The soil of the Marshall silt loam, flat phase, consists of a dark brown, moderately heavy, smooth silt loam, with an average depth of 15 to 18 inches. It is underlain by a yellowish brown or brownish yellow, heavier and more compact silt loam to silty clay loam. At thirty inches the color of the subsoil changes to a yellow mottled with light gray. The lower subsoil is slightly stained with yellow iron oxide and is highly calcareous. As the color indicates, this phase is high in organic matter.

   This phase is very limited in extent, occupying only 1.9 square miles and occurs about two miles northeast of Cedar Bluffs.

   The flat phase of the Marshall silt loam differs from the typical soil in that it occupies high, flat, plateaulike country and has a deeper surface soil. The streams have not cut back into it, but they are close enough to provide adequate drainage.

   The native vegetation and utilization of this phase are the same as in the case of the typical soil. Owing to its flat topog-

212          PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY

raphy it is better for farming purposes than the typical soil and higher yields are obtained.

   The price of the land of this phase also ranges from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and seventy-five dollars an acre.

   The Knox soils are light brown, overlying subsoils of light brown to yellowish brown color. They are derived from thick deposits of loess occurring in a broad belt along both sides of the Missouri River from Western Missouri northward. They are closely associated with the Marshall soils. The topography is gently undulating to rolling, and surface drainage is generally good.

   The soil of the Knox silt loam is a yellowish brown, light brown or buff colored heavy silt loam, from six to eight inches deep. The subsoil is a compact, light brown to pale yellow heavy silt loam to silty clay loam. The soil is rather low in organic matter and lime concretions and reddish yellow iron stains are common throughout the soil section. On the lower slopes and draws, where there is a higher content of organic matter, the soil is a dark brown silt loam varying in depth from ten to thirty inches and is underlain by a yellow, more compact, and heavier silt loam.

   A rather important textural variation occurs in this type on the points of hills and at the heads of gullies in the extreme southeastern corner of the county, where the soil, to a depth of thirty-six inches, is a yellow to pale yellow coarse silt loam to very fine sandy loam, including small spots of sandy loam. There is no apparent change in color or texture throughout the 3-foot section. The soil on the lower slopes and draws is typical, though slightly modified by the lighter textured wash from the higher points. The above description also applies to the area in section 29, Clear Creek Precinct.

   The Knox silt loam occupies 7.9 square miles and occurs entirely as a bluff zone, varying from one-sixteenth of a mile to

PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY          213

one and a half miles in width, between the Marshall silt loam and the bottom lands. The largest area occurs in the northwestern part of the county. Other areas are found in the vicinity of Ashland and northwest of this place, and northeast of Cedar Bluffs.

   Owing to its location, the type is extremely dissected by short streams which have cut back into it. The valleys are distinctly V-shaped and the divides are very sharp. The soil is well drained and very much subject to erosion.

   Originally practically all of the Knox silt loam was timbered, though about 50 per cent of it is now cleared. The chief growth on the upper slopes and crests of hills was scrub bur oak and sumac, and on the lower slopes bitter hickory, box elder and ash, with a few scattered black walnut trees.

   Most of this type is used for pasture, though a small portion is devoted to the production of alfalfa, corn, wheat and oats. Alfalfa does well and is really the only profitable cultivated crop produced on this soil. Yields of two to three tons per acre are obtained. In the eastern part of Douglas County apples, grapes and small fruits are very profitably produced on this soil.

   Land of the Knox silt loam type ranges in value from fifty to eighty dollars an acre, depending upon location and improvements.

   The soils of the Shelby series are brown to dark brown in color, overlying brown, yellowish brown, or faintly reddish brown sandy clay subsoils. They are derived from the Kansan drift. The topography is usually rolling.

   Only the loam and silt loam of the series are developed in Saunders County.

   The soil of the Shelby silt loam consists of a dark brown or dark grayish brown, heavy to extremely heavy silt loam, eight to fifteen inches deep. The soil carries a rather high percentage of clay and as a result breaks down into angular granules. The

214          PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY

subsoil is a light brown or yellowish brown compact silt clay which at about twenty-four inches merges into a more compact silty clay of a yellow color slightly mottled with gray. At depths ranging from thirty to forty inches the subsoil becomes looser in structure, has a pale-yellow or yellow color mottled with light gray, and again takes on the character of a smooth silt loam.

