14 BULLETIN 140, U. S. DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
feature not infrequently is serious enough to lessen greatly the crop 
of fruit the following season. This is especially true on medium to 
coarse sands and sandy loams of loose structure. Of these some 
areas are made even more porous by the presence of fine gravel, 
which is likewise found to some extent with the finer grades of sand 
and sandy loam. Stony areas occur, but they are generally small in 
extent. 
Hay for home use is cut principally from the marshes, of which 
some are salt and others fresh. From the latter the best hay is se- 
cured, while salt marsh overflowed intermittently yields a medium 
crop, and land daily overflowed the poorest crop. 
West of Barnstable there are appreciable areas of soils somewhat 
heavier than those previously described. Light sandy loams, light 
loams, and even light silty loams are sometimes found. The subsoil 
of the uplands is principally stony fine sand, stony sand, or stony 
fine sandy loam. There are many areas, too, of light sandy surface 
soils compared to those nearer the point. Gravelly sandy soils also 
occur, but at the present time these are little used for farming. 
Thus it is seen that few of the soils of the Cape are drought re- 
sistant and crops frequently suffer for lack of moisture. So char- 
acteristic is this tendency that every possible means should be 
used to conserve moisture. This necessitates not only a large sup- 
ply of humus, but also very frequent cultivation. The last is now 
given by the best farmers, some of whom plan to give surface tillage 
at least weekly. Humus burns out of these soils rapidly, but not- 
withstanding this characteristic, a good supply must be maintained 
if good yields of the various crops are to be secured. Since little 
stock is kept the small quantities of stable manure available must be 
supplemented by the use of cover crops — that is, the greater part of 
the necessary humus must be grown. Eed clover succeeds, likewise 
Canada field peas. Other legumes have not been tried to any ex- 
tent, and it is not strange that the few spasmodic attempts with 
alfalfa in most cases have failed. Earely has the land been brought 
to a condition of sufficient productiveness before sowing the seed to 
attain success with this crop. The vetches are promising and should 
be thoroughly tried. It is also worth while to test the early matur- 
ing varieties of cowpeas, such as the Whippoorwiil and New Era, 
though these are doubtless less dependable in this climate than 
Canada field peas. 
Scattered about the Cape are many low-lying areas upon which 
the great cranberry industry has been developed. No attempt was 
made to examine in a comprehensive way the soils of these bogs, 
but they are evidently miscellaneous in character, though probably 
more uniform in the large bogs than in the small ones. While this 
variation may have been brought about in part, or at least have been 
