24 



FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1912. 



a few intermittent drainage courses from the higher lands and sup- 

 ports a scant growth of fir, pine, and oak. 



The Winans loam is a type of minor importance, confined where 

 typically developed to the Hood River Valley, and occurring as long, 

 narrow bodies of bottom land along the courses of the smaller streams. 

 The texture is extremely variable. The soil is the result of the depo- 

 sition of material from th(i flood waters of the bordering streams, and 

 a portion of the type is still subject to alteration bv occasional floods. 



Riverwash is of no present agricultural importance, and consists 

 of sand and gravel deposits of the Columbia and Hood Rivers. The 

 type is submerged during periods of high water. 



The names and extent of the various soils mapped in the area are 



given below: 



Areas of different soils. 



Soil. 



Underwood loam 



Hood silt loam 



Rough stony land 



Underwood stony loam 



Rockford stony clay loam 



Eroded phase 



Wind River loam 



Wind River fine sandy loam 



Riverwash 



Wind River sandy loam 



Light phase 



Acres. 



102,080 

 14,400 

 4,352 

 4,032 

 1,920 

 1,472 

 3,328 

 2,240 

 1,984 

 1,728 

 128 



Per 



cent. 



1.3 



Parkdale loam 



Wind River gravelly sandy loam 



Columbia fine sandy loam 



Winans loam 



Wmd River stony loam 



Winans gravelly sandy loam 



Rockford clay 



Total 



Acres. 



,472 

 ,152 

 ,088 

 960 

 832 

 768 

 704 



144, 640 



Per 

 cent. 



1.0 



UNDERWOOD LOAM. 



The soil of the Underwood loam consists of a loam 8 or 10 inches 

 deep and containing a large number of pellets about the size of buck- 

 shot. The soil material is generally of fine, smooth, silty texture. 

 The color ranges from grayish brown to reddish brown, and the term 

 ''red-shot land" which is locaUy applied to this soil is not derived 

 from the color of the soil, but from the color of the pellets or concre- 

 tions. These pellets are usually soft and readily crushed in the fingers 

 when moist. 



The subsoil may be either a loam or a clay loam of high silt content, 

 extending to a depth of 6 feet or more. Where the clay loam occurs 

 the surface loam is rarely over a foot in depth. The pellets may be 

 present in the subsoil, but always in smaller quantities than in the 

 surface soil. The soil is quite granular, and the presence of the pel- 

 lets makes even the hea\aer phases easy to cultivate. 



This soil is one of the main types in both the Oregon and the Wash- 

 ington portions of the area. In the Hood River section it occurs on 

 the slopes of all the mountains in and bordering the valley, and, with 



