THE VOLUSIA LOAM. 9 



Another difficulty with grass production upon this type is the 

 tendency to allow the grass lands to remain too long before plowing. 

 As a result the clovers run out, native grasses not so valuable as the 

 timothy invade the fields with a consequent decline in the quantity 

 and quality of the hay cut. Shorter rotations and the use of lime 

 will improve these conditions and permit the production of the large 

 crops of hay which the Volusia loam is naturally fitted to yield. 



The most important small-grain crop grown upon the Volusia loam 

 is oats. It constitutes practically the only grain crop grown in many 

 localities. The normal yield of oats for the type is in the vicinity of 

 35 bushels per acre. Yields rarely fall below 25 bushels, and in 

 numerous cases a crop of 50 bushels per acre has been produced. 

 Next to hay, the oat crop is best adapted to the type. No large 

 acreage of oats is usually sown upon the individual farm, but each 

 farmer grows from 5 to 40 acres each year, depending upon the size 

 of the farm and the necessity for securing a seeding 'to grass with the 

 oat crop. The grain produced is usually heavy, bright, and of high 

 quality. Oats are sometimes sold from the farm, but usually the 

 greater part of the crop is fed to the horses or ground with corn for 

 feeding to the dairy herd. 



Barley is grown to a limited extent upon the Volusia loam, the 

 yields ranging from 18 to 30 bushels per acre. Some winter wheat 

 is grown in a few localities, but the crop has almost disappeared from 

 the region in which the type is found. 



The production of corn upon the Volusia loam is possible at all 

 of the lower elevations. At the higher altitudes only the flint varie- 

 ties will mature in some of the shorter seasons, but at the lower ele- 

 vations in northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania the 

 dent corns are also grown, both for grain production and for silage. 

 Corn yields from 25 to 40 bushels of grain per acre under the normal 

 conditions of the type. Yields as high as 50 bushels are secured by 

 the best growers in the lower altitudes. Upon poorly drained land 

 the crop frequently fails and is harrowed out for the seeding in of 

 buckwheat. 



By far the greater proportion of the corn produced upon the 

 Volusia loam is fed upon the farm, either ground with other grains 

 or as silage. Grown as a silage crop the yields amount to 8 or 10 

 tons per acre in normal years. Corn may be sufficiently matured for 

 cutting into the silo at altitudes above those where it is a certain 

 grain crop. This practice is gradually extending. 



Buckwheat is one of the important crops grown upon the Volusia 

 loam. The crop is seeded chiefly upon land which could not be pre- 

 pared in season for the planting of corn or potatoes or else it is grown 

 as a catch crop upon land originally prepared for corn and where, 



