THE WABASH CLAY. 9 



In practically all areas where it occurs the surface soil of the 

 Wabash clay is well provided with partly decayed and finely divided 

 organic matter. In some areas this is not evident, principally 

 through the fact that the surface soil has been waterlogged and 

 sealed against the action of the atmosphere to such a degree that the 

 organic matter has only passed through the first stages of decom- 

 position and has not been thoroughly subdivided and disintegrated 

 to be incorporated as an inherent part of the soil itself. In many 

 instances the clearing away of rank vegetation, the opening of the 

 surface soil to the sunlight, and the action of the atmosphere will 

 change the drab or yellowish surface soil material to the brown or 

 black loamy " buckshot land " after a few seasons of proper drainage 

 and cultivation. Through this process of drainage and aeration the 

 natural preparation of the surface soil for crop production is aided 

 and the land is not infrequently changed from stiff waxy "gumbo" 

 to granular, friable, tillable fields. Wherever difficulty is experi- 

 enced in this transition the addition of coarse strawy manures, the 

 plowing under of a rank growth of vegetation, or any other method 

 which will aid in the loosening and granulating of the surface soil is 

 desirable. In some instances the application of lime has been par- 

 ticularly effective in inducing the granulation necessary to the easy 

 tillage of the type. 



LIMITATIONS UPON SPECIAL CROPS. 



The Wabash clay has been little used for the production of special- 

 crops. Wherever it is so situated that local markets are available, 

 particularly in the more northern areas, the Wabash clay constitutes 

 an excellent soil for the production of cabbage. The yields of large, 

 firm heads are heavy, the crop is easily tended, and usually profitable. 

 It is only upon well-drained areas protected from overflow that the 

 production of this or any other late market-garden crop is possible. 

 Because of textural and drainage peculiarities, the production of 

 other special crops upon the Wabash clay is practically eliminated. 



EXTENT OF OCCUPATION. 



Only a small percentage of the total area of the Wabash clay 

 has been cleared and brought under cultivation because of the diffi- 

 culties experienced from poor drainage and from inundation. It is 

 only in those areas where levee systems have been installed, most 

 extensive in the Southern States, that large areas of the Wabash 

 clay have been tilled. In these sections the construction of adequate 

 levees to protect the bottom lands from overflow and to maintain 

 navigation have rendered possible the cultivation of the type. Even 

 in such areas only the higher lying portions, which are first uncov- 

 ered by the receding of the waters, are annually tilled. Other addi- 

 tional areas are tilled in such seasons as are marked by the early 



