MARYLAND WEATHER SERVICE 333 



it will be more and more possible and locally profitable, to turn to 

 some form of farm practice, for which the individual section may be 

 found particularly fitted. One such line of development which is 

 already in active operations is the raising of hay, both from natural 

 and from planted meadows. Considerable areas of the Mountain 

 soils are suited to the growth of grasses, and are too shallow for sat- 

 isfactory tillage. 



In the broad valley that extends from the Pennsylvania line along 

 the western slope of the Great Back Bone and Big Savage Moun- 

 tains, a type of valley land has developed known as the "Glades. 7 ' 

 These are closed valleys of shale soils, having a rim of sandstone. 

 The soft shales have broken down and formed a valley through 

 which a stream of sluggish current runs. The wash from the sides 

 of the valley accumulates along the sides of the stream, forming 

 wet marshy areas slowly rising to the slopes of the bordering hills. 

 The central portion of the "Glade" is thus of wet and cold soil, 

 while the margins may be of a good quality, both as to condition 

 and fertility. It is in such restricted sections that much of the 

 present farming is being carried on and the best types of agricultural 

 soils located. 



Agricultural Products. 



The chief agricultural products of the State are corn, wheat, 

 tobacco, truck crops, canning crops, and forage crops which are pro- 

 duced under particular conditions which have already been discussed. 



Grains. 



The leading grains of the State are corn and wheat which are 

 widely produced throughout the State. In the western section oats, 

 rye, barley and buckwheat are likewise produced in limited areas. 



Corn. — There are few crops in cultivation that are available in 

 so many ways as is corn, but this is not the place to enumerate the 

 various purposes to which this product of the field is put in the in- 

 dustrial or manufacturing pursuits. Here the agricultural uses are 

 of importance. There are two classes of uses to which the corn crop 

 is ordinarily applied, one being limited to the fresh, the other to 

 the ripe or dry crop. In each of these both the stalks and the ears are 