   There is an accumulation of clay in the second and third foot of the soil section deposited by percolating waters. When exposed in banks the first three feet of the soil section has a granular structure and below that a vertical, flakelike structure. As the color indicates, the soil is high in organic matter. The subsoil is highly calcareous and the lower portion is faintly marked and streaked with yellowish and brownish iron stains. The depth of the soil and also the color vary considerably. On rather broad divides the soil is dark brown in color and about fifteen inches deep, while on narrow, crestlike divides the soil has been largely removed and a brownish or yellowish-brown silty clay is exposed. On shoulders of hills and along gullies the soil is also a very thin, medium-brown, heavy silt loam four to six inches deep. In places the subsoil is exposed, but downward along the slopes the soil becomes deeper and darker in color. At the foot of the slopes it is a dark-brown to black heavy silt loam, varying in depth from twenty to forty inches. None of these minor variations were large enough to indicate on the soil map. Within the type there are also narrow strips of colluvial material along the intermittent streams.

   Along North Fork Rock Creek there are numerous spots where the typical soil is underlain by a brownish silty clay loam to silty clay which, at any point from twenty to thirty inches, grades into a reddish-yellow silty clay. The Dakota sandstone lies very close to the surface and is often encountered in the 3-foot 'section. Locally, in small spots along gullies, steep slopes, and where erosion has been severe, it is not uncommon to encounter the Kansan drift material proper at twenty-four to thirty inches. In such places the soil is a dark brownish gray, extremely heavy silt loam, about ten inches deep, underlain by a yellowish-brown, stiff, compact silty clay which at thirty inches turns into a light-gray mottled with brown and yellow gritty clay. The subsoil is highly calcareous. The nearness of the Kansan drift to the sur-

PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY          215

face varies, and where freshly exposed it has a reddish-brown color. Where these areas were well developed they were mapped as Shelby loam. Small areas of the Marshall silt loam are also included in the type, but owing to the close association of the two soils such areas could not be mapped. On the average the silty covering over the Kansan drift proper is ten to twenty feet deep.

   The Shelby and Marshall silt loams are very similar in this county, differing mostly in point of origin. The Shelbv silt loam is derived from the weathered phase of the Kansan drift, whereas the typical Marshall is derived from the plains loess. The Shelbv silt loam also contains a few pebbles and cobblestones. There is also a slight difference in structure and texture between the two types in that the Shelby silt loam breaks down in granules as a result of a higher clay content, while the Marshall silt loam breaks down to a fine powder. They also differ in that the Shelby silt loam does not stand up nearly as well in vertical banks. These two types are very similar in color of soil and subsoil, organic matter content, lime content, iron stains, in structure where there has been no granulation of clay particles, drainage, topography, and agricultural value. They grade imperceptibly into each other, and in places the boundary line was more or less arbitrarily drawn.

   The Shelby silt loam is the most extensive type in the county, and occurs almost entirely as a large connected body in the southwestern and western part of the county. It is more or less interspersed with Shelby loam.

   This type is rolling to steeply rolling and is thoroughly drained. In the southwestern corner of the county it occurs mostly on the high divides which have a roughly concave configuration. In general the slopes are steeper along the larger drainage ways and the divides of the type as a whole are gently sloping, though there are a number of sharp crests. Erosion has become a rather serious factor on this type. Many large gullies with subsidiary laterals are cutting back into the soil. It was reported by farmers during the progress of the soil survey that a large number of Kansan drift areas had been exposed within the short period of fifty years. With proper tillage and crop rotation this soil, owing to its rather high organic-matter and clay content, is very retentive of moisture. Under the same farm management

216          PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY

it apparently will stand drought longer than the Marshall silt loam.

   Originally the Shelby silt loam was covered with native prairie grass, but only a few small remnants of pasture land remain.

   About 93 per cent of this type is in cultivation, the remainder being in permanent pastures, farm lots, and public roads. Corn is by far the most important crop and when properly tilled and rotated does well on this type. It produces yields of thirty to forty bushels per acre, though as high as sixty bushels are often obtained. Oats rank second in acreage, but though admirably adapted to the soil are not a very profitable crop. The ordinary yield of oats is from twenty-five to thirty bushels per acre. Wheat does well on this soil and the acreage is being gradually extended. Yields of twenty to fifty bushels are obtained. Very little land is devoted to the production of clover, timothy, and alfalfa. Owing to the unfavorable moisture conditions of the last few years it has been almost impossible to get a good catch of clover and as a result farmers have stopped growing it. Alfalfa has taken its place and promises to be an ideal hay crop on this soil. As a rule three cuttings per season and sometimes four are made, with an average yield of three tons. The tendency is to grow less corn and more wheat and leguminous crops, which involves the keeping of more live stock. A few potatoes are grown, but not nearly enough for home consumption. Where properly cared for they do well, but most farmers give them very little attention.

