Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: and the scanty soil that has formed a lodgment in its inequalities, is not of the first rate character. Sienite and Granite. Sienite is intermediate in its characters between greenstone and granite, although most commonly it is only a variety of granite. Both rocks are little liable to decomposition, and occupy a large porportipn of the surface with their naked and rugged projections. Still, the soil found' among them, particularly on the granite, is generally of a superior character, probably from the fact that most of it must have been derived from decomposed vegetable and animal matter. Hence it is usually of a dark color and fine texture, and not coarse and sandy like the soil above the granites of Europe, that more easily suffer decomposition. Should the preceding cursory remarks be the means of exciting the attention of intelligent agriculturists, to the connexion between rocks and soils, an important object will be attained. I have said enough to show that almost all known varieties of soil exist in Massachusetts. But much improvement remains to be made in our agricultural concerns, before the excellencies of our soil are fully developed. It is but a moderate estimate to say, that the general adoption of an enlightened system of cultivation, would, in a few years, double the produce and the value of our improvable lands. That is to say, such would be the speedy result, if all our farmers were to manage their lands as a few now do. USEFUL ROCKS AND MINERALS IN THE STATE. I shall next proceed to give an account of those rocks and mineral substances found in the State, which have been, or may be useful in the arts, and are consequently objects of pecuniary importance. Those that are employed for architectural or ornamental purposes, first claim attention; becaus...