r9t0] HOWE—REFORESTATION OF SAND PLAINS. 127 
denotes the presence of fossil beaches, usually accompanied by low 
sand dunes. The areas designated by circles were islands. Those 
in the Essex delta are schistose rock covered with unassorted glacial 
till and were not submerged. ‘Those in the Colchester and Burlington 
deltas, however, were submerged during the Essex stage, being lime- 
stone outcrops with the exception of the group of small islands just 
northwest of Essex Junction, which are schistose rock. The island 
south of Essex Junction, across the river, is an isolated portion of the 
Essex delta. 
The unshaded areas on each side of the Winooski River indicate 
its erosion channel through the deltas. The deltas have also been 
much dissected by smaller streams, but their erosion channels have 
not been shown on the map. 
The elevation of the Essex delta plain is 149™, of the Colchester 
delta plain 98™, and of the Burlington delta plain 68™ above the sea. 
ince the mean level of Lake Champlain is 30™, these deltas are 119, 
68, and 38™ respectively above the present lake level. 
The surface layer of soil on each of the three delta plains is sandy, 
varying from pure sand to sandy loam. The texture of the sand is 
fine and remarkably uniform throughout, and its depth ranges from 
a few centimeters to 7™. The subsoil of the whole area is clay. The 
Winooski River and its tributaries have exposed large areas of this 
clay, which, mixed with the sand, makes excellent farm lands. The 
discussion which follows, however, is confined to the vegetation of the 
sand plains of the three deltas, which occupy an area 36'™ long and on 
the average 14‘™ wide. 
Original forest conditions 
While the early historians mention the dominance of pine on the 
area under consideration, they indicate the dominant species only by 
inference. For example, THompson? says: “Along the western part 
of the state and bordering on Lake Champlain are extensive tracts of 
light sandy soil which were originally covered with white, pitch, and 
Norway pine.” The testimony of the oldest inhabitants who took 
part in the clearing of the areas is that white pine was the dominant 
? THompson, ZADOcK, History of Vermont, natural, civil, and statistical. Bur- 
lington. 1842. 
