8 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



extensive!} 7 grown small gram and the acreage devoted to it ex- 

 ceeds that given to the cultivation of all other crops. The yields 

 secured vary considerably, depending somewhat upon the length of 

 time which the soil has been under cultivation and somewhat upon 

 the persistency with which wheat has been seeded to the exclusion 

 of all other crops. Under the one-crop system the yields have de- 

 creased to 12 or 15 bushels per acre, but where any consistent attempt 

 at crop rotation has been made they are maintained at 15 to 20 

 bushels per acre. In general, it may be said that the average yield 

 for the type, under all circumstances, is in the vicinity of 15 bushels 

 per acre. There are considerable variations, due to vicissitudes of 

 climate, but the soil may be ranked as an excellent spring- wheat type. 



Barley is an important crop upon the Carrington clay loam in 

 Wisconsin and Minnesota and a subordinate crop in North Dakota. 

 The yields obtained are heavy, ranging from 20 to 40 bushels per 

 acre, with a general average above 28 bushels per acre. Rye is also 

 grown to some extent. 



A considerable area of the Carrington clay loam is given over to 

 hay. The yields of mixed timothy and clover are unusually heavy, 

 averaging better than 1 tons per acre, and frequently reaching 3 

 tons. In the more southern areas the standard rotation of corn 

 followed by oats, followed by the mixed grasses for two years de- 

 voted to hay production, with a year of pasturing, has been gen- 

 erally adopted, and the crops secured are fed on the farm to beef 

 cattle or the dairy herd. With such management the yields are 

 heavy and well sustained. 



In North Dakota an increasing acreage of the Carrington clay 

 loam is being devoted to the production of durum wheat. Under 

 conditions of low rainfall this variety gives yields ranging from 25 

 to 40 per cent higher than the usual varieties of spring wheat, and 

 the crop has proven profitable where others have experienced critical 

 seasons from deficiency of precipitation. 



Flax is grown for a single year at infrequent intervals in North 

 Dakota upon this soil, giving yields of 8 to 15 bushels of seed per 

 acre. Where grown continuously upon this or any other type of 

 soil the yields decrease rapidly because of " flax wilt," and it has been 

 found that an interval of five to eight years between flax crops is 

 required to control this disease. The yields are higher upon new 

 lands than upon those which have been cropped previously, either 

 to flax or wheat. 



Among the special crops, cabbage is the most important. In 

 Racine County, Wis., the acreage to cabbage has steadily increased 

 for the past decade, and thousands of acres are grown at present. 

 The Danish Baldhead is the variety chiefly grown for shipping pur- 

 poses, while other varieties are grown for the manufacture of sauer- 



