10 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



usually swampy and covered with water during a considerable por- 

 tion of the year. It was easier for the pioneer settler to clear the 

 heavy timber growth and to raise his crops among the stumps than it 

 was to drain and reclaim the lower lying marshy lands. The ques- 

 tion of the more healthful situation of the broad areas of the Miami 

 clay loam also frequently directed settlement to the regions where it 

 prevailed. Consequently, over a considerable proportion of the terri- 

 tory occupied by this type, the Miami clay loam was early cleared and 

 occupied by farms. Usually the clearing proceeded gradually, and for 

 a long period of time a considerable proportion of the area in farms was 

 still occupied by hardwood timber, while smaller proportions were 

 being brought under the plow. With the progress of agricultural 

 occupation these forest areas have now been reduced to small woodlots, 

 but still over a considerable part of the region each farm is provided 

 with its woodlot and frequently with its "sugar-bush" in the sugar 

 maple section. 



The gently undulating or rolling surface of the Miami clay loam 

 presented no topographic difficulties to prevent its agricultural occu- 

 pation. Consquently as the timber was removed, larger and larger 

 areas were occupied by farm crops, and at present over 80 per cent 

 of the extent of the type is either arable land or is held in more or less 

 permanent pastures, which are occasionally plowed for the produc- 

 tion of a crop and for the restoration of the seeding to grass. The 

 balance of the type consists of the woodlot tracts already mentioned, 

 somewhat hilly and stony areas which are occasionally found within 

 the type, and of those steeper slopes along its margins where the up- 

 land surface breaks down to the deeply trenched streams. 



In general the Miami clay loam is highly prized as an agricultural 

 soil and its valuation varies, depending upon its location with respect 

 to market and to transportation, from $50 or $60 an acre to $125 or 

 even $150 or more where the land is located near the outskirts of the 

 larger manufacturing cities. 



There is thus little possibility that the area of the Miami clay loam 

 under cultivation may be greatly extended. Such extension may 

 only occur through the draining of areas which still remain some- 

 what swampy or through the cutting away of forested areas which 

 are really required for the annual use of the farms upon which they 

 occur. The fonr.er improvement might well be undertaken. The 

 clearing of woodlots could scarcely be called an improvement. 



CROP ADAPTATIONS. 



The Miami clay loam is principally devoted to the production 

 corn, wheat, oats, and hay. Of the grain crops the acreage of coi 

 takes first rank and the crop is universally grown upon this type 

 soil in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. In general the dent 



