SOILS OP MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT. 43 
the sugar content is low and the coefficient of purity very unsatisfac- 
tory. The farmers' goal is to secure the highest possible tonnage 
consistent with a high sugar content of satisfactory purity. This 
combination is best found there in a good strong sandy loam, under- 
lain by a plastic light clay loam subsoil at a depth of 12 to 20 inches. 
Nearly as good is a deep, fine sandy loam extending to a depth of 
three feet or more. 
Sea-Island cotton took its name from being grown on islands along 
the coast of South Carolina. Its long beautiful staple is now secured 
in northern Florida and other Gulf States when grown on deep, fine- 
textured loamy sands similar to those of the sea islands which it 
made famous. But on the heavy soils, or even shallow sandy loam 
surface soils underlain by heavy clay loam, it does not succeed and is 
replaced by the short-staple varieties. 
In view of these definite cases in present agricultural practice, the 
different effects of varying amounts of soil moisture on soil tempera- 
tures and their apparent relationship to soil-crop adaptation is at 
least suggestive. 
The greater the amount of moisture in a given soil and subsoil the 
lower is their temperature in summer. Hence, the more moisture, 
the larger the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature to 
any given degree. The removal of drainage waters is followed by 
rise in temperature at any given depth below the surface. Conse- 
quently capillary rise of moisture from this lower supply tempo- 
rarily lowers the temperature of the layers of soil to which it 
ascends. The amount of capillary soil water held by the soil below 
the depth to which tillage has taken place does not in many cases 
depend primarily on the amount of humus in these lower layers of 
soil. A simple analysis of the case makes this point evident. When 
the forests were removed in the eastern States for crop planting the 
decaying roots left considerable amounts of humus to a depth of 
several feet. The depth varied greatly on different soils, because the 
different species of trees in the virgin forests showed very marked 
preferences for certain soil conditions. The local name " black walnut 
land " is still used where that hardy tree grows, to indicate a heavy 
type of soil. In southwest Michigan this is the Miami clay loam. 
The hickory thrives in the northeastern States on the heavier soils. 
Both black walnut and hickory are deep-rooted trees. In the same 
region " hemlock land " always indicates a sandy soil, and the hem- 
lock is not a deep-rooted tree. In the orchard districts of West Vir- 
ginia the leading peach growers will not tolerate " white-oak land," 
but a mixed growth of " rock oak and chestnut," about one-third of 
the former and two-thirds of the latter, indicate a soil which has 
been instrumental in making one of the most famous fruit districts 
