OREGON FARMER 49 



under these conditions, however, in order to maintain fertility, 

 with good rotations and more or less livestock production, as com- 

 mercial fertilizers may not be used. (Composition, sandy loams, 

 table, page 46.) 



The Marsh Soils. As their name suggests, these soils are the 

 results of the accumulations from the decay of generations of the 

 rank growth of the fresh water marshes, sedges, rushes, "tules", 

 etc. mixed with more or less silt and other sediments brought in 

 by the adjoining stream. The largest areas of these soils are found 

 along the coast on the rivers below tidewater such as the Columbia, 

 Coquille and Coos rivers and surrounding some of the interior 

 lakes east of the Cascades such as Klamath and Silver Lakes. 

 Smaller former marsh areas are found in the lower Willamette Valley 

 where the beavers, damming v up small streams, caused marshes 

 giving rise to the local name " beaver dam" soils. These "beaver 

 dams", like all marsh soils, are very high in organic matter content, 

 intensely black in color, rich in nitrogen, but deficient in lime and 

 potash, acid in reaction, and nearly always lacking in drainage. 

 Where lying between the stream and higher ground, as practically 

 always they do, these soils vary from (according to the drainage) 

 either deep, black, well decayed organic matter or deep, raw, brown, 

 peaty muck, at the center of the marsh to a sandy loam at the 

 bank of the stream and a silty muck or clay muck as the higher 

 lands back of the marsh are approached. The rawness of these 

 soils depends altogether on the drainage. While the Western 

 Oregon marsh soils are all acid in reaction, in Eastern and Central 

 Oregon, the reverse is the case, some of the Central Oregon marshes 

 being strongly alkaline. 



The first step with marsh soils is reclamation through drainage 

 or, along the coast, through dyking and drainage. These soils 

 are then cleared of their rank growth of marsh grasses, burned, 

 deeply plowed, cropped with oats several years, then to such 

 intensive dairy crops as mangels, turnips, kale, corn, hay and grains, 

 and still later in smaller units to more intensive crops such as pota- 

 toes, cabbage, celery, onions, etc., becoming wonderful truck 

 producers. Deficiencies in lime and potash may be very profitably 

 corrected with commercial applications because of the intensive 

 use of these soils. When reclaimed and developed these are 

 among the richest, easiest working and highest priced soils in 

 the state. (Composition, marsh soils, table, page 46.) 



The "Adobe" Soils. This type of soil, sometimes called also 

 "black sticky" or "red sticky", according to the color, is found only 

 in limited amounts as compared with the great soil types of the 

 state previously discussed. It occurs in spots, however, in nearly 

 every section of the state, these patches varying in area from a 

 couple of acres to as high as a quarter section in some cases. Many 

 farms in Western Oregon, especially those in portions of the valleys 

 adjacent to the hills, will have a few acres of this type of soil. Prob- 

 ably the largest areas of "sticky" soils are found in the Southern 



