The top two horizons of 14 major hill land soils of the Appalachian Region were evaluated for activities of add phospha‐tase (AP), pyrophosphatase (PP1), arylsuifatase (AS) and urease (UR) enzymes. A relationship between enzyme activities and soil properties was examined. Surface horizons contained higher enzyme activities than the subsurface horizons. Overall, enzyme activities were positively correlated with soil moisture content, percent water‐filled porosity, C, N, K, Mn and CEC. Activities of AP and PP1 were negatively correlated with soil pH. The AP and UR activities were positively related to various forms of P. Enzyme activities were positively related to total and organic S. Pot trial was performed 1n green house conditions to evaluate the relationship between enzyme activities and snapbean (Phaseolus vulgarisL.) growth and N, P, and S uptake. With a few exceptions, activities of AP, AS and UR were positively related to snapbean shoot wt. and shoot content of N, P, and S. The PP1 activities of subsurface horizons were positively related to shoot wt. and mineral content. Enzyme activities varied from one soil horizon to another. The effects of various soil properties and their interacting factors on activities of the four enzyme systems are discussed.