TOPOGRAPHY AND SOIL 



outside the river valleys, are composed of glacial drift 

 varying in fineness from coarse boulders and small peb- 

 bles down to fine sand and silty clays, these materials 

 being mixed in widely varying proportions. These soils 

 were, without doubt, formed by the slow grinding, 

 scraping and pushing action of powerful glaciers, which 

 in prehistoric times moved slowly over the whole region 

 in a southwesterly direction. In many instances the 

 powerful movement of the glaciers broke off and car- 

 ried along massive boulders which lodged on the higher 

 hills, and many fields were left so densely studded with 

 small boulders as to make plowing almost impossible. 

 In general, there is one type of soil on most of the 

 higher lands of the county. This soil has been formed 

 by the breaking down of rocks of granitic type. For 

 many miles to the north the rocks are of the same gen- 

 eral class as those on the higher lands of this county, 

 and the bulk of the glaciated material is supposed to 

 have been transported not more than ten to fifteen 

 miles. When the granitic type of rock becomes weath- 

 ered it makes a close-textured, clayey soil, which is usu- 

 ally more or less studded with boulders. These soils 

 are typical hay and pasture soils, and Litchfield County 

 has always been noted as a good hay and grazing coun- 

 try. Soils of this type are retentive of moisture and 

 manure, and furnish liberal amounts of the elements 

 needed in the growth of grasses, clover and most 



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