Norwich bulletin., 1913-11-01
A THING TO BE READ THIRTEEN TIMES AND
 POWDERED OVER THIRTEEN HOURS

(Written Specially for The Bulletin.)
 The Soil Survey of New London county, for which Congressman Hig- gins worked earnestly and long, has at last been completed and pub- liShed by the government in a pam
 phlet of 29 pages, accompanied by large map of the county. On this map the various soils are marked by the use of different colors and ab- breviationS so that any reasonably careful student can tell, almost at a glance, what the general character of the farm land is throughout the county, and also, what particular areas in any part of the county are covered with particular soils, and, therefore, likely to be fitted for par Eszlsr crops
 The function of county soil survey isn't to give the chemical constituents of the dirt in every field of every farm, but 10 cover the whole county with a wide network of observations and measurements so as to show what the general characteristics of it's soil are. and how the total area is di- vidied between soils of varying sorts. It furnishes the basal ground plan on which special work may be built up and from which finer subdivisions may be made in individual cases by experts or by farmers themselves
 Two or three times, in the course a6 these random Talks I have sug- Eested hoW useful to the practical, working farmer is rudimentary knowledge of geology Such knoYl- making use of this soil survey and the accompanying map. Not that geological training Is necessary. The terms used are so simple that any ons can understand them But Ht1ke Idea of the county's geological g-tmresxzz- vii throw pO siderable light, sideways, on some of the soil problems.
 Fer instance. the general topo- GEaphT of the county indicates that # Ess perhaps many millions Of years agD--a part of a continuous plain s1Dpng gently southeastWard from g height Of about eco feet, up Lehznen way, dOwn to the Sound Ehoz1 Ene- This -pene plain,' as the Eeosog1sts rezm it was the result of combined deposition and upheavel: deposition Of silt and soil at the bot u0xn of some pr1meYal sea, and later uphsaEz1 of that bottom by insensi- sfr siSE movements to a. considerable height above any existing sea-leveL Of course ss upheaval progressed, drainage followed The water which fell on the plain had to run off it, and its running off produced brooks and rivers sEales and ravines and NE1aefS AS the UpluLln5 or Ufl6 p1Rln continued and the slope became sleeper, the streams became more rapid and torTent1al, cutting deeper and deeper into the silt they reached bedrock Also, the faster they ran and the more they cut into their own banks the more dirt they washed out from those banks in exposed places, to deposit again on the bottom of the shallow reaches into which they occasionally broadened further down their courses
 Just how long this process con hnUed in this way, nobody attempts to say. But 1t was a very long time even as geologic time is reckoned- in zeon<, not in years or centuries. It will readily De seen that such process continued for untold millions of years would cut the whole origi- nal plain up with networks of stream beds some small narrow and shall low some wide and deep- trickles uniting to make riIls and riils com 5inlng 10 form brooks, and brooks Joining to swell rivers Not only would they all cut courses propor- toned to their volume and force of flow. but they would, especially in freShet times carry down those courses more or less of the soil wash ed of the surface, once a plain, would be turned into a maze of hills and valleys being wafer courses and the hills being more than averagely resistant areas of land between and among them
 Naturally, these ancient streams would often meet barriers on their way to the Sound Ridges of rock would rise across their paths or lands1idez> dam their courses This would result in "set- backs" making long and comparatively narrow lakes of still water, In these the silt and sand swept down by the swift flow ing upper streams would settle. Later the rivers either breaking through the distractions or making new and lower courses around them would begin to gouge into the bottom of these former lakes. And thus they would make new channels bordered on each side by terraces of silt This process might be and in many cases was repeated several times, making several recognizable terraces along the sides of the streams,
 Later still, though long time be-