18 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.41 



The soils of the county are largely derived from the Missouri loess and are 

 quite uniform in both color and texture. Six soil types, representing 5 series, 

 are mapped. Marshall silt loam and Wabash silt loam, occupying 66.1 and 27.1 

 per cent of the total area, respectively, predominate. 



Soil survey of St. Martin Parish, La., A. H. Meyer and B. H. Hendkickson 

 ([/. S. Dept. Agr., Adv. Sheets Field Oper. Bur. Soils, 1917, pp. 32, fig. 1, map 

 1). — This survey deals with the soils of an area of 442,880 acres situated in the, 

 southern part of the State and lying wholly within the region of alluvial soils. 

 The topography is prevailingly flat and natural drainage is rather sluggish. 



The soils of the region comprise upland, low terrace, and first bottom alluvial 

 deposits, the latter comprising about 70 per cent of the whole. Exclusive of 

 peat, 11 soil types of 6 series are mapped, Sharkey clay, occupying 71.8 per cent 

 of the total area, predominating. 



Soil survey of Mahoning County, Ohio, M. W. Beck and O. P. Gossard 

 {U. S. Dept. Agr., Adv. Sheets Field Oper. Bur. Soils, 1917, pp. 41, fig. 1, map 

 1). — This survey, made in cooperation with the Ohio Experiment Station, deals 

 with the soils of an area of 273,280 acres situated in the northeastern part of 

 the State, bordering the State of Pennsylvania. The topography of the region 

 is gently undulating to rolling, and the average elevation is about 1,000 ft. above 

 sea level. Natural drainage is fairly well established, but is said to be insuffi- 

 cient in many localities for the best results in farming. 



The soils of the county include upland soils composed of reworked glacial 

 material, terrace or old alluvial soils laid down as glacial outwash plains or 

 old stream flood plains, and first-bottom or recent alluvial soils. In addition to 

 muck, 19 soil types representing 12 series are mapped. Volusia silt loam. Can- 

 field silt loam, and Mahoning silt loam, occupying 26.8, 20, and 19.8 per cent of 

 the total area, respectively, predominate. 



Sandy soils and how to farm them, A. R. Whitson and H. W. Ullspergeb 

 (Wisconsin Sta. Bui. 299 (1919), pp. 26, figs. 8).— This describes in a rather 

 popular manner approved methods of crop production on the sandy soils of 

 Wisconsin. It is stated that approximately one-fifth of the area of the State 

 (6,000,000 acres) is classed as sandy loam, fine sand, and sand. The correction 

 of acidity, the addition of humus, and the judicious use of fertilizers are 

 regarded as the principal factors in the improvement of these soils, while spring 

 plowing, the planting of windbreaks, the growing of cover crops, and the use of 

 a corrugated roller tend to protect the soil. Soy beans and clover seed are 

 regarded as the best cash crops, while alfalfa, vetch, buckwheat, sweet clover, 

 serradella, wheat, barley, oats, cowpeas, potatoes, and corn require special 

 consideration when grown on sand. Garden crops are said to give good results. 



The " slick spots " of middle western Idaho with suggestions for their 

 elimination", P. P. Peterson (Idaho Sta. Bill, ll't (1919), pp. 3-11, figs. 3).— 

 The nature of these spots is briefly described and studies of their chemical and 

 physical properties discussed in an effort to ascertain the factors imderlying 

 their formation. It is stated that the characteristics which render these areas 

 unproductive are their impermeability to water and their impenetrability to 

 plant roots. The conclusion is reached that this condition is due largely to the 

 cementing action of calcium carbonate which is present in greater quantities 

 than in adjacent good soils, this cementing action having occurred when calcium 

 was deposited from solutions in the soil. 



Heavy applications of barnyard manure are held to be the most effective means 

 for overcoming the physical defects of these spots, through the solvent action 

 on the calcium compounds of the decomposing humus with a consequent floccula- 

 tion of the soil particles. The use of green manure crops is also recommended. 



