THK SAXDS OF THK KANSAS RIVER VALLEY. 1 27 



is usually found that there is a corresponding absence of loess along 

 the adjacent bluffs. Beyond Manhattan the sand apparently 

 becomes more abundant and farther up stream the whole valley 

 seems to be almost entirely composed of the sandy soil. But 

 it may be noted that as the deposits of loess decrease west- 

 ward until they finall}^ disappear we are approaching the areas of 

 the Dakota sands and the Tertiary sands still farther to the west 

 from which the Kansas' river and its tributaries have obtained large 

 quantities of sand to be carried downward and strewn along its 

 banks and river bottoms. 



It has long been known that the character of the soil in the 

 Kansas river valley, particularly from Manhattan to Kansas City, is 

 unsurpassed in productiveness. The idea so widely prevalent that 

 a soil in order to be rich must also be black, is strongly negatived 

 b}' the Kansas river soils. If they are partially composed of 

 glacial materials it is all the more readily understood why they 

 should be so productive. The feldspar materials brought down 

 from the far north by the glacial movements have supplied an 

 excessive amount of mineral fertilizers, particularl}' potash, and 

 the steady wearing away of the loess banks along the bluffs has 

 constantly added richness to the soils of the valley below; so that 

 although they generally have an absence of the much coveted 

 black color, yet they possess in large quantities ; all the ingre- 

 dients and properties necessar}' for a wonderfully productive and 

 lasting soil. Some years ago Prof. R. Ellsworth Call* called 

 attention to the character of many lovv^a soils which correspond so 

 closely in origin and nature with the Kansas river soils that we may 

 quote him as follows: 



"Color, too has little to do with deciding finally whether a soil 

 will be fertile. Usually all earths which are dark colored or black 

 — a condition largely due to the amount of carbonaceous material 

 derived from decayed vegetation — are considered fertile. It is true 

 that common consent places all such samples among the fertile 

 soils, but it by no means follows as a necessar}^ deduction. So, 

 too, that light drab or ashy-colored soils lack the elements of fer- 

 tility, is a notion which observation and experience alike negative. 

 The most fertile of the Iowa soils is the loess, a peculiar and very 

 fine marl covering man}' hundred square miles along the Missis- 

 sippi and Missouri rivers as well as the higher lands along 

 the Des Moines. It is a soil the color of which would condemn 

 it for agricultural purposes, but is of exceptional value for cereals. 



* •' The Chemistry of Soils,'' Science (1) Vol. XX. pp. 



