THE CLYDE SERIES OF SOILS. 47 



then reseeding to alfalfa is more profitable than continuing the 

 harvesting of the mixed hay. 



Winter wheat is a minor crop upon the Clyde clay, although it was 

 formerly extensively grown. The yields are still above the average 

 for the wheat-growing States, but the increased value of the land 

 has rendered the production even of fairly large crops no longer 

 profitable. Yields of wheat range from 15 to 25 bushels per acre on 

 the Clyde clay. 



Within recent years sugar beets have come to be grown to quite an 

 extent upon the Clyde clay. The tonnage secured is good, ranging 

 from 10 to 12 tens per acre of beets of rather high sugar content. 

 The beets are grown to best advantage where tile drainage has been 

 established. They may not be grown where drainage has not been 

 perfected, at least by open ditches. A very uneven stand is obtained 

 where drainage is neglected. It is probable that the Clyde clay is 

 second in value only to the Clyde loam as an eastern sugar-beet soil. 

 The acreage upon this type should be extended as rapidly as factory 

 facilities are provided. 



Potatoes are grown on this type only to a very limited extent and 

 chiefly for home use. Wherever another more friable soil is avail- 

 able it should be used for Irish potatoes in preference. Yet yields 

 of 100 bushels or more per acre may be obtained upon well-drained 

 land. The tubers are likely to be rather dense and to cook to a dark 

 color. 



It is apparent from the crop adaptations of the Clyde clay that it 

 is a soil whose most productive crops are especially well suited to 

 the fattening of beef cattle, the feeding of dairy cows, and the grow- 

 ing and fattening of hogs. This type of farming is being gradually 

 extended over the different areas of the Clyde clay, although the 

 present dominant form is usually that of producing corn, other 

 grains, and hay for sale. The fact that corn, mixed grasses, blue- 

 grass for pasture, and even alfalfa, may be grown to excellent 

 advantage upon this soil marks it as destined to become more and 

 more a stockgrowing and dairying type. 



In all cases where the Clyde clay has been drained and used for 

 tillage forms of agriculture the equipment of farm buildings is that 

 of a prosperous general farming community. The dwellings and 

 outbuildings are most commonly frame structures or the house is 

 of brick. The teams used are among the heaviest and best of the 

 Central States. The implements and machinery used are commonly 

 of improved sorts well suited to the management of a stiff and re- 

 fractory soil. Yet there are portions of the type where drainage 

 is just becoming established where the old log house and barn still 

 persist and where the improvements have not yet attained to the 

 excellent condition of the longer occupied areas. There are still 



