38 FIELD OPERATTOIvrS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1919. 



Wheat and rye yield from 10 to 14 bushels per acre, oats 20 to 25 

 bushels, and corn 10 to 15 bushels. During exceptionally dry years 

 corn fails to mature grain and is cut for fodder, yielding from 1 to 4 

 tons per acre. 



Crop rotation is not practiced and no manure is applied to farm 

 crops on this type. The soil is easy to handle and can be cultivated 

 under a rather wide range of moisture conditions. It forms clods if 

 plowed when wet, but these are easily broken down by cultivation. 



The selling price of the Epping very fine sandy loam ranges from 

 $12 to $35 an acre, depending mainly upon the topography and 

 location as affecting the use to which the land is suited. As most 

 of the land is used for pasture, the price is generally nearer the 

 lower than the higher figure. 



Eloping very -fine sandy lowin^ hasin phase. — ^The soil of the Epping 

 very fine sandy loam, basin phase, is a brown to grayish-brown very 

 fine sandy loam, relatively high in silt. It has an average depth of 

 about 8 inches, being slightly deeper near the center and considerably 

 shallower along the boundaries of the areas. 



The subsoil is a gray to light grayish brown loose floury silt loam 

 to silty clay, generally throughout the 3- foot section. In places the 

 lower subsoil — a zone below '24 inches — changes abruptly to a pinkish- 

 white material, much resembling that of the subsoil of the typical soil. 

 The change in color between the soil and subsoil is gradual. Both 

 are deficient in organic matter, though the soil contains a much larger 

 amount of this material than that of the main type. The phase is 

 highly calcareous throughout the 3-foot section. 



The phase occupies a lower position than any of the other Epping 

 soils, except the silt loam, basin phase. It has been derived in much 

 the same manner as that phase, but coarser material has entered more 

 largely into the composition of its surface soil. 



The phase occurs in scattered areas, chiefly on the south slope of 

 the Pumpkin Creek Valley. Two small areas lie in the northwest 

 corner of the county, on the north side of Bull Canyon. The bodies 

 vary in size from a few acres to 2 or 3 square miles. The largest and 

 most typical one lies around Harrisburg, in the central part of the 

 county. 



The surface of the phase is almost flat and presents a basinlike 

 topography. Drainage ways are not well established over most of 

 the phase,, but the loose porous soil and subsoil affords ample outlet 

 for the light rainfall of the region. 



The phase is not at present an important agricultural soil in this 

 county, and only a small proportion of it is under cultivation. It is 

 better adapted to crops, however, than most of the Epping types and 

 fair yields are obtained in all but the driest years. The native vege- 

 tation consists of grama grass, buffalo grass, western wheat grass, 



