196 Proceedings of Indiana Academy of Science. 
Tilth.—It is well to have in mind that, aside from fertility, drainage | 
and tillage, one of the main factors of a good soil is good physical con- 
dition, or tilth. The Miami silt loam is in good tilth, but since it has 
a small percent of sand is very fine grained and easily injured by the 
tramping of live stock in the spring and fall on the stalk or stubble 
ground and by plowing or working the ground when too wet. Clods 
will result from these practices, and it usually requires considerable 
time and work to put the soil in good tilth again. An occasional appli- 
cation of ground limestone, followed with a crop of clover or some 
soiling crop, will produce good tilth. In fact good physical conditions 
depend to a large extent upon the amount of humus present in the soil. 
Crops.—Corn, wheat, oats, clover and timothy do well on the Miami 
silt loam. It is not as good corn land as the Clyde, but it produces 
good crops where the soil is well cared for. To do the best a field 
should not be in corn two years in succession. Wheat and oats do well; 
in fact the Miami silt loam is better for wheat and oats than any 
member of the Clyde series, as it is apt to grow too rank and fall down 
when grown on the latter soils. Clover and timothy do well, but it is 
better not to grow the timothy alone, as it has a strong tendency to 
deplete the fertility of the soil. Some potatoes are grown on the Miami 
silt loam, but it does not give a high yield. Some orchards are grown 
on this type and seem to give good results. 
Improvement.—As has been stated before, the Miami silt loam should 
be kept in good tilth by proper drainage, cultivation and the growing 
of crops for soiling purposes. All the manure produced on a farm 
should be carefully taken care of and spread over the land where it is 
most needed. It is well to follow a rotation where the corn is planted 
on clover sod. The number of crops and kinds used in rotation will 
depend on the size of the farm and the type of farming practiced, but 
should include one (two would be better) year of clover. Where the 
ground seems to be “clover sick” only an application of ground lime- 
stone is needed to insure a change. Commercial fertilizers may be 
resorted to under some conditions, but we believe that they should not 
be constantly used with all crops. 
MIAMI LOAM. 
Properties—The Miami loam is a transition between the silt loam 
and the sandy loam, and the boundary between them is usually arbi- 
trary. It has a higher percent of sand and has perhaps a little darker 
color than the silt loam. 
The subsoil of the Miami loam has a higher percent of sand and 
fine gravel than the silt loam and is variable in color and texture. On 
