24 



FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1916. 



per acre. Oats yield 20 to 40 bushels per acre, rye 10 to 25 bushels, 

 and wheat 10 to 20 bushels. Potatoes yield from 75 to 150 bushels 

 per acre. 



Land values on this type range from $40 to over $100 an acre. 

 Good transportation and market facilities and nearness to towns 

 account for the higher values. Some of the roads within the areas 

 of this typo are in good condition, but many are deep with sand, 

 and hard to travel. 



The Merrimac loamy sand is not so durable as the types with clay 

 subsoils, but with good fiirming methods, including the growing 

 of clover, good average yields can be maintained. Where the soil 

 has a tendency to drift preparation of the seed-bed should be post- 

 poned until just before seeding. Coarse vegetable matter should 

 be plowed under. The sowing of catch crops such as rape or millet 

 in corn fields at the last cultivation would add to the pasturage value 

 of the corn stubble and lessen exposure of the soil to wind erosion 

 during the winter. 



The following table gives the results of mechanical analyses of 

 samples of the soil and subsoil of the Merrimac loamy sand : 



Mechanical analyses of Merrimac loamy sand. 



MERUIMAC LOAMY FINE SAND. 



The Merrimac loamy fine sand consists of a brown to dark-brown 

 loamy fine sand. 8 to 10 inches deep, underlain by a light-brown to 

 brown loamy fine sand which in many places continues into the sub- 

 stratum. In some places the type is characterized by layers of clean, 

 loose fine sand alternating with quite heavy textured material, the 

 vertical section here being suggestive of stratification. The material 

 to depths of at least several feet is noncalcareous. Judging from 

 other outwash plain types it is probable that calcareous material oc- 

 curs at lower depths. 



The ^Merrimac loamy fine sand occurs extensively through the sand- 

 plain division of the county. It is developed to some extent in prac- 

 tically every township, and the upland in the central and eastern 

 townships consists mainly of this type. The surface varies from 

 gently undulating to fairly rolling. None of the type is too rough 

 for easy cultivation. It occurs in large bodies containing peat-filled 

 depressions and ponds, as well as on low knolls and ridges within 