   No definite rotation is followed, except by a few farmers who cultivate their own land. The general tendency is to keep the land two to four years in corn, one year in oats, one to two years in wheat, and then back to corn. Occasionally it is seeded to clover or alfalfa, being usually left in the latter crop for five to seven years. It was not unusual during the survey for fanners to report that they had had a certain field in corn or wheat for five to ten years.

   Most of the Shelby silt loam is either plowed or listed in the spring. The farmers avoid plowing in the fall because of tlie tendency of the soil to drift. This soil is somewhat harder to handle than the Marshall silt loam, and owing to the higher clay content it can not be cultivated under quite as wide a range of moisture conditions. When plowed too wet it bakes and forms

PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY          217

clods which are rather difficult to break. Small checks and cracks are formed at times on this type, but not enough to cause any serious loss of moisture by evaporation. Manure is usually applied to this soil twice a year, in the spring and fall, either as a top dressing on the winter wheat or on stubble fields. Where used as a top dressing on winter wheat an increase in yield of five bushels per acre is usually obtained. This soil is gradually becoming less productive, owing to the improper methods of farming practiced.

   The Shelby silt loam is valued at $90 to $150 an acre, depending on improvements.

   The soil of the Shelby loam to a depth of six to ten inches consists of a dark-brown to dark grayish brown loam to silty loam containing a rather high percentage of fine sand. This is underlain by a brownish-yellow or reddish-brown clay loam which, at fifteen to eighteen inches, merges into a gritty clay of a drabbish color, mottled with yellow and brown. The color of the subsoil usually changes to a light gray mottled slightly with reddish yellow or brown at thirty inches or deeper. Where the subsoil is looser and has been more thoroughly oxidized the reddish-brown color continues to a depth of forty inches. The subsoil is very compact and occasionally so pebbly as to be impenetrable by an auger. The soil is fairly high in organic matter and the subsoil is highly calcareous. The lime exists chiefly in the form of concretions, specks, and to some extent as small pebbles. Black iron oxides and other oxidized iron concretions are plentiful in the subsoil. The soil of this type contains a rather large quantity of pebbles and a few bowlders, though on most fields there are not enough to prevent cultivation.

   The soil is rather variable in texture. On steep slopes, sharp ridges, shoulders, and places where erosion has been severe the subsoil is exposed with about a two-inch veneering of brown or reddish brown friable clay loam. The subsoil is a brown to reddish brown gritty clay loam to clay, underlain at about twenty to twenty-four inches by a mottled light gray and yellow gritty clay. Pebbles, cobblestones and a few bowlders are numerous on the surface and throughout the soil section. The variation is

218          PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY

called "gumbo" by the farmers. A large number of these spots were encountered in the Shelby silt loam and to some extent in the Marshall silt loam, but they were too small to indicate as a separate type. Within the areas of Shelby loam there are numerous small spots of Shelby silt loam and also areas modified by wash from the generally higher-lying areas of the silt loam. The Shelby loam has a high stone content, while the Shelby silt loam is practically stone free. They also differ in the texture of the soil, and especially in that of the subsoil, which is very heavy and compact in the loam. The reddish tinge in the color of the subsoil is a distinguishing characteristic of the latter type.

   The Shelby loam occurs mostly in the southwestern corner of the county along the slopes of Oak and Rock creeks and their branches. There are also numerous small areas throughout the upland types of the county.

   Physiographically this type usually occurs along steep slopes of drainage ways between the Shelby silt loam on the higher land and the Wabash silt loam on the bottom lands, though occasionally it occupies high knolls and crests of hills. The drainage is thorough, though the subsoil retains moisture remarkably well on account of its high clay content. Locally there are poorly drained spots in this type where seepage water issues along the lower slopes. Erosion has become the most serious problem in farming this soil. Gullies ten to fifteen feet deep with numerous tributaries are very common. The Shelby loam is not so drought resistant a soil as the Shelby silt loam, except where it receives seepage water.

