SOIL SURVEY OF LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA. 39 



and pastures. The type is preeminently adapted to the production 

 of corn. The other leading crops are oats, hay, and wheat. The 

 different branches of live-stock farming are fairly well developed. 

 Corn yields 30 to 70 bushels, averaging 40 bushels, per acre; oats, 

 30 to 70 bushels, averaging 45 bushels; hay, tbree-fourths ton to If 

 tons, averaging 1} tons; and winter wheat, 10 to 40 bushels, aver- 

 aging 25 busliels. 



Land of this type sells for $140 to $250 an acre, averaging about 

 $175. 



CALHOUN SILT LOAM. 



The Calhoun silt loam is a brown to grayish-brown silt loam, 10 

 inches deep, underlain to 16 inches by a gray silt loam sometimes 

 tmged with brown. This passes abruptly into a dark-brown silty 

 clay loam, mottled slightly with yellowish-brown, whicli is underlain 

 by a dark yellowish brown, heavy plastic, impervious silty clay to 

 clay, mottled with bluish gray. In places the heavy subsoil, which 

 is locally known as hardpan, is pale greenish gray to grayish brown 

 in color. In one or two patches near the margin of the terrace the 

 surface soil has been largely removed by erosion and the heavy 

 stratum lies close to the surface. 



The Calhoun silt loam occurs at, or near, the marghi of the Iowa 

 River terraces, in relatively small areas. It also borders the lower 

 course of Long Creek. The topography is level, and there is evi- 

 dence that the areas were once poorly drained, though at present, 

 with the exception of a few small patches, the di*ainage is fair or good. 

 The extent of this type is small, and it is of comparatively little im- 

 portance. About half of it is cultivated. It seems to be naturally 

 forested with post oak, black oak, and hickory, though only a part 

 of the uncultivated land is wooded at present. All the untilled 

 land is used for pasture. The type is handled and cropped in the 

 same general manner as the Waukesha silt loam, though care must 

 be taken not to plow it when too wet, since this causes baking and 

 clodding. The principal crops grown are com, oats, and rye. Corn 

 yields 20 to 40 bushels per acre, averaging about 30 bushels; oats 

 15 to 50 bushels, averagmg 30 bushels; and rye 5 to 20 bushels, 

 averaging about 10 bushels. 



While no farms occur exclusively on this type, the selling price is 

 estimated to range from $60 to $150 an acre, averaging about $95, 



For the improvement of this type deep plowing and the incorpora- 

 tion of organic matter are suggested, 



WABASH LOAM. 



The Wabash loam, in different parts of the area, has a rather wide 

 range in the character of the surface soil, particularly in texture. 

 The type is usually a grayish-brown to dark-brown loam to silt loam 

 to a depth of about 12 inches, underlain by a brown to yello\\'ish- 



