10 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



There is an excellent opportunity for the more intensive occupa- 

 tion of the Clyde loam over a considerable proportion of its area. 

 It is so well suited to the production of quite a number of special 

 crops that increasing demand for these crops will naturally result 

 in their increased production to the exclusion of the spring grains 

 and grass now extensively grown upon the type. It is probable that 

 increased occupation of the Clyde loam will take this direction of 

 more intensive cultivation. 



CROP ADAPTATIONS. 



General crops. In the case of the Clyde loam, a larger acreage of 

 the type is devoted to the production of grass for the cutting of hay 

 than to any other crop. The type is not only well suited to produce 

 large yields, but the management of the soil and of the general farm- 

 ing system in the areas where it occurs has brought about a crop rota- 

 tion usually consisting of one year devoted to the production of a hoed 

 crop, one or two years devoted to small grain growing, to be succeeded 

 by two, three, or even five years of grass production in the course 

 of the rotation. Because of the adoption of such long-term rotations, 

 in which the land is frequently occupied during half of the entire 

 period by the stand of grass, the acreage of this crop far exceeds that 

 devoted either to the small grains or to the hoed crops. The yields 

 of hay vary considerably in the different areas where the Clyde loam 

 has been encountered. In general, in southern Michigan, northern 

 Indiana, and western Xew York the yields of hay range from 1 to 

 2 or even 2| tons per acre. The average yields for the Clyde loam in 

 these locations may be confidently stated at H tons per acre or 

 greater, dependent somewhat upon seasonal variations in the rainfall. 

 Mixed timothy and clover constitute the principal acreage, although 

 upon the better drained areas clover, seeded alone, constitutes an im- 

 portant crop, both for the production of hay and, in central Michi- 

 gan, for the production of clover seed. In North Dakota the area 

 devoted to the production of the tame grasses is so limited as to be 

 almost negligible. However, considerable areas of wild grasses are 

 cut, giving the high average yield of 1| to If tons per acre. Thus, 

 the Clyde loam is an admirable soil for the production of the 

 grasses. The alsike clover and the medium red clover are used to a 

 considerable extent both in mixed and pure seeding. It has been 

 found that the alsike clover will make an excellent growth even where 

 drainage has not been thoroughly established, while the medium red 

 clover is somewhat more critical and requires good to perfect drain- 

 age to produce its maximum yields. 



Among the small grains, spring wheat is the most important, al- 

 though in some areas winter wheat is also grown. The acreage de- 

 voted to this crop in the more eastern States is diminishing and the 



