SOILS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT. 13 



high are not uncommon. Level areas of appreciable size are few. 

 The position of the Cape in midocean, as it were, exposes her farms, 

 especially north of the elbow, to strong winds which have caught up 

 the sandy soil and blown it in swirls here and there, thus forming 

 a" succession of low hills, knolls, and hollows. Both elevations and 

 depressions are small in area; hence the surface of the Cape, espe- 

 cially east of Barnstable, is hilly, notwithstanding the slight eleva- 

 tion above the sea. 



Many of the hilltops are not covered with vegetation, and on them 

 sand-carrying winds make impracticable the growth of any except 

 the hardiest plants, shrubs, or trees. It is in the hollows and on 

 protected hillsides that the crops are grown, and there also the farm 

 buildings are usually located. For this reason a casual glance over 

 the region reveals only a small part of the gardening and farming 

 operations. 



The soils of the hollows and protected slopes have not had the 

 finer particles blown from the surface by the winds, and the accu- 

 mulation of humus from decaying plant growth has left them gener- 

 ally productive, yet their small size and limited production, together 

 with lack of transportation facilities or high carrying charges, have 

 prevented any considerable development of farming interests to com- 

 pete in general markets. The very important fisheries have consti- 

 tuted, moreover, the principal industry. Hence the chief agricultu- 

 ral problem has been to maintain a home, to grow all sorts of garden 

 and farm crops for family use, and to grow feed for the necessary 

 horses and neat stock. This is a very legitimate and proper develop- 

 ment of the opportunities, in that home supplies have been produced, 

 while a main industry (fishing) has been specialized. 



The attractiveness of the Cape as a place of summer residence has 

 brought there a large population during the warm weather. This 

 has created a large and growing demand for garden produce, summer 

 fruits, dressed poultry, eggs, etc., much of which is shipped to the 

 Cape from the Boston markets. 



On the best of the soils located as described above, namely, in 

 the hollows and on protected slopes, there are many excel- 

 lent opportimities to grow garden crops, small fruits, plums, 

 peaches, summer apples, etc. The best soil types available for this 

 purpose are fine sand and loamy fine sand, principally, though occa- 

 sional areas of the fine sandy loam occur. Areas of compact medium 

 sand can be used for early-season garden crops, and even the coarse 

 sands bring remunerative return where so managed as to provide 

 a good supply of humus. In wet seasons strawberries and the cane 

 fruits also do well, but in dry seasons the fruit is too small, and by 

 midsummer there is liable to be insufficient moisture to maintain a 

 good growth of plants, thus weakening their vitality. The latter 



