780 GLACIAL FORMATIONS OF ERIE AND OHIO BASINS. 



material to afford sustenance to plants. Indeed, the grains and fruits are 

 found to flourish in this class of soil. The gravelly outwash aprons border- 

 ing the moraines and the deposits along the lines of discharge for glacial 

 waters usually carry a capping of loam from a few inches to several feet in 

 depth, which adds to their productiveness. It is only the ti-ees and the 

 deep-rooting plants that extend down to the gravel. The deltas and gravelly 

 portions of beaches on the shores of the glacial lakes usually carry sufficient 

 sand and loam as a matrix to supply, the needs of plants. 



SANDY SOILS. 



The sandy soils are as a class the least productive of the whole series. 

 They are, however, confined to narrow strips along valleys and to small 

 areas on the borders of the glacial lakes. The most extensive tracts are 

 near the shores of the glacial lakes Maumee and Warren in northwestern 

 Ohio and the neighboring part of Michigan, and there they cover but a few 

 townships. Elsewhere they are in narrow strips, usually but a fraction of 

 a mile and often but a few yards in width, that follow the old shore lines. 



SILTY SOILS. 



The silty soils display considerable variation in texture, some being 

 a compact clay nearly impervious to water, others a loamy clay in which 

 water has a moderate movement, and still others a loam in which water has 

 a free movement. The silt that covers the Illinoian drift in southeastern 

 Indiana and southwestern Ohio is nearly impervious to water, and its flat 

 areas are subject to flooding in wet seasons and to baking in seasons of 

 di'ought. The term "slash land" has been applied to these poorly drained 

 areas. The soil is in places underlain at the depth of a few inches by an 

 ochery clay or ferruginous crust which is exceedingly refractory and 

 difficult to break up. This ferruginous crust is so extensive here and also 

 in districts farther west that it merits careful investigation as to methods for 

 breaking it up and rendering more productive a soil which seems otherwise 

 well calcLilated for profitable agriculture. The silt that covers the Wis- 

 consin drift in parts of the Scioto, Grand River, and Maumee basins is 

 usually sufficiently porous to permit water to pass up or down through it. 

 Although the areas of Wisconsin di-ift which are covered with silt are 

 generally so flat that some flooding occurs in wet seasons, the passage of 

 water through the silt is sufficiently free to prevent baking in seasons of 



