30 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, WW. 



moisture conditions, however, on account of its sandier texture. 

 Little attention is given to crop rotation and practically no fertilizer 

 is used. 



Land of the Rosebud very fine sandy loam type sells for $60 to 

 $75 an acre, dei^ending upon its topography, improvements, and 

 location. 



As with the Rosebud silt loam the dominating factor governing 

 crop yields on this type is the moisture supply. Thorough tillage, 

 especially during dry weather, is very necessary. 



Rosebud very fine sandy loam., shallow yJiase. — The shallow phase 

 of the Rosebud very fine sandy loam consists of a brown to dark- 

 brown very fine sandy loam. In the more nearly le^^el areas, where 

 erosion has not been active, the soil changes at a depth of 8 to 12 

 inches to a light brown or light gray, which becomes gradually 

 lighter until the parent rock is reached. The texture of the sub- 

 soil on these more level lying areas corresponds largely to the texture 

 of the overlying surface material. Where the surface soil approaches 

 a silt loam the subsoil is usually fine in texture, and where a coarser 

 material i)redominates in the surface the subsoil is often a very 

 fine sandy loam. The underlying calcareous sandstone from which 

 the phase is derived is nowhere more than 3 feet below the surface 

 and over most of the phase it is exposed in patches giving a char- 

 acteristic white spotted appearance. The soil is deficient in organic 

 matter. 



The phase is extensively developed on the table-land in the southern 

 part of the county. It occurs chiefly as narrow sinuous strips along 

 the breaks into stream valleys, and as large, irregular shaped bodies 

 around the heads of drainage ways, where erosion has removed the 

 soil as fast as weathering has broken down the parent rock. One 

 of the largest bodies lies around the head of Lawrence Fork, in the 

 southeastern part of the area. Several smaller though typical areas 

 may be seen along the Harrisburg-Kimball wagon road in the south- 

 central part of the county. 



The topography is rolling to hilly and in places broken, though 

 not quite so rough and dissected as the areas of Rough broken land. 

 The phase occupies the sharply cut stream valleys where erosion 

 has left large areas of the rock exposed. Drainage as a rule is 

 excessive. 



The phase is unsuited to crop production, the nearness of the bed 

 rock to the surface preventing the use of farm implements even 

 where the topography is favorable. It is used chiefly as pasture 

 land, although some hay is cut on the more level areas. The yields 

 are usually Ioav, seldom exceeding one-half ton per acre. The 

 grasses consist of grama, western wheat grass, wire grass, stipa, and 

 sand gi-asses. The nutritious sedge, blackroot, occurs also quite 



