field meadows are not exceeded in fertility by those in any part 

 of the State. The Deerfield meadows embrace an extent of 

 about three thousand acres, and a considerable portion of this 

 is annually over-flowed ; and, in some cases, more than once a 

 year. The Connecticut being flooded at the same time with 

 the Deerfield, and the outlet of the Deerfield being small in 

 proportion to the amount of water collected on the meadows 

 to be discharged, a sort of lake is formed at such times, and 

 the water remaining comparatively still, the deposits of the en- 

 riching matter held in suspension by the waters are gradually 

 made, and to a large amount. The depth of the alluvial de- 

 posits here is not easily ascertained, and varies in diff'erent 

 places ; but, while these annual floods and deposits continue, 

 the fertility of the lands aifected by them must be kept up, and 

 may, therefore, be pronounced perpetual. 



The Deerfield presents its most extensive alluvions in the 

 town of Deerfield, where the meadows hemmed in on all sides 

 by high hills, with the river pursuing a very circuitous course 

 among them, presents in the season of cultivation and harvest, 

 one of the most variegated and beautiful pictures the eye can 

 rest upon. There are other patches of alluvial land of consid- 

 erable richness along the banks of the river, extending to the 

 foot of the Florida Mountains in the county of Berkshire. 



The soil upon the hills difl'ers remarkably in diff'erent places. 

 In Rowe, Heath, Coleraine, Shelburne, Hawley, and Conway, 

 it is, in most cases, an unctuous mould, abounding in springs, 

 eminent for its fertility, and producing the best of pasturage. 



The Green river, a small stream emptying into the Deerfield 

 about a mile above its junction with the Connecticut, flows 

 through a considerable tract of land of excellent quality. All 

 this is alluvial, though but small portions of it are now over- 

 flowed by this stream ; and there is every reason to believe 

 that this valley, as well as the Deerfield valley, were at one 

 time the sites of lakes, and their richness is owing to the de- 

 posits brought from the neighboring hills and mountains by 

 various streams, and left in these extensive basins. 



