46 BULLETIN 142, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



the dense subsoil limit the varieties which may be produced. Pears 

 constitute the only orchard fruit other than apples that is well suited 

 to a soil of such heavy texture. 



Tobacco is produced on the Miami clay loam in southern and 

 southwestern Ohio in areas which are particularly well drained, are 

 heavily manured and fertilized, and which have been brought into 

 good mechanical condition by careful tillage. These constitute prac- 

 tically the only special crops which are suited to production upon 

 the Miami clay loam, both because of its textural peculiarities and 

 because of the climate. 



The Miami clay loam, locally known as " maple land " or " walnut 

 land," from the dominant species of its native hardwood trees, was 

 selected for clearing and settlement early in the pioneer days in 

 Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. The type supported a heavy growth 

 of a great variety of hardwoods. