SOIL SURVEY OF LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA. 15 



About 1,000 acres are devoted to melons, 200 acres to sweet potatoes, 

 and 200 acres to cabbage. 



There are several cooperative concerns for tlie l)U3'ing and selling 

 of farm products and supplies. The Farmers Union Exchange at 

 Columbus Junction buys products such as butter, eggs, and poultry 

 and sells groceries, farm im])lements, coal, and feed. The Farmers 

 Union Elevators at Wapello. Morning Sun, and Marsli sell flour, 

 mill feeds, and concentrates. 



Owing to the lack of variation from place to place, soil and topog- 

 raphy have comparatively little influence on the distribution of 

 crops. Orchard fruits are kno-wn to do best on slopes, where the 

 air drainage is good. On Muck areas the small grains in general 

 and oats in particular have been found to produce an excessive growth 

 of straw which causes lodging before time for harvest. Farmers rec- 

 ognize some soils as best adapted for the production of certain crops. 

 Sandy soils are considered best suited for the growing of melons, 

 sweet potatoes, rye, early varieties of corn, and truck crops in gen- 

 eral. The light-colored, naturally forested blufi^ soils are preferred for 

 growing wheat, and the dark-colored prairie upland soils for corn 

 and oats. Alfalfa has been found to give best results on soil high in 

 lime and where the subsoil is well, though not excessively, di'ained. 

 There seems to be no assignable reason for the approximate restric- 

 tion of winter wheat to the first bottoms and terraces and the upland 

 east of the Iowa River. 



About 60 per cent of the land for corn is plowed in the fall, to a 

 depth of 5 to 6 inches, and left rough over winter. In spring plowing, 

 the land is frequently disked before plowing and harrowed afterwards; 

 otherwise it is plow^ed, harrowed, and then disked. Planting is usu- 

 ally done between May 10 and June 1 . About 95 per cent of the corn 

 is checked, the balance being drilled. None is listed. Of that drilled, 

 the greater part is grown for fodder and is drilled close, about 1 foot 

 apart in the row. Checking is usually 3 feet 6 inches each way, but 

 sometimes 3 feet 8 inches on the wore. After phmting, a harro%ving 

 is given within a week, or before it rains. This breaks the crust and 

 prevents erosion in the planter marks, the latter being especially im- 

 portant on rough ground. The crop is cultivated an average of 

 three times, the first two cultivations being deeper than the last. 

 Level cultivation, with very little ridguig, is generally practiced. 

 Six -shovel cultivators (three to a gang) are commonly used. In har- 

 vesting the crop, approximately 75 per cent is husked from the stand- 

 ing stalks, 10 per cent is cut for ensilage, 10 per cent for fodder (of 

 which about 20 per cent is shredded), and the remaining 5 per cent 

 is "hogged down." In the last few years soy beans have been grown 

 with corn on a few farms. They are seeded in the hill at the time 

 the corn is planted. The seed is generally mixed in the planting 

 hopper, which is set to drop two beans and two kernels per hill. 



