8 NEW HAMPSHIRE EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 255 



by deposits, includmg Beech Hill, a drumlin, and by the fact that as the 

 glacier receded the sea flooded the town to an elevation of about 200 

 feet for a short time, distributing clays and sands from the glacial 

 wash in layers. Subsequent erosion has cut these layers until now the 

 soil is mostly clayey in the hollows and sandy loam on the knolls. Two 

 potholes, of which Spruce Hole is one, were formed by glacial deposits 

 around a slowly melting mass of ice. 



The only hill of any size is Beech Hill, rising to about 245' above sea 

 level. The rest of the town is rolling, and level enough so that brooks 

 i-arely run noticeably, and there are swamps three-quarters of a mile 

 long. 



Two rivers, the Oyster and the Lamprey, drain the northern and 

 southwestern sections of town respectively. The Piscassic River 

 crosses the Newmarket line into Durham, but flows into the Lamprey 

 almost immediately. It was interesting to find that a branch of 

 Longmarsh Creek "flows from the Lamprey at Moat Island into the 

 Oyster River. The southeastern section, south of the Oyster River and 

 east of the Newmarket Road, is characterized by low hills and shallow 

 hollows, the hills with shallow soil and some ledge outcroppings, the 

 hollows usually swampy. This is not true of the land bordering the 

 bay, which is well drained, and makes the best fields of the town. A 

 few^ farms have been built in the interior, but only to be abandoned. 

 It is here that most of the wasteland occurs. 



Except for the University and the stores dependent on it, Durham 

 is almost entirely a farming community. There are several summer 

 camps and houses on the Bay shore. 



Description of the Types of Land Used 



Haylaiid. The town is about equally divided into hayland (30%), 

 pasture (31%), and woodland (34%), with swamp covering the 

 remaining 5%. Of these, the hayland is by far the most valuable.- 

 Disregarding the 500 acres used for residences, cultivation, etc., which 

 need more thorough investigation, there are about 600 acres of well 

 cared for hayland. About half of this is in the four square miles in the 

 northwest corner of town, and almost all the rest along the bay. The 

 other 3500 acres of hayland are allowed to produce what they will 

 without special cultural treatment. 



TABLE 1— ACREAGE OF TOWN OF DURHAM BY PRINCIPAL LAND 



USES 



Acres Per Cent, of Total 



Hay 4,609 30 



Pasture 4,777% 31 V* 



Hardwoods 2,854% 181/2 



Gray Birch 335% 2% 



Pine 2,077 13 V2 



Swamp and Water 670% 41/2 



15,3241/2 100 



The better type will average two tons to the acre, and sometimes 

 return as much as five, but the semi-wild fields will cut only about 14 



