EXPERIMENTS ^^ITH PERMANENT PASTURES 9 



from it primarily in that the Cheshire contains an appreciable amount of sedi- 

 mentary rock material together with the crystalline material as found in the 

 Gloucester. The topography of both series of soils is rolling to rough, and stones 

 are usually so abundant in both as practically to limit their use to pasture and 

 timber. 



Table 1. — Mechanical Analysis of Soil of Experiment A 

 (Sample from untreated area around plots.) 



Per cent 



Fine gravel (,2.0-1.0 mm.) 0.8 



Coarse sand (1.0-0.5 mm.) 5.5 



Medium sand (0.5-0.25 mm.) 5.2 



Fine sand (0.25-0.10 mm.) 4.6 



Very fine sand (0.10-0.05 mm.) 42.2 



Silt (0.05-0.005 mm.) 37.2 



Clay (0.005 mm. or le.ss) 4.5 



The fine-earth portion of the Tillson Pasture soils is a fine sandy loam, as 

 shown by the mechanical analysis of a samjjle from experiment A given in table 

 1. The chemical properties of the same soil are given in table 2. These data 

 may be considered as applying to the soil of experiment B which lay contiguous 

 to A, and for practical purposes may be applied to experiment C, except that 

 the latter soil was more acid, having a pH of 5.0. The soil of C was apparently 

 more depleted of plant nutrients than was that of A and B, as indicated by the 

 scarcity of grasses and clovers and the abundance of weeds. Figures 1, 8, and 9 

 give an idea of the appearance of the land on which experiments A, B, and C 

 were located. Most of the large stones have been picked off by earlier genera- 

 tions of farmers. There was evidence that the field (experiment B) had been 

 cultivated in rows, but on the basis of the testimony of the stumps present when 

 the experiment was started, the last cultivation must have been prior to the crop 

 of timber represented by these stumps. At least two crops of timber have been 

 taken from the land. The area of experiment C has been plowed within the mem- 

 ory of the present owner, but he stated that on account of the abundance of stones 

 on and near the surface he hoped never to have to plow it again. This area has 

 been pastured for many years, and no doubt that alone accounts to a consider- 

 able degree for the lower state of fertility of the area as compared with that of 

 experiments A and B, which has been allowed to revert to timber within recent 

 years. 



Table 2. — Chemical Properties of Soils of Experiment A 



(Samples taken in the fall of 1928) 



Note — Analytical work except pH by H. R. DeRose, Fertilizer Control Laboratory. 



