330 THE PLANT LIFE OF MAEYLAND 



Shale Ridges. — Westward from North Mountain, the soil char- 

 acter, the vegetation and the farm life appear to change almost 

 immediately with the first outlook over the upper Potomac Valley 

 from the crest of the mountain at Fairview. From this point the 

 country appears clearly divided into the cultivated area of the Val- 

 ley eastward, and into the wooded slopes of the small and large 

 ridges westward. The blue haze hides all detail in the distance, 

 but these differences on the two sides of the crest continue as far 

 as the eye can see, and form the characteristic features of the re- 

 spective sections of the state. 



The farm land is occupied in smaller holdings, and may appear 

 as mere clearings in the woodland for most of the distance from 

 Fairvicw to Hancock, but there one finds more extensive farms and 

 more active agriculture. As the transportation facilities are poorer 

 than in the region just passed, this may account for the difference 

 in development to a considerable degree. This difference will be- 

 come less from now on, as transportation by rail is now possible in 

 the section between North Mountain and Hancock. 



While the general soil conditions from North Mountain westward 

 are unfavorable for the best agriculture, just west of Hancock there 

 is a considerable area which is better than the region between that 

 point and Fairview. The land is underlaid by thin bedded shales 

 and limestones which disintregate to a soil of good quality. The 

 steep slopes of the valleys draining this area make cultivation dif- 

 ficult, but grasses form good turf and washing is much diminished. 

 The upper slopes of the ridges are largely set out in fruit orchards, 

 the lower slopes affording pasturage, or grain fields. Sideling Hill 

 with its masses of sandstone limits this area of good ground on the 

 west. 



From Sideling Hill to Cumberland there is a succession of hills 

 or ridges, largely in timber on the slopes, and in cleared farm lands 

 on the lower ground between, or near the crests. The character of 

 the farm work compares with that east of Hancock, and to a consid- 

 erable degree for the same reason, i e. — character of soils and dis- 

 tance from transportation. The soils in the region from the top of 

 Sideling Hill to Flintstone arc largely shales like those between 

 Clear Spring and Hancock, but in the region just east of Flintstone 

 there is a stretch of valley land having a shale foundation which 



