30 ■ FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1916. 



potatoes, and haj^ are the most important crops. The income from 

 live-stock industries reached the sum of $566,137 in 1910. 



The soils of Anoka County range in texture from light sands to 

 loams. The soils of heavier texture are productive and durable under 

 cultivation. Commercial fertilizers have not been used to keep up 

 the productiveness, but manure is extensively used and crop rotations 

 including clover are followed by most farmers. 



In addition to Peat, nine types of soil are mapped in Anoka 

 County, representing five series. 



The Miami soils are light colored, derived from glacial drift. They 

 have a higher lime content than the other upland soils. The fine 

 sandy loam and the loam of this series are mapped. These are very 

 desirable agricultural soils, and about 90 per cent of their total area 

 is farmed. 



The Gloucester series comprises light-colored soils derived from 

 glacial drift made up mainly of crystalline-rock material. They 

 have a somewhat lower lime content than those of the Miami series, 

 but do not differ greatly in agricultural value. 



The Hinckley soils are sandy and gravelly. They are derived from 

 the granitic material of the moraines, and have been reworked in 

 places by the wind. The topography ranges from gently rolling to 

 rough and broken. On account of the unfavorable topogTaphy and 

 their porous nature, these soils are not so productive as the other 

 upland types. 



The Merrimac soils cover the greater part of the sand plain. They 

 comprise brown to dark-brown surface soils, with light-brown, sandy 

 subsoils. They are retentive of moisture and productive. The sur- 

 face varies from nearly level to gently undulating. 



The Buckner series includes the soil of the river terraces. The 

 surface soil is brown to dark brown, and the subsoil light brown and 

 sandy in texture. Except in position, the Buckner series does not 

 differ greatly from the Merrimac. Moisture conditions are somewhat 

 better on the former. 



The typical Peat consists of dark-brown to black, partly decom- 

 posed organic matter more than 3 feet deep. It occurs in depressions 

 and has poor natural drainage. Two divisions are shown in the 

 shallow Peat, a sandy-subsoil phase and a heavy-subsoil phase. The 

 typical soil and its phases together cover two-thirds the area of the 

 county. 



