34 



FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1918. 



This type is not of great extent, but it is very productive. The 

 greater part is in cultivation, but a considerable area is in pasture, 

 probably because so many of the farmers are engaged in cattle 

 raising and feeding. The type is preeminently a corn soil, oats, hay, 

 and winter wheat being the other main crops. Corn yields average 

 slightly higher than on the Bremer silt loam, while oats, hay, and 

 wheat give about the same yields. 



The selling price of land of this type ranges from $135 to $220 

 an acre, with an average of about $140. The price depends on the 

 improvements, particularly in drainage, and the nearness to towns 

 and transportation lines. 



The following table gives the results of mechanical analyses of 

 samples of the soil and subsoil of the Bremer silty clay loam: 



Mechanical analyses of Bremer silty clay loam. 



BREMER CLAY. 



The Bremer clay has a surface soil of black silty clay to clay, 

 tough and plastic in nature, extending to a depth of 13 inches, and 

 underlain by a black clay faintly mottled with yellowish brown. 

 This soon changes to black tinged with dark bluish gray. At about 

 24 inches there is reached a dark bluish gray clay, mottled with 

 rusty brown to yellowish brown, and this continues to the bottom 

 of the 3-foot section, bluish gray predominating. 



The type occurs on the terraces, above overflow, near the upland 

 bluff. Like the Bremer silty clay loam which it blosely resembles 

 except for its heavier surface soil, it occupies level areas generally 

 depressed below the surrounding terrace types. It is naturally 

 rather poorly drained and requires tiling and ditching for best results 

 under cultivation. In tiling both this type and the Bremer silty 

 clay loam, it is a common practice to place gravel or trash over the 

 tile in order to make the latter draw well. In ponds, a catch basin 

 draining into the tile is generally put in. 



The Bremer clay is the least extensive of the three Bremer soils. 

 Its crop adaptations and yields are like those of the Bremer silty clay 

 loam, and land values are practically the same. 



Both types are inclinc^d to stick to cultural implements when wet, 

 and to bake and clod if worked when too wet. The use of lime and 

 the incorporation of all the organic matter possible are methods 

 suggested for the loosening up and aerating of the soil. 



