News & Events In Common Newsletter Fall 2009 The Wealth Underfoot
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Volume 8 • Number 1 • Fall 2009
The Wealth Underfoot The soils of Massachusetts tell a fascinating and complex story about the history of the state’s land, about the current health of its agriculture, and about some choices for the future. “We have a tremendous range of soils in Massachusetts,” notes Peter Veneman of the UMass Amherst Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences. “Much of our soil is quite young, no more than about 15,000 years old.” A cursory survey, says Veneman, might begin in the western Berkshire hills, where there is abundant limestone in, and cropping up through, the soil. That limestone, used in manufacturing antacid pills, is fine for the soil – up to a point, that is. “People around here pay for lime that is abundantly free out there,” said Veneman. “Still, with its rainfall and good drainage, the soil at lower altitudes in the valley is a little better.” That brings us to the Connecticut River Valley. At one end of the valley, where the bedrock is granite, it is tinged iron-red; at the other end, where the bedrock is volcanic basalt, it is blacker. This mix is a result, said Veneman, of the collision of two huge tectonic plates, and the subsequent volcanoes that occurred in the valley during the Triassic period. “Eventually, whatever is in the bedrock wears away and becomes soil,” he said. “The soil, then, is very rich in minerals.” Couple that with the silt left a mere 15,000 years ago by glacial Lake Hitchcock – of which the river is a remnant – and you have world-class soil. He adds that the soil is also rich in potassium, making it uniquely suited to the cultivation of broadleaf tobacco for even-burning cigars. Further to the east, are soils with far more clay, and others with more organic marine deposits. North of Boston, the soil may be 30-40 percent clay. The South Shore and Cape Cod soils are influenced by two very different forces: compaction from the glacier that formed the northern cape, and river outwash that formed the southern cape. The cranberry lands straddle the two, where rich organic bogs sit like islands in the clay. That range and diversity of soil has been good for Massachusetts economically and environmentally. The soil that resists crop growth because it is acidic has been excellent for forestry, and the combination of abundant rainfall and excellent drainage makes much of the land productive and valuable. “We’re very lucky,” said Veneman. Credits:
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