   The native vegetation of the Shelby loam includes the prairie grasses common to this section. Along the larger drainage ways the lower slopes are usually timbered with bur oak, etc.

   About 40 per cent of this type is under cultivation and the remainder is largely in permanent pasture and hay land. A small portion is still in native prairie grasses. This type produces fairly good yields of the staple crops, including corn, oats, wheat and alfalfa. Corn yields 15 to 25 bushels, oats 20 to 30 bushels, wheat 15 to 20 bushels, and alfalfa, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 tons per acre. A few farmers produce enough sorghum to supply sirup for home use. Not nearly enough potatoes are grown to supply the home demand.

   No definite system of rotation is followed on this type. The farming practices are about the same as on the Shelby silt loam.

PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY          219

   Owing to the larger quantities of stony material in this soil it is not quite so desirable as the Shelby silt loam. It can not be cultivated under as wide a range of moisture conditions as the latter type, and if plowed too wet it bakes and forms clods that are very difficult to reduce. Checks and cracks are very common in the soil, especially on the heavier spots. As a whole this type requires heavy draft horses and strong farm equipment. The soil is given liberal applications of barnyard manure only about every five or six years and no commercial fertilizers are used.

   The average price of land, including farm buildings and improvements, ranges from fifty to eighty dollars.

   Shelby loam, light-colored phase. -- The Shelby loam, light-colored phase, to an average depth of six inches consists of a yellowish-brown or brown heavy loam containing a rather high percentage of gravel. The subsoil is a light yellowish gray, gritty clay, mottled with yellow, which at twenty-four inches becomes light gray mottled with yellow. The subsoil is very compact and tenacious and contains a high percentage of lime in the form of concretions, specks, and a few pebbles. As the color indicates, this type is very low in organic matter. Gravel, cobblestones, and bowlders are thickly scattered over the surface and throughout the soil section, and the soil is in many places too stony to admit of cultivation.

   Where the drift material has been more thoroughly oxidized the soil is underlain with a reddish-brown, gritty clay loam to clay, which immediately passes into a reddish-yellow color. At twenty inches the subsoil becomes so gravelly and full of bowlders that it is impossible to penetrate it with the soil auger. Sometimes there is merely a slight suggestion of red and the predominating color of the subsoil is brown or brownish yellow. Areas which conform to the above description are found in Newman, Oak Creek, Chapman, and Rock Creek precincts, and in section 23, Richland Precinct. The areas in the latter location are rather shallow, and Dakota sandstone outcrops on them. The remainder of the areas in Richland Precinct have a very gravelly subsoil, with numerous bowlders and cobblestones, which are poorly rounded and crudely stratified. The areas in sections 9 and 33, Rock Creek Precinct, consist largely of brownish, crudely stratified sand beds with a fine sandy loam soil.

220          PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY

   The Shelby loam, light-colored phase, differs from the typical soil in that it has a higher stone content and a light-colored surface soil. Both soils are typically derived from the Kansan drift sheet though some stratified sand beds and gravel of the Aftonian sheet are included. This phase is of rather small extent and occurs largely in the southwestern part of the county as small scattered areas, though the largest is found in the northwestern corner along the lower slope of the bluff line.

   This soil occupies steep slopes along drainage ways and knob-like hills on the upland proper. Owing to its stony and gravelly subsoil, it is well drained, except on lower slopes where it receives seepage water.

   Where the soil has a high stone content it is not very retentive of moisture. Where the stones are fairly well imbedded with clay it stands drought for a fairly long time.

   Most of this type is still in a rather scanty growth of prairie grasses though a small portion has been broken and seeded to alfalfa. Where the soil is rather retentive of moisture alfalfa does fairly well. By far the greater part of this type is utilized for pasture. It furnishes a fairly good growth of grasses in the spring, but during the hot and dry weather of summer these usually turn brown and lie dormant until the next spring. A few of the gravelly areas supply gravel for cement sidewalks and concrete blocks. Land of this phase is valued by farmers at forty to sixty dollars an acre.

   The soils of the Lancaster series are dark brown to brownish gray, and the subsoils yellow to gray. The series is residual from sandstone or derived from sand beds of both glacial and eolian origin. The topography is rolling to hilly, and the soils are thoroughly drained and are not retentive of moisture.

