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SOILS IN ESSEX 111
The latest publication on Essex Soils from the Soil Survey
of England and Wales deals with the Little Waltham and
Terling district extending from Broomfield in the south-
west, across to Nounsley and Hatfield Peverel and north
to a line joining the Leighs to the Notleys. This is a
rich agricultural district with varied soil types from
impermeable loamy over clayey acid soils on level plateaux
to chalky clayey alkaline or neutral soils on more
undulating terrain and with acid permeable soils on
gravels in the valleys of the Chelmer, Ter and Brain.
The soil map on a 21/2" to 1 mile base shows in detail the
distribution and relationships of these varied and con-
trasting soils. An accompanying map at the same scale
shows the capability of these soils for agricultural use
by grading them from 1 to 4 according to their physical
limitations such as wetness. The soils described are
widely found overnorthern and central Essex and the des-
criptions and analyses quoted in the Record will be of
interest to naturalists and agronomists alike.
As well as descriptions of the soils and their agricultural
potential, the Record also has detailed chapters on
physiography and drainage, climate, geology, Pleistocene
(Ice Age) and Recent landscape development (including
the impact of man on the landscape from Neolithic to mod-
ern times) and on the flora of woodland, hedgerows and
ponds. There is also a guide to the suitability of the
different soils for the planting of native trees and shrubs.
The record and maps are available through bookshops, but it
is perhaps easier and quicker to order them direct from the
Soil Survey of England and Wales at Rothamsted Experimental
Station, Harpendon, Hertfordshire, enclosing £3.00 for the
book (Record) and two maps or £1.00 for the book alone.
RON ALLEN
Other publications in this series include Soils in Essex 1
(Harold Hill. TQ59), and Soils in Essex 11 (Burnham on
Crouch, TQ99) both by R.G. Sturdy. In press at the moment