THE MARSHALL SILT LOAM. 15 



ing the final year before the sod is ultimately plowed for corn produc- 

 tion. Under this system dairy cows are cheaply and adequately fed, 

 and a large production of butter results in Iowa and in adjoining por- 

 .tions of Illinois and Wisconsin. The feeding of beef cattle is quite 

 general both in the central and western prairie States where the Mar- 

 shall silt loam is developed. Particularly in the more western areas 

 this form of animal industry takes precedence over dairying. It is 

 especially prevalent where some portions of the type and of other asso- 

 ciated soils remain in the native prairie grasses and are utilized for 

 grazing, while the corn is fed to the cattle to finish them off for market. 



FARM EQUIPMENT. 



In general, the equipment of teams and tools employed in the cul- 

 tivation of the Marshall silt loam is adequate. In fact, over a greater 

 proportion of the type the 4-horse hitch, with each animal weighing 

 from 1,250 to 1,500 or even 1,600 pounds, constitutes the normal 

 farm equipment. Areas ranging from the quarter section (160 acres) 

 to the full section, or even more, are operated by heavy teams and 

 power machinery with the intervention of only the smallest possible 

 amount of human labor. The surface configuration of the type, its 

 freedom from stone, its favorable textural and structural condition, 

 and the considerable areas included within a single farm all render this 

 type of tillage both desirable and economical. In many instances the 

 old turning plow, requisite in the earlier days for breaking the tough 

 prairie sod, is now used only for the purpose of breaking the sod 

 formed by the tame grasses in regular rotation with other crops. In 

 its place the 3-blade disk plow or even the disk harrow are used for 

 preparation of the stalk land for the planting of coin or the seeding 

 to oats. A thorough stirring of the surface soil results without the 

 compacting of the subsoil at plow-sole depth. A considerable econ- 

 omy in the rate of plowing and the cost of preparation of the land is also 

 secured by this practice over that which is possible in the use of the 

 turn plow. The check-row corn planter, the riding cultivator, horse- 

 power harvesting machinery, and other effective and heavy imple- 

 ments are almost universally employed upon the areas of the Marshall 

 silt loam. 



The buildings are adequate, usually including a well-built and well- 

 painted farmhouse. Barns, both for the accommodation of the work 

 stock and dairy or beef cattle, and some form of domestic water sup- 

 ply, are commonly seen in connection with the Marshall silt loam. 

 Thus the farm equipment of the type is far above the average of that 

 found upon the majority of farms or of soil types in the United States. 