   The Lancaster fine sandy loam consists of a grayish-brown to brownish-gray fine sandy loam, with an average depth of ten inches, underlain by a yellow, sticky, fine sand which at thirty

PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY          221

inches merges into a very fine sandy loam. It is not uncommon to find no difference in texture in the subsoil. The soil is low in organic matter and rather leachy. A few bowlders and pebbles occur in places. The Dakota sandstone outcrops in a number of places, and also the Pennsylvanian rocks. There are small spots of very fine sandy loam included with this type.

   This type covers only 0.8 square miles and is confined to the southeastern corner of the county. It occupies a very steep and rather dissected topography along the bluff line of Salt Creek bottom. It is thoroughly drained and very unretentive of moisture, except on the lower slopes, where it often receives seepage water.

   The Lancaster fine sandy loam typically is derived in situ from the Dakota sandstone, though in this county it is only very locally derived from that source and largely from the sands underlying the loess. The sand is both glacial and wind blown. At the head of a deep gully in section 11 on the Cass Comity line a clean-cut bank shows a deep bed of stratified sand which shows distinct cross bedding. This material undoubtedly belongs to the Aftonian glacial sheet.

   The native vegetation consisted largely of scrub oak. About 80 per cent of this soil in section 11, Ashland Precinct, is devoted to the production of staple crops, corn, oats, and wheat. About five acres of it have been utilized for grape growing with good results. Crops suffer extremely during droughts, and only in wet years are profitable yields returned. The remainder of the type is largely in pasture, and a part of it is occupied by the Town of Ashland. As farm land it is valued at sixty to one hundred dollars an acre, depending largely on its topography and ability to withstand drought.

   The following table gives the results of mechanical analyses of samples of the soil and subsoil of the Lancaster fine sandy loam:

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   The surface soils of the Waukesha series are dark brown to black, and the subsoils are yellow and as heavy as or heavier than the soil. They are derived from water-assorted glacial debris deposited in broad filled-in valleys or as outwash plains and terraces. The topography is mainly flat to undulating. Drainage is good.

   The soil of the Waukesha silt loam is a dark-brown heavy silt loam which extends on the average to a depth of twelve to fifteen inches. It is high in organic matter and has a very smooth, velvety feel. The subsoil is a yellowish-brown, compact silty clay which at twenty inches becomes very compact and grades into a yellow color. At a depth of thirty to forty inches the subsoil becomes looser in structure and again takes on the texture of a heavy silt loam, possessing a yellow color mottled with light gray. It is not uncommon to encounter a light yellowish-gray or yellow subsoil mottled with gray immediately below the surface soil. The silty subsoil extends ordinarily to a depth of ten to twenty feet, where the basal material, consisting of light-gray stratified sands and gravels, is encountered. The soil varies in depth with its topographic position. On the knoblike elevations it is somewhat lighter in color than the average and about eight to ten inches deep, while on the slightly depressed or flat areas it is a very dark brown silt loam about fifteen to twenty inches deep. The subsoil is highly calcareous, the lime extending in concretions, and is faintly blotched or marked with yellowish and brownish iron stains. This type has a vertical structure like the Missouri bluff loess, but is considerably heavier in texture. Along the Platte River in the northern part of the county, owing to its greater relief, the soil is somewhat lighter in color. Numerous areas of Scott silt loam too small to map were encountered in this type.

   Within this type there also occurs small areas, known as "gumbo" spots, varying from ten to fifty feet in diameter and consisting of heavy, rather indurated dark-brown silty clay, ten to twelve inches deep, underlain by a brownish-yellow, extremely

PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY          223

compact silty clay. Soil of this phase checks and cracks considerably and is very difficult to handle. The crop growth is very stunted on such spots, which makes them very easily recognized.

   The soil sections of the Waukesha silt loam and the Marshall silt loam are similar in color, structure and texture. They differ in that the Waukesha silt loam occupies an old undulating to gently rolling valley with numerous marshy depressions and knob-like elevations or distinct benchlike strips along stream courses, with hardly any drainage development, whereas the Marshall silt loam occupies higher rolling to steeply rolling land dissected by numerous streams.

   Small areas of the type that vary from the typical soil are found along smaller streams and as far as is known are not underlain by basal sands, the fluvial silt lying directly on the glacial debris. This phase is very limited in extent and occurs as first terraces or second bottoms along Wahoo Creek above Wahoo, along Dunlap, Oak, Sand, Rock and North Fork Rock creeks, and Miller Branch. It occupies flat, rather benchlike areas along drainage ways, which are more or less modified by the cutting through of minor streams. The terraces are only ten to fifteen feet above the first bottoms towards the heads of these streams, but they rise higher above them with approach toward the mouth of the stream. The elevation of this phase corresponds to that of the main body in Todd Valley.

