THE MIAMI SERIES OF SOILS. 19 



About 75 per cent of the Miami fine sand is under cultivation, 

 while approximately 22 per cent remains in untilled pasture land. 

 About 2 per cent consists of sand dunes and about 1 per cent of 

 moraines, kettle basins, and land too stony and rough to be of any 

 value except for pasture. 



The general farm crops common to the region are grown. Corn 

 under normal conditions averages 25 bushels to the acre, oats 22 

 bushels, rye 12 bushels, and timothy and clover about 1 ton. Pota- 

 toes yield as high as 150 to 175 bushels per acre where given special 

 attention, though the average is lower than this for the entire type. 

 A crop of potatoes on the Miami fine sand is shown in Plate III, 

 figure 1. Beans, tobacco, and cucumbers are grown to a small extent. 



No definite crop rotation is in general use on this type, but one 

 which gives good results in some sections consists of corn, followed 

 by oats one year, then by rye for one year with clover and timothy 

 seeded for hay. The hay is usually cut for one year and the second 

 year the land is pastured, after which it is plowed again for corn. 

 Where manure is available it is usually applied to the sod. Green 

 manuring is not practiced to any extent and commercial fertilizers 

 are seldom used. Another rotation which has given success on simi- 

 lar sandy soils consists of potatoes, followed by a small grain such 

 as rye or oats, and the land seeded to clover. The first crop of clover 

 is usually cut for hay and the second plowed under for green 

 manuring. If sufficient manure is available the second crop of 

 clover may be left for seed. Corn may be grown in the place of 

 potatoes if desired. Where the soil conditions are made favorable, 

 alfalfa may be successfully grown on this soil, though it is more 

 difficult to secure and maintain a good stand than on a heavier soil. 

 The production of truck crops is profitable on this type, especially 

 near shipping points or home markets. 



Owing to its loose, open structure, this soil is easily cultivated, and 

 under good methods of farming the productiveness of the type 

 gradually increases. The methods now followed over a large part 

 of the type, however, are not such as tend to bring about this result. 

 The lack of organic matter in the soil and its low water-holding 

 capacity are best corrected by the use of stable manure and green 

 manuring crops. 



MIAMI GRAVELLY LOAM. 



The Miami gravelly loam has been mapped over a total area of 

 45,184 acres in Fond du Lac County, Wis., and 192 acres in Auglaize 

 Count} 7 , Ohio. 



The surface soil consists of a light-brown silty loam, having an 

 average depth of about 8 inches. The subsoil to a depth of 2 or 3 



