SOILS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT. 7 
tion with a thin coating of soil material, but consists of an accumu- 
lation of unconsolidated rock material in which the rock founda- 
tion lies deep, seemingly below the level of the sea. It is in this 
respect similar to Long Island and to a certain extent to the Coastal 
Plain. 
Southern New England has passed through a long history in 
reaching its present condition. It is unnecessary to recount even 
the broad phases of that history, since it can be obtained in any good 
geological description of the region. A late and the most important 
stage in that history, so far as the soils of the region are concerned, 
was the invasion of the region by the glaciers of the glacial period. 
This changed the details of surface relief, thoroughly mixed and 
rearranged and redistributed the preexisting coating of soil and 
soil material, making the formation of a new soil necessary. The 
existing soils, therefore, are the product of soil-making agencies that 
have been in operation since the glacial period and are therefore 
young. 
The ice reshaped the details of the topography by rounding off 
sharp corners and filling basins with deposits. Although part of 
the country is mountainous it has been rounded so that most of it 
is easily accessible. 
The ice modified the layer of soil material in several ways : 
(1) It removed a coating that was due to weathering and there- 
fore approximately uniform in thickness, and left one that is prac- 
tically absent in some places and of great thickness in others. 
(2) It left a layer of soil material usually mixed with stone 
fragments. 
(3) Owing to the great amount of water that was released from 
the ice during the melting period many belts and areas were built 
up into flat plains by the deposition of gravel and sand. These lie 
in the low belts and their proportional area increases progressively 
eastward from the Connecticut Valley. 
(4) In some areas a very irregular and a very stony deposit was 
made in which the irregularities are small, giving a rough, bumpy, 
topography. These areas are usually very stony and almost worth- 
less for agriculture. 
We have, therefore — 
(1) The smooth, moderately stony surfaces that may be level, 
moderately steep, or rolling. The soils consist of loams, clay loams, 
and sands. 
(2) Level, sandy, and gravelly areas. 
(3) Bumpy stony gravelly or sandy areas. 
(4) Very steep areas and rocky areas. 
The agriculture of New England is mainly on No. 1. 
