SOIL. it-r 



this the hills, which constitute a g;reat proportion of 

 the whole surface, are universally covered. This 

 soil is always favorable to the production of grass, 

 and m the western parts of the country, when not too 

 moist, of wheat and ail other kinds of grain, and of 

 every kind of fruit suited to the climate. Maize, or 

 Indian corn grows well, even on the wet groundj^ 

 where this soil exists. 



Clayey soils are more rarely found, and are also 

 very productive, especially when manured. A rick 

 loam, varying towards clay, begins at Guilford and 

 Branford in Connecticut, and spreads through the 

 whole breadth of that state, terminating in West 

 Spring^eld. The same soil prevails also in Salisbury 

 and Sharon, and covers about one quarter of the 

 western half of Connecticut. This soil, wherever it 

 exists, is favorable to every kind of cultivation, and 

 is surpassed in goodness by no land in this country. 



The yellow pine plains are commonly a mixture of 

 sand and gravel ; are light and warm, and friendly 

 to every production which does not demand a richer 

 ^oil. The white pine plains are usually covered 

 with loam, as are some of the yellow pine plains, and 

 are not unfrequently fertile. The vallies, almost 

 without exception, are a rich mould, and friendly t© 

 rcvery growth of the climate. 



The intervals, which border the various streams^ 

 are usually lands formed by earth deposited by the 

 floods, or, as they are called freshes, in the spring, 

 and are of the richest quality. Marshes, except of 

 trifling extent, are rare : the most considerable are 

 around New Haven, and along the eastern coast ©f 

 Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 



s 2 



