SOIL SURVEY OF BANNER COUNTY, NEBRASKA. 45 



Oats yield from 20 to 40 bushels and corn 15 to 25 bushels per acre, 

 the return fluctuating with the amount of rainfall. 



Land of this type sells for $25 to $35 an acre, the difference in price 

 being dependent mainly upon the character and condition of improve- 

 ments. 



The Mitchell silt loam is one of the best dry-land farming soils in 

 the lowland jDart of Banner County. The soil is naturally retentive 

 of moisture and is well adapted to all crops common to the region. 

 In Scotts Bluff County much of the tj'^pe is under irrigation. It is 

 one of the easiest soils to irrigate in the High Plains region,^ on a-c- 

 count of its smooth, gently sloping surface. When cultivated with- 

 out irrigation the surface soil drifts badly, unless planted to winter 

 cover crops or plowed early in the spring and seeded down. 



BRIDGEPORT GRAVELLY SANDY LOAil. 



The surface soil of the Bridgeport gravelly sandy loam to a depth 

 of 8 to 10 inches is a grayish-brown to brown, loose, incoherent sandy 

 loam, containing an abundance of fine and coarse gravel. The im- 

 mediate surface is much darker than the lower part of the layer, 

 owing to a relatively large admixture of organic matter. There is 

 little testural change throughout the 3-foot section, though material 

 forming the subsoil gradually becomes lighter in color with depth, 

 being in the lower part a gray to light grayish brown, gravelly, sandy 

 loam. The gravel of this type consists chiefly of crystalline rocks, 

 of many different kinds, together with a small quantity of fragments 

 of white calcareous grit. 



The tj^pe differs from the Rosebud gravelly sandy loam chiefly in 

 its lower lime content and its mode of formation. The Rosebud type 

 is derived by weathering in place from the coarser strata of the 

 Ogallala foiination, while the material comprising the Bridgeport 

 gravelly sandy loam represents coUuvial sands and gravels, trans- 

 ported from the adjoining uplands by wind, water, and gravity. 



The type is very inextensive in Banner County, though it occurs in 

 numerous areas on the south sloj^es of the Pmnpkin Creek Valley. 

 The bodies are extremely small, however, seldom exceeding 50 acres. 

 One of the largest lies 1^ miles northeast of Harrisburg. A smaller 

 body occurs about three-fourths mile southeast of this town. A very- 

 typical area lies 1 mile southeast of Willow Springs. 



In topography this soil varies from smooth and gently sloping to 

 steeply rolling. The areas in many places lie upon the crests and 

 around the edges of hilltops and narrow ridges. Drainage in most 

 places is excessive. 



The type is of little agricultural importance. Its unfavorable 

 location, coarse texture, and droughty nature prevent its use for culti- 



