SOILS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT. 7 



tion with a thin coating of soil material, but consists of an accumu- 

 lation of unconsolidated rock material in which the rock founda- 

 tion lies deep, seemingly below the level of the sea. It is in this 

 respect similar to Long Island and to a certain extent to the Coastal 

 Plain. 



Southern New England has passed through a long history in 

 reaching its present condition. It is unnecessary to recount even 

 the broad phases of that history, since it can be obtained in any good 

 geological description of the region. A late and the most important 

 stage in that history, so far as the soils of the region are concerned, 

 was the invasion of the region by the glaciers of the glacial period. 

 This changed the details of surface relief, thoroughly mixed and 

 rearranged and redistributed the preexisting coating of soil and 

 soil material, making the formation of a new soil necessary. The 

 existing soils, therefore, are the product of soil-making agencies that 

 have been in operation since the glacial period and are therefore 

 young. 



The ice reshaped the details of the topography by rounding off 

 sharp corners and filling basins with deposits. Although part of 

 the country is mountainous it has been rounded so that most of it 

 is easily accessible. 



The ice modified the layer of soil material in several ways : 



(1) It removed a coating that was due to weathering and there- 

 fore approximately uniform in thickness, and left one that is prac- 

 tically absent in some places and of great thickness in others. 



(2) It left a layer of soil material usually mixed with stone 

 fragments. 



(3) Owing to the great amount of water that was released from 

 the ice during the melting period many belts and areas were built 

 up into flat plains by the deposition of gravel and sand. These lie 

 in the low belts and their proportional area increases progressively 

 eastward from the Connecticut Valley. 



(4) In some areas a very irregular and a very stony deposit was 

 made in which the irregularities are small, giving a rough, bumpy, 

 topography. These areas are usually very stony and almost worth- 

 less for agriculture. 



We have, therefore — 



(1) The smooth, moderately stony surfaces that may be level, 

 moderately steep, or rolling. The soils consist of loams, clay loams, 

 and sands. . 



(2) Level, sandy, and gravelly areas. 



(3) Bumpy stony gravelly or sandy areas. 



(4) Very steep areas and rocky areas. 



The agriculture of New England is mainly on No. 1. 



