STARK COUNTY. 333 



Timber, Soil and Agriculture. Along the water courses, there is usually a 

 variable belt of timber, consisting principally of the common varieties of oak, 

 hickory, ash and maple, black walnut, butternut, cottonwood, sycamore, coffee 

 tree, buckeye, box elder, redbud, wild plum, cherry and crab apple. The soil 

 of these timbered lands is a clayey loam, sometimes resembling that of the 

 prairie, though generally lighter colored and of less depth, but frequently par- 

 taking largely of the character of the subsoil, and of a dark brown or yellowish 

 color. Though much less fertile than the prairies, these lands are better adapted 

 to the cultivation of fruit. 



The soil of the prairies is a dark-colored loam, which contains a large per- 

 centage of humus. Its peculiar character is due to the admixture with the 

 finely comminuted matter, which constituted the surface of the Drift, of the 

 material resulting from the growth and decay, for long ages, of animal and 

 vegetable substances upon its surface. If properly drained and cultivated, the 

 prairies are everywhere productive. Drainage renders the soil dry enough for 

 working earlier in the spring, and later in the fall ; makes it warmer at those 

 periods, when warmth is most needed ; helps, by admitting the atmosphere, to 

 prepare the mineral food for the nourishment of the growing plants, and ren- 

 ders the latter less liable to injury from drought. 



