THE CARRINGTON CLAY LOAM. 7 



EXTENT OF OCCUPATION. 



Practically the entire extent of the Carrington clay loam has 

 been occupied for agricultural purposes, and only limited areas, 

 where drainage is still defective or where the surface of the type is 

 rough and sloping, remain unoccupied. Any additional utilization 

 of this soil must take the form of extension of drainage and greater 

 intensity of cultivation. 



CROP ADAPTATIONS. 



The inherent physical characteristics, the level or gently undulat- 

 ing surface topography, and the high natural fertility of the Car- 

 rington clay loam render it a soil well suited for the production of 

 the chief staple crops of the climatic regions in which it is devel- 

 oped. It takes high rank as a general farming soil. 



In all of the more southern areas of its occurrence the type is 

 highly prized as a corn soil. It is well supplied with organic matter, 

 the surface soil is deep and fairly easily tilled, the natural drainage 

 is adequate, and the surface slopes permit of the use of power ma- 

 chinery over the greater portion of the type. As a result, corn is 

 extensively grown upon it in southern Wisconsin, Iowa, and southern 

 Minnesota, the yields ranging from 25 to 60 bushels per acre, with 

 a general average of about 40 bushels. The largest yields are secured 

 in the more southern localities, where varieties requiring a long 

 growing season may be planted. In the more northern areas the 

 short-seasoned varieties give slightly smaller yields of grain. A con- 

 siderable part of the corn crop is fed to dairy animals and used to 

 fatten cattle. Corn silage is extensively grown for these purposes. 

 In this connection statements made in the report of the soil survey 

 of Ransom County, N. Dak., are significant. The writer says : " The 

 shortness of the growing season has modified to some extent the 

 desirability of this soil for corn, yet if carefully cultivated and 

 planted as early as possible, using a variety adapted to the region, 

 there is no doubt that a good yield can be secured in most seasons ; " 

 and " the need of some intertillage crop as, for instance, corn and 

 of a rational crop rotation, while not marked at present, will sooner 

 or later be realized by the farmers." The extension of the acreage 

 devoted to corn growing is not only possible but highly desirable. 

 It can best be accomplished through the introduction of short-season 

 varieties and by the erection of silos, into which the crop can be 

 harvested for the feeding of stock and of dairy cows. 



In Iowa and Wisconsin oats are the chief small grain grown 

 upon the type. The yields range from 35 to 50 bushels per acre 

 and the crop is grown in regular rotation with corn and mixed 

 grasses. In Minnesota and North Dakota spring wheat is the most 



