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they are of small extent, and the county may be said to be well 

 drained. There are swamps of considerable area in the southern 

 part of Brookfield and in the southern part of Auburn. The 

 Nashua River valley in Lancaster has an extensive clay loam 

 area distinct from anything else in the county. This area con- 

 tains deposits of fuller's earth, a clay used in the scouring of 

 woolen cloth. The soil is generally deep even on the hills, and 

 outcropping ledges of the underlying rock are not common. 

 This underlying rock is of igneous origin, either granite, schist 

 or gneiss. About Milford the granite has a pinkish tinge and 

 is called "Milford pink granite," and is much prized in some 

 kinds of stone work, while in Fitchburg there are quarries of 

 common gray granite cut chiefly into edgestones and block 

 pavement. 



Worcester County soil and topography would be favorable 

 for agricultural development were it not for the great amount 

 of stones and bowlders which make it impossible to work the 

 soil with economy. For this reason much of the area must 

 remain absolute forest soil. The soil on the whole is more 

 favorable to conifers than to hardwood growth, although in 

 low, moist situations and on north slopes deciduous growth 

 thrives excellently. 



Forest Conditions. 



Worcester County is on the boundary line between the 

 southern limit of what is called the northern forest type 

 which contains, as hardwoods, beech, white and yellow birch 

 and rock maple, and as conifers, white pine, hemlock, fir and 

 spruce and the northern edge of the southern forest region, 

 whose type of trees includes chestnut, oaks, hickory, gray birch, 

 red maple, white pine, pitch pine and hemlock. Lying as it 

 does in this intermediate zone between these two forest regions its 

 forest flora is very extensive. As explained before, it has been 

 necessary to group these various species into types, and we give 

 herewith a table showing the area of these forest types and non- 

 forest types for the whole county. It will be seen from this 

 table that the forest area covers more than one-half of the 

 county, or 57 per cent. It will be noted with regret that the 



