2 BULLETIN 140, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.. 



with its absence of rock outcrops and the predominance of sandy 

 soils, is a near approach to it. East of a line drawn from the 

 northeast corner of Rhode Island to Blue Hill the country is in ele- 

 vation above the sea level and in relation to higher land westward 

 similar to the Coastal Plain. The main body of this southeastern 

 section is marked here and there by low hills and isolated ridges, 

 giving it a gently rolling appearance, though in places it is almost 

 plainlike. In general the topography east of this line consists of 

 broad, low, rounded hills and ridges, with intervening smooth or 

 faintly dissected plains. West of this line the hills and ridges are 

 sharper, higher, and more thickly set on the landscape, while the 

 smooth plains become narrower. East of it the plains are the pre- 

 dominant topographic feature. West of it the hills are predominant. 

 The change, however, is gradual rather than abrupt, and the divid- 

 ing line described above is only approximate. 



The Framingham-Boston district includes an area topographi- 

 cally intermediate between the two areas described above, in which 

 there are numerous low but steep hills and ridges standing in broad, 

 smooth plains, a considerable part of which is swampy. This is a 

 local district, which extends for a short distance into the more ex- 

 tensive Eastern Plateau, and west of Waltham it consists of a rela- 

 tively narrow belt lying to the west of the Wellesley Hills. 



THE EASTERN PLATEAU. 



The boundaries of the Eastern Plateau are shown on the sketch 

 map, figure 1, and need no further description here. The eastern 

 boundary is so placed because of the much higher general altitude 

 of the Highland district which lies to the west in Massachusetts 

 and to the west and north in Connecticut. This district thus in- 

 cludes all the southeastern part of the latter State, in which it con- 

 stitutes the largest topographic division. The elevation boundaries 

 may be easily traced by the contour lines of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey topographic sheets. The width of this section in 

 Massachusetts is about 35 miles at the center of the State, but on a 

 line with Cape Ann it is much more. The elevation of the principal 

 hills along the east boundary of this region may be approximated 

 as 200 feet, and along the western boundary as something above 600 

 feet, with isolated points about 700 feet. In Connecticut this district 

 includes approximately the southeastern third of the State, including 

 all of New London County and the greater part of Windham and 

 Middlesex Counties. 



Were all the valleys and depressions filled to the average height of 

 the adjacent hills, there would result a high plain, sloping from the 

 boundary of the eastern highland toward the sea. Some of the 

 highest elevations, however, would rise above such plain, thus pro- 



