SOILS OP MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT. 15 



accentuated in some measure by the sanding of the hogs, their virgin 

 condition must have shown wide range in the proportion of muck 

 and sand of which they are largely composed. In fact the countless 

 areas that have never been improved leave no room for doubt on 

 this point. The assorting of the fine gravels and the sands as shown 

 from the rim of some of the bogs toward the center marks the range 

 of local sedimentation and in-wash. The surface soil of one bog 

 examined is a light muck mixed with a great deal of sand, there being 

 enough of the latter to constitute in some places a mucky sandy loam 

 rather than a sandy muck. The subsoil is extremely variable, often 

 differing widely in borings only 3 feet apart. Only in spots is the 

 subsoil a black clay loam, and in most places the soil auger 3 feet 

 long may be thrust down full length with little or no turning. A 

 blue clay is said to lie underneath, but in the borings taken none hap- 

 pened to be encountered within 3 feet of the surface. The soil is 

 well drained to a depth of at least 2 feet. The most serious feature 

 is an intermittent layer of water-washed sand from 6 to 12 inches 

 thick which is found in places at 2 to 10 inches beneath the surface. 

 Not infrequently some peat is found in the lower subsoil. Many 

 of these bogs not utilized at present for cranberries would produce 

 timothy to advantage. In others onions might well be grown by 

 installing drains. To mix thoroughly the different soil materials, 

 subsoiling and deep preparation tillage should precede such cropping 

 wherever the sands occur in beds. Otherwise shallow-rooted crops 

 would be liable to drought injury. 



In the southern half of Plymouth and Bristol Counties the to- 

 pography, the soils, and the crop use of the latter closely resemble 

 the conditions in northwest Barnstable County already described. 

 The lowland areas constitute very important cranberry lands. The 

 acreage of this crop could be increased, but it should be realized that 

 competition with other producing districts, such as New Jersey and 

 Wisconsin, is likely to become more keen than at present. 



The soils of northern Plymouth, northern Bristol, and eastern 

 Norfolk Counties differ from those of the southern half of the former 

 counties principally in having a smaller percentage of sandy types of 

 soil and in having a greater proportion of their area above the 100- 

 foot contour. An important part of this section, however, includ- 

 ing that occupied by the Eastons, the Bridgewaters, Whitman, and 

 Brockton, approximates only 100 feet in elevation, and almost the 

 whole section lies between 100 and 200 feet above sea level. The 

 local hills, except where the soil is unfavorable, are suitable for or- 

 charding. The surface soils include loams, sandy loams, and sands 

 of various depths, with subsoils of sandy loams and sands. The 

 color of the surface soil is brown to yellow, while the latter color 

 is almost universal in the subsoil. The subsoils of loamy types are 



