14 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



satisfactory yield of corn, all led the pioneer farmers, who were 

 usually predisposed to dairying from their experiences in their former 

 locations, to adopt this form of crop disposal. The dairy farms upon 

 the Clyde loam, particularly in Michigan and Indiana, are appar- 

 ently among the most profitable and best maintained farms in the 

 region. Upon these dairy farms a considerable amount of stable 

 manure is annually returned to the fields and crop yields are main- 

 tained at or above the average for the general locality. The produc- 

 tion of wheat has largely been superseded by the production of corn 

 and oats upon the majority of dairy farms. The building equipment 

 is somewhat more elaborate because of the necessity for housing the 

 stock and the roughage for feeding purposes upon dairy farms than 

 upon the general crop farms found upon the Clyde loam. 



SUMMARY. 



The Clyde loam is an extensive and important general-purpose and 

 special-crop soil of the Glacial Lake and Terrace Province. 



It is most widely developed in the southern peninsula of Michigan 

 and in northern Indiana, though important areas are found in west- 

 ern New York and in North Dakota. 



The Clyde loam has been formed through the redeposition of fine- 

 grained glacial materials in the beds of extinct glacial lakes and 

 particularly in depressed areas where natural drainage conditions 

 were very poor and where partially decomposed vegetable matter 

 accumulated abundantly. 



The surface soil of the Clyde loam is a dark-gray, brown, or black, 

 somewhat mucky loam for a depth ranging from 8 to 24 inches and 

 averaging about 12 inches over the entire extent of the type. The 

 subsoil is a gray, drab, or blue clay loam, or clay, stiff and impervious. 



In its natural condition the Clyde loam occupied extensive swampy 

 and marshy areas found in low-lying and depressed localities. A 

 part of the type was timbered and a part covered by swamp grasses 

 and other low-growing vegetation. 



The occupation of the Clyde loam for agricultural purposes has 

 only been made possible through the installation of artificial drainage 

 systems over practically all of the type which is now under cultiva- 

 tion. Streams have been straightened, large main and lateral canals 

 have been dug, and a large amount of tile underdrainage has been 

 installed for the improvement of the drainage of the type and its 

 reclamation for agricultural purposes. 



In its natural swampy condition, the Clyde loam was held at a 

 value of $5 to $10 an acre. The cost of drainage has ranged from 

 $12 to $25 an acre, and the valuation of the drained land ranges 

 from $35 to $100 an acre for the production of general farm crops 

 and even higher for the production of special crops. The drainage 

 of the type has thus been fully justified by its increase in value. 



