42 FIELD OPEEATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1916, 



Tliis soil is inextensive, and only a small part of it has been culti- 

 vated. There are a few fields of corn and small garden patches on 

 the type, and wild hay is cut in places, but weed seed carried by the 

 streams lessens the value of the hay land. The best use for tliis type 

 is pasture. 



The price of the land ranges from $50 to $150 an acre, according 

 to location and the nature of adjoining land. The wider bottoms of 

 this type would make good corn and oats land if the streams were 

 deepened and straightened, so as to prevent overflow. 



Griffin silt loam, light phase. — The light phase of the Griffin silt 

 loam, if of sufficient extent and importance to warrant separation, 

 might properly be classed as the Griffin fine sandy loam. The sur- 

 face soil consists of dark chocolate brown fine sandy loam, with an 

 average depth of about 12 inches. The subsoil is a brown or grayish- 

 brown fine sandy loam, more or less mottled with drab and shades of 

 brown. Near the stream channels the texture is lighter and the color 

 more uniform, while in lower parts of the stream bottom the subsoil 

 is heavier and more mottled, as in the typical silt loam areas. 



The phase is encountered in only a few areas, the largest of which 

 is in the Salt Creek Valley west of Valparaiso. The area mapped in 

 the Calumet Valley north of JBurdick is hardly typical. Small areas 

 are found east of Suman and northwest of Lake HoUister. 



The topography is practically level and smooth except for the slight 

 irregularities caused by old stream channels. The phase is naturally 

 well di-ained, but is subject to overflow after very heavy rains. 



A small part of tliis phase is forested with elm, maple, sycamore, 

 and other lowland trees. A few small fields are cultivated to corn 

 and truck crops. Most of the phase is used for pasture. In crop 

 yields and general agricultural value the phase is probably equal to 

 the typical soil, but it is somewhat better drained, warmer, and 

 earlier. 



MUCK. 



Muck consists largely of decayed remains of marsh grasses and 

 mosses. Usually it is very mellow, black vegetable mold to a depth 

 of 3 feet or more. Sometimes decomposition has been retarded and 

 brown, peaty, fibrous layers occur in the subsoil. Usually the de- 

 posits are from 3 to 10 feet deep. Variations occur in which the 

 muck contains a relatively large admixture of sand and clay. In 

 some areas the layer of muck is shallow and sand or clay is encountered 

 within 18 to 36 inches of the surface. 



The Muck is scattered through various parts of Porter County. 

 The areas occur within bodies of glacial, glacial-lake, and outwash 

 deposits. Some of the largest areas lie northeast of Furncssvillc, in 

 the Calumet valley north of Crisman, south of Chesterton, around 

 Canada Lake, and in the glacial outwash channels south of Valparaiso 

 and Coburg. 



