16 



FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1916. 



nature, without any marked accumulation of clay, but the subsoil 

 is fairly compact and moderately retentive of moisture. The material 

 apparently is uniformly noncalcareoiisto great depth, though in some 

 places calcareous gravel and sand mixtures occur at depths of 8 to 

 15 feet below the surface. The surface of the Merrimac soils varies 

 from level to gently rolling. 



The Buckner soils occupy a comparatively narrow strip of discon- 

 nected terraces adjacent to the Mississippi River. The series consists 

 of dark-brown to black surface soils underlain by a subsoil ranging 

 in color from rather deep orange brown to somewhat lighter brown. 

 The subsoil and substratum vary from a rather coarse loamy sand to 

 a medium loamy sand, and contain stratified gravel and coarse sand. 

 The material to depths of at least 3 to 10 feet is noncalcareous. It 

 contains enough fine material to be fairly retentive of moisture. The 

 Buckner soils consist of alluvial sediments washed from drift-covered 

 uplands and deposited by the Mississippi River when it flowed at a 

 higher level than at present. They are younger than the Merrimac 

 soils. The surface ranges from rather level to gently undulating. 



The soil type classed as Peat consists of a brown and black, spongy, 

 more or less resistant mass of undecomposed roots, moss, and vege- 

 table fiber intermixed with more finely divided material, and under- 

 lain by more uniformly black and more finely divided and decayed 

 fibrous matter. Peat owes its origin to the decay of a luxuriant 

 growth of sedges and other aquatic plants in old ponds and lakes. 

 The surface is nearly flat, with a slight slope in the direction of stream 

 flow in places. Areas in which the organic accumulation averages 

 less than 3 feet in depth are not considered typical. Where the 

 underlying soil is a sand the Peat is mapped as a sandy-subsoil 

 phase, and where it is a clay as a heavy-subsoil phase. 



In the following pages of this report the various soils mapped in 

 Anoka County are described in detail and discussed in their relation 

 to agriculture. The table below shows the name and the actual and 

 relative extent of each type: 



Areas of different soils. 



