SOIL. 



205 



i^Rtp is very little broken or irregular. The heights 

 of Christiana are lofty and commanding ; some of the 

 hills of Brandy wine are rough and stony ; but descend- 

 ing from these, and a few others, the lower country 

 is so little diversified as almost to form one extended 

 plain. In the county of New Castle, the soil consists 

 of a strong clay : in Kent, there is a considerable 

 mixture of sand : and in Sussex, the quantity of sand 

 altogether predominates. Wheat is the staple of 

 this state : it grows here in such perfection as not 

 only to be particularly sought by the manufacturers 

 of flour throughout the union, but also to be distin- 

 guished and preferred, for its superior qualities, in. 

 foreign markets. 



Soil of Mary land • 



East of the blue ridge of mountains, which 

 stretches across the western part of the state of 

 Maryland, the land, like that in all the southern 

 states, is generally level and free of stones ; and ap- 

 p^iars to have been made much in the same way ; of 

 course the soil must be similar, and the natural 

 'growth not remarkably different.* 



The eastern shore is level, and consists of a varie- ^ 

 ty of soils ; on the bay and on the rivers, the timber, 

 which is large, consists of poplar, hickory, oak of 

 different kinds, and chesnut ; wherever the latter 

 abounds the soil is good, but light, and where the fo- 

 rests are found it is generally a stiff clay. The banks 

 on the bay and rivers are high, but the inland is le- 

 vel, the soil generally clay, intermixed with loam ; 

 iu some, particularly in Queen Anne's and Talbot 



* Mor3C, 

 T 



