548 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



THE SOILS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



The soils of New Hampshire are divided into four kinds, upon the 

 little map herewith presented. They are arranged in the order of their 

 value. First, we have those derived from calcareous rocks, and exhibited 

 in the Connecticut river valley near Colebrook and Claremont. Second, 

 the balance of this hydrographic basin is occupied by more or less slaty 

 and schistose rocks. These are somewhat calcareous, and decidedly mag- 

 nesian. Third, the rocks bordering the coast in Rockingham county, 

 and extending northerly up Piscataqua river, produce a very similar soil. 

 Fourth, the rest of the state is underlaid by gneiss and granite, produc- 

 ing several grades of soil, according to particular local character. 



In a subsequent chapter I shall show a map indicating what proportion 

 of the state is now covered by a forest growth. By comparing this with 

 the agricultural map, it will be easy for the pioneer to know where he 

 can find the best virgin soil within our limits. The same map, and also 

 one in Chapter XIII, shows what proportion of the state is situated 

 above the limit of trees. Both these maps will be useful in studying the 

 agricultural capacities of our domain. It was not desirable to incorpo- 

 rate the forest and the barren ground districts with the agricultural map, 

 else comparisons of the kind of soil with the areas of wood-growth 

 and arctic vegetation would have been impracticable. 



THE CALCAREOUS SOILS. 



It is well known that the soils in eastern Vermont are of a supe- 

 rior character. I refer to those in the eastern part of Orleans county, 

 most of Caledonia and Orange, and the eastern border of Windsor and 

 Windham counties. These lands produce more in proportion to their 

 valuation and inhabitants than the other districts east of the Green 

 Mountains; and, as the climate and general topographical features are 

 the same, the reason of their greater fertility must lie in the chemical 

 character of the soil. Limestone countries are everywhere fertile. 



The geological survey has been the first to discover the existence in 

 New Hampshire of considerable areas of this formation. The ledges 

 are composed of alternations of bluish siliceous limestone, clay slate, 