   This type is the third most extensive soil in the survey, covering 162.4 square miles. It occurs in Todd Valley, as small remnant bodies on the south side of Wahoo Creek, and as distinct higher benches along the Platte River and Salt Creek. The extensive area occupying Todd Valley is the main body.

   The topography of the Waukesha silt loam has considerable variation. In Todd Valley proper it is rolling to undulating with numerous flat stretches, depressions, and knoblike elevations, which is also true of the area immediately west of Ashland. On the north side of Todd Valley the topography is more rolling. The benches of this type are usually narrow, flat strips which have only been dissected by upland streams seeking their way to major stream courses. Except along the edges, Todd Valley has been little affected by stream erosion, with the exception of Silver Creek, a probable occupant of the old channel of the Platte River,

224          PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY

which rises within a few miles of the north line and traverses the county in a southeasterly direction.

   This type is well drained, except in local flat areas where the coarse basal material is near the surface and in depressional areas which serve as catch basins. Numerous drainage ditches have been dug on this type to remove the excess water, largely from the depressional areas, as in case of heavy rainfall they overflow and damage the crops on the surrounding land.

   This type was originally prairie and has the same native grasses as the upland prairies.

   Approximately 96 per cent of the Waukesha silt loam is under cultivation. It constitutes the most valuable agricultural land in Saunders County. Corn is the most important cash crop, though a large quantity of it is fed to stock. More than half of this soil is in corn, the ordinary yields being about thirty-five bushels per acre, though as high as fifty or sixty bushels are often obtained with proper cultivation. Corn is listed when it succeeds itself and usually checked when it is put in stubble or sod land, though stubble land is often listed. In dry years listing has given the best results when the soil was otherwise properly handled. Oats rank second in acreage to corn, and yield from thirty-five to forty bushels per acre.

   Wheat is strictly a cash crop, and within the last few years has given the highest returns per acre of any grain crop grown on this type. Ordinarily twenty-five bushels per acre are obtained. In 1913, from a thresher's record of nineteen fields on this type the average yield of oats was fifty-two bushels and of wheat thirty-two bushels per acre.

   Except in very dry years, it is not difficult to get a stand of alfalfa on this type. From three to four cuttings per season, with yields of three to five tons per acre, are obtained.

   Owing to the dry summers during the last few years, clover and timothy have been almost an entire failure. In wet seasons they do well and yields of l to 2 tons per acre are obtained. The tendency on this type is to produce less corn and more wheat and alfalfa, and to keep more dairy cows and other live stock.

   A few potatoes are grown, but, as on other soils of the county; not enough for home consumption. A little sorghum is grown for home use. Apple trees do not thrive on this type.

PAST AND PRESENT OF SAUNDERS COUNTY          225

   Most of the farmers follow no definite rotation, but the tendency has been to keep a field for two or three years in corn, one year in oats, one to two years in wheat, and once in every second or third rotation two to three years in clover. The last year the land is usually pastured, except on farms where there is a great deal of permanent pasture. Owing to the difficulty of getting a catch of clover, alfalfa is being substituted for it. When Kherson oats are sowed in the rotation they do better if the ground is plowed in spring and put in with a press drill. Unless the ground is properly tilled, this variety will not grow high enough to permit cutting with a binder. Growers of the Kherson oats claim a higher yield and a better quality of oats for feeding.

   The four-hitch team is used almost entirely in the preparation of the seed bed on this type. Gang plows are commonly used for turning the soil. Owing to the stone-free nature, slight relief, silty texture, and granular structure of this type, it is very easy to handle. Unless plowed too wet it does not bake or clod very much. Checks and cracks are rare, except very small ones. During periods of long drought this soil suffers considerably from lack of moisture, especially where the basal sands come within three to five feet of the surface. During the progress of the soil survey in 1913 it was noticed that the Marshall and Shelby silt loams withstood the long drought of that season longer than the Waukesha silt loam. Small quantities of barnyard manure are applied to this soil about every five or six years. A small quantity of commercial fertilizer has given increased yields on a few farms, but has had no apparent effect on others.

   The price of farm lands on the Waukesha silt loam varies from one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars an acre, depending on improvements.

   In the following table the average results of mechanical analyses of samples of the soil and subsoil of this type are given: