THE CLYDE SEEIES OP SOILS. 57 



Onions are grown to some extent upon various soils of this group. 

 The Clyde fine sandy loam is the type best suited to onion culture, 

 although the Clyde clay loam when well drained and in good physical 

 condition at the surface also constitutes an excellent soil for the crop. 

 On the Clyde fine sandy loam onions yield from 300 to 500 bushels 

 per acre under ordinary conditions of cultivation, while crops in 

 excess of 800 bushels are reported upon the well-drained and heavily 

 fertilized land. The crop is benefited by the application of large 

 quantities of stable manure and by the use of fertilizer high in nitro- 

 gen and potash. The use of considerable amounts of organic manure 

 is necessary for the best results with onions upon the Clyde clay loam, 

 as the surface soil must be rendered rather more friable than in the 

 ordinary field condition. 



Chicory has been grown as a special crop upon the Clyde sand 

 and Clyde sandy loam in certain parts of Michigan. Both of these 

 soils give yields of approximately 10 tons per acre. The acreage 

 devoted to the crop is rapidly diminishing since other more profitable 

 crops may be grown upon both soil types. 



VEGETABLES. 



In the vicinity of the larger cities the more sandy members of the 

 Clyde series are used to a rather small extent for market gardening. 

 Wherever drainage has been installed and where stable manures may 

 be obtained from city or other sources the Clyde sand, fine sand, and 

 sandy loam constitute excellent market-garden soils. 



Early Irish potatoes, string beans, cucumbers, cabbage for summer 

 marketing, cauliflower, tomatoes, and other garden vegetables are 

 successfully grown upon all of these types. It is probable that celery 

 would prove successful and profitable upon the Clyde sandy loam and 

 fine sandy loam, especially where irrigation of the beds is possible. 



DRAINAGE. 



Until some form of artificial drainage was instituted, large areas 

 of the different types of the Clyde series in all localities could not be 

 occupied for any form of agriculture more intensive than the grazing 

 of cattle during periods of especially dry weather. The larger part 

 of all of the types now classed as soils of the Clyde series existed only 

 in a swampy condition when the region where they are found was 

 first explored. The northwestern counties of Ohio were long known 

 as the " Black Swamp " country, and it was not until within the last 

 40 years that any great progress had been made toward the occupa- 

 tion of this land for planting. The adjacent portion of Indiana was 

 similarly a vast swamp until recent times. The region around Sagi- 

 naw Bay was little used for farming before the early eighties. Even yet 



