the grasses meet this condition. Other special crops will 

 be discussed elsewhere. 



DIFFERENT CLASSES OF MEADOWLANDS. 



The soils of the meadow areas are so extremely diverse that scarcely 

 any single area consists entirely of one class of soil material. The 

 broader and larger areas are frequently found to contain material 

 ranging from coarse sand and gravel, near to present or abandoned 

 stream channels, to the finest silts and clays in regions more remote 

 from the first effects of overflow or in depressed positions where the 

 final flood waters are collected and only deposit their load of sediment 

 through long periods of settling assisted by the final evaporation of 

 the water. The texture of different areas of Meadow and even of 

 different portions of the same area may, therefore, vary from 

 bowlders, coarse gravel, and sand to the finest grained silts and clay. 



One of the characteristic features of the Meadow is that new acces- 

 sions of material are being received continually in the majority of areas, 

 and, while it may happen that the new material resembles the old 

 in all essential respects as a soil, this is not at all certain to be the case, 

 and any particular acre of land may be covered one year by a heavy 

 silty soil and after a succeeding flood with a deposit of sand or gravel. 

 Thus, tlie constancy of the soil is not at all assured in even a single 

 area. 



The quantity of organic matter in the better protected areas of 

 Meadow is frequently so great as to render the surface soil mucky. 

 This is particularly the case where Meadow has been formed along 

 the margins of tidewater or the borders of small estuarine streams. 



