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



most important factor in the establishment of the numerous or- 

 chards. Most of these are small, to be sure, small orchards being 

 countless, but there are also large plantings of both old and young 

 trees. 



The characteristic color of the above soils is some shade of brown 

 or yellowish brown, but the heavier soils are sometimes grayish and 

 the subsoils a grayish brown or gray. In some cases, but not in 

 others, this indicates poor present drainage. It is evident that the 

 grayish colors of some areas is due to deficient drainage before the 

 land was cleared, the subsequent ' run-off of the surface and open 

 ditches serving to bring the land to satisfactory condition for crop- 

 ping. 



The soil descriptions of the last district apply likewise to most of 

 Essex County, though small areas of gravelly and sandy soils are 

 perhaps a little more frequent, as are small areas of clay loams. In 

 the Oldtown district, too, are some interesting loams carrying some 

 well-developed orchards of Roxbury {Roxbury Russet). In de- 

 scribing soils for that variety these are classed as Essex loam. 



North of Groton, and thence toward Hollis, N. H., a town just 

 across the State line, there is another class of soil known locally as 

 slate lands, and classed by the Bureau of Soils as the Hollis series. 

 These have been derived from schistose rocks from which the 

 " slaty " fragments in the soil have come. The soils are more moist 

 than the corresponding types of the Gloucester series, and in crop 

 use are similar to the Bernardston soils, being especially well- 

 adapted to the production of grass and other forage crops. For the 

 purpose of this report these soils may be grouped with the Bernards- 

 ton series. The red varieties of apples do not color as well as those 

 grown on the Gloucester soils, which on this account are more de- 

 sirable for growing the red varieties. 



North of the Merrimac Eiver, and in northern Middlesex, northern 

 Worcester, and northeastern Franklin Counties the topography is 

 somewhat choppy, the soils are generally more sandy and porous, 

 and farming is not extensively developed; and while sections of 

 good farming lands and many good individual farms occur, the per- 

 centage of stony land is greater than in some parts of the Eastern 

 Plateau of the Eastern Highland districts. 



Land prices in the Eastern Plateau district are extremely variable, 

 the average being much higher in Massachusetts than in Connecticut, 

 largely because of the density of the population. Near towns and 

 population centers, farm lands in Massachusetts are worth from $50 

 to $150 an acre, except in especially desirable locations, where they 

 are much higher. At a distance from town land may be bought for 

 much less than $50 an acre in both States. 



