MARYLAND WEATHER SERVICE 303 



direction of the character of the Midland soils. There does not 

 appear to be any evidence that grasses are superior to other her- 

 baceous plants as indicators of the value of soils or as indices for 

 crop recommendations in a forested region like Maryland. 



The only sound conclusions that may be drawn from the natural 

 plant life of an area as to its agricultural capabilities are very 

 general ones. The more specific the inquirer attempts to be as to 

 the value of a particular plant association or a particular species 

 in indicating favorable conditions for the growth of a particular 

 crop the more is he apt to be led into error. The larger and more 

 striking phases of the vegetation of Maryland which have been 

 pointed out in the preceding pages are all dependent upon the sev- 

 eral climatic and soil factors to which attention has there been called. 

 Within small areas such as any one of the ecological districts of the 

 state, the whole inquiry reduces itself to an indirect method for the 

 estimation of the characteristics and value of soils. While numer- 

 ous broader facts might be pointed out as to the desirability of the 

 soil occupied by Loblolly Pine forest or Chestnut and Chestnut Oak 

 forest or Upland Swamps for the cultivation of particular crops, 

 these facts would be so far behind the experience and knowledge of 

 agriculturists as to be of no value to them, however important they 

 might be theoretically. That crop recommendations can be profit- 

 ably made on the basis of the occurrence of a single tree species is 

 doubtful for all but a few cases to which reference has been made, 

 and these cases may not hold good in other parts of the natural 

 ranges of these trees. The task of the pioneer who traversed the 

 virgin forests of Maryland, and without any experience of the soils 

 picked out favorable spots to be cleared merely by the indications 

 of the size and character of the trees was infinitely easier than that 

 of the botanist who traverses the state at the present day and at- 

 tempts to draw any close lines as to the index value of native vege- 

 tation. What the pioneer was doing was merely to judge the un- 

 known soils by the vegetation, and we today have too many direct 

 ways of knowing the nutrient content of soils and the relation of 

 their texture to water supply and movement to need the less direct 

 and eminently fallible method of examining the natural or introduced 

 plant covering. 



