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division into sandy, clayey, loamy, calcareous, &c. 

 The following list embraces, it appears to me, all the 

 important varieties of soil in Massachusetts : 



1. Alluvium, from rivers. 



'' peaty. 



2. Tertiary soil, argillaceous. 



'' " sandy. 



3. Sandstone soil, red. 



" " gray. 



4. Graywacke soil, conglomerate. 



'' *' slaty, gray. 



" '•' slaty, red. 



5. Clay slate soil. 



6. Limestone soil, magnesian. 



" " common. 



7. Mica slate soil. 



8. Talcose slate soil. 



9. Gneiss soil, common. 



" '' ferruginous. 



10. Granite soil. 



11. Sienite soil. 



12. Porphyry soil. 



13. Greenstone soil. 



A few paragraphs of explanation will, I trust, render 

 these varieties of soil recognizable. 



In general, if any one wishes to know where to find 

 them, let him look at the geological map that accom- 

 panied my former report, and he may conclude that 

 the different soils cover those portions of the surface 

 that are represented as occupied by the rocks from 

 which they are derived. There is one circumstance, 

 however, that prevents us from considering the bound- 

 aries of the rock formations as perfectly coincident 

 with those of the soils. Diluvial action has removed 

 nearly all the loose covering of our rocks in a south- 

 erly direction, often several miles, and more or less 

 mingled the soils from difierent formations. Hence, 



