JOURNAL 



OF THE 



EOYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 

 OF ENGLAND. 



I. — The Relations of Geology to Agriculture in North-Eastern 

 America. By James F. W. Johnston, F.R.S. L. 6c E.; Honorary 

 Member of the Royal Agricultural Society. 



There are two ways in which the relations of geology to agri- 

 culture can be viewed and considered : either broadly and gene- 

 rally, in regard to the agiicultural character and capabilities of 

 entire geological formations or groups of rocks ; or locally, in 

 regard to the connexion of the kind of fertility exhibited by this 

 or that limited district or single spot with the kind of rock on 

 which the surface rests. Of these two modes, the first or 

 broadest is the most attractive, the most interesting in its con- 

 clusions, and the most satisfactory in the relations it establishes 

 between agriculture and geology. The second is less simple, 

 clear, and satisfactory. It is far more laborious to follow out 

 also, and requires more knowledge of details in the investigator ; 

 but, at the same time, it leads to results which are directly prac- 

 tical and of immediate application. 



^ In the present paper I propose to illustrate both, but espe- 

 cially the first, of these methods, by illustrations drawn from 

 North-Eastern America. 



A. General Relations of Agricultural Capability to 

 Geological Structure. 



I. On the Atlantic Sea-hoard.—My first illustration I shall 

 take from the Atlantic sea-l^oard of the more western States of 

 the Union. 



If from the coast-line in any of the States west of the river 

 Potomac — from the sea-shore of Virginia, for example, of either 

 of the Carolinas, of Georgia, or of Alabama — a traveller proceeds 

 inland till he reaches the first slopes of the Alleghany Moun- 

 tams, he will pass over four regions which, even to the unprac- 



VOL. XIII. B 



