THE CLYDE SEKIES OP SOILS. 37 



good, ranging from 18 to 25 bushels per acre, with an average yield 

 of 20 bushels. Rye, barley, and buckwheat are also produced to a 

 small extent, giving fair yields. 



In some localities there are also small acreages planted to cabbage 

 or celery, the former crop yielding from 8 to 15 tons per acre, with 

 an average of about 12 tons. The quality of the cabbage produced 

 upon the Clyde loam is reported to be excellent. Only a small area 

 of either onions, peppermint, or strawberries, is now produced upon 

 the type, although it is well suited to the growing of each of these 

 crops when economic conditions are favorable. 



The farm equipment upon the Clyde loam does not differ ma- 

 terially from the equipment upon other soils in the same general 

 regions. It may be said that larger teams and heavier tools are re- 

 quired for the perfect tillage of this soil than upon any others of 

 similar or lighter texture. The somewhat plastic and dense char- 

 acter of both the surface soil and the subsoil requires deep plowing 

 and thorough subsequent tillage in order to maintain the surface 

 soil in mellow, friable condition. Since the Clyde loam is prac- 

 tically stone free in the majority of areas the use of disk plows and 

 disk harrows is easily possible. The employment of such machinery 

 should obviate the tendency toward the forming of a plow sole or 

 " hardpan " at the normal depth of plowing, a difficulty sometimes 

 encountered in the use of the ordinary turning plow. 



The dominance of grass, oats, and corn as the principal crops upon 

 the Clyde loam led to the introduction of dairying as an important 

 adjunct to crop production in the early days of the occupation of 

 this type. The excellent pasturage afforded, the heavy cutting of 

 hay, the large yields of oats, and the satisfactory yield of corn, all 

 led the pioneer farmers, who were usually predisposed to dairying 

 from their experiences in their former locations, to adopt this form 

 of crop disposal. The dairy farms upon the Clyde loam, particu- 

 larly in Michigan and Indiana, are apparently among the most 

 profitable and best maintained farms in the region. Upon these 

 dairy farms a considerable amount of stable manure is annually re- 

 turned to the fields and crop yields are maintained at or above the 

 average for the general locality. The production of wheat has 

 largely been superseded by the production of corn and oats upon the 

 majority of dairy farms. The building equipment is somewhat more 

 elaborate than upon the general-crop farms found upon the Clyde 

 loam, because of the necessity for housing the stock and the roughage 

 for feeding purposes. 



CLYDE SILT LOAM. 



Seven areas of the Clyde silt loam have been encountered in the 

 course of the soil survey work. Four of these are in southern and 

 central Wisconsin, and they comprise by far the largest acreage 



