12 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 369 



those found most abundantly on soil of medium water-holding capacity (70 to 

 90 percent), such as sheep laurel and black birch; those found on land with high 

 water-holding capacity (90 to 100 percent), such as sugar maple, beech, and high- 

 bush blueberry; and finally those found with equal frequency irrespective of the 

 water-holding capacity of the soil, such as red maple, lady's slipper, and white 

 pine. 



Plants were divided into three classes with respect to tolerance of acidity. The 

 plants found most commonly at low pH (3.5 to 4) were such plants as low blue 

 indigo, lupine, scrub oak, and pitch pine; at medium pH (5 to 6), gray birch, 

 highbush blueberry, sensitive fern, alder, ironwood, meadow sweet, red cedar, 

 and skunk cabbage; at high pH (6 to 7), such plants as ash, canoe birch, buttercup, 

 elm, Kentucky bluegrass, sugar maple, mouse-ear chickweed, common plaintain, 

 English plantain, strawberry, dandelion, and shrubby cinquefoil. 



The writers believe that this material could be extended to serve as a guide 

 in evaluating farm land. 



Soil Conservation Research Projects. (Karol J. Kucinski and Walter S. 

 Eisenmenger.) 



A Survey of Erosion Problems Arising from Changes in Land Use. It has 

 been shown that there were 1,400,000 bushels of potatoes grown in 1927 in Massa- 

 chusetts and a yearly average of 1,975,000 bushels for 1928 through 1937. In 

 1938 the yield was 2,041,000 bushels and the Market Service estimates a yield 

 of 2,324,000 bushels for 1939. Potato growers for the past several years have 

 obtained good prices for their potatoes, thus encouraging them to expand their 

 acreage. In Massachusetts the demand has always greatly exceeded the supply 

 of native-grown potatoes. In some cases large out-of-state growers have come 

 to Massachusetts in order to be close to the retail market. 



No previous work has been done to acquaint one with the erosion problem 

 arising from this increase in potato acreage. Growing of potatoes on a large 

 scale is relatively a new venture on some of the farms in Massachusetts, especially 

 in the western foothills and plateau. Numerous acres of old sod have been plowed 

 under on the sloping hillsides for this purpose. As yet only slight sheet erosion 

 is noticed on these fields probably on account of the presence of large amounts of 

 organic matter. Great concern has been felt by some who think that, after a 

 few years of cultivation, the organic matter now present in these new potato 

 fields will decompose and the soil readily erode, since no cover-cropping system 

 is practiced. It is the purpose of this investigation to determine the nature and 

 extent of the area involved. It is of further interest to find out whether these 

 new potato areas are of such character and so located that they would lend them- 

 selves to soil erosion if no precautionary measures are being taken by the farmer 

 for its prevention. 



An Investigation of the Source and Nature of Erosional Damage on the Alluvial 

 Soils of Massachusetts. The object of this study was to ascertain sources and 

 extent of the damages to the alluvial soils resulting from the periodic flood waters 

 of the Connecticut, Merrimack, and other streams of Massachusetts. 



In times of serious flood much of the land is covered with silt to depths varying 

 from a few inches to several feet. Some of this deposit is so sandy as to be unfit 

 for cultivation and in some cases constitutes a wind erosion hazard. In other 

 places the material laid down contains very little sand but is high in silt and 

 clay fractions. 



A detailed study of damages to agricultural lands was made after the 1936 

 and 1938 floods along the Connecticut River at the Hadley, Northampton, Hat- 

 field, Deerfield, and Northfield meadows. It was found that the land damages 

 due to the 1936 flood were much more severe than those caused by the 1938 



