12 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



In all of the more northern locations where the Fargo clay loam is 

 developed the production of corn is entirely subordinate to the grow- 

 ing of other crops. In fact, only a few acres of corn are annually 

 raised in each of the counties where it occurs. The yields reported 

 are low, undoubtedly on account of the varieties which must be 

 grown in order to meet the climatic surroundings of the type, averag- 

 ing about 25 bushels per acre. In the more southern areas where 

 the growing season is longer, an increasing acreage of corn is being 

 planted each year, and with the development of varieties suited to 

 the climate and the soil, fair success is being attained with the crop. 

 Thus the yields upon the Fargo clay loam in southern Minnesota, in 

 South Dakota, and in the more southern areas in North Dakota 

 average 30 bushels per acre, with not infrequent yields of 35 to 40 

 bushels. In this connection it is important to state that even where 

 the growing season is inadequate to mature corn for grain produc- 

 tion, it is usually sufficiently long to mature the early varieties for 

 use in the silo. Consequently, with the adoption of dairying as one 

 of the -more prevalent types of farming in the general section, it 

 would be possible to produce corn upon an increased acreage for 

 silage purposes. This method of development is of unusual impor- 

 tance, since the adoption of a rational crop-rotation system for the 

 Fargo clay loam requires the introduction of an intertilled crop at 

 some point in the rotation, and corn is probably the best hoed crop 

 for such purpose. Under the existing climatic conditions the Fargo 

 clay loam can probably never compete with prairie soils of more 

 southern location in the production of corn for grain, but it is pos- 

 sible to insure a good yield of silage each year for the feeding of 

 both cattle and dairy stock. The additional advantage to be derived 

 from the use of stable manures thus produced would clearly indicate 

 that the more extensive growing of corn for ensilage purposes and 

 - for the feeding of stock should be undertaken in the areas largely 

 occupied by the Fargo clay loam and the associated types of the Fargo 

 series.. 



Irish potatoes are grown to a limited extent upon the Fargo clay 

 loam. The acreage in each of the areas where soil surveys have 

 been made is limited almost entirely to that .required for the pro- 

 duction of a home supply, and only a small acreage is usually grown 

 upon those farms where the crop is produced at all. The soil type 

 in its normal condition is rather too stiff, too retentive of moisture, 

 and somewhat too difficult to work to constitute a desirable potato 

 soil. In spite of these unfavorable conditions the yields per acre 

 are fair to good, ranging from 85 bushels to 150 bushels or more 

 per acre, with an average in excess of 100 bushels per acre. If the 

 acreage of this crop is to be extended it should be upon the better 

 drained portions of the type and upon such portions as possess the 



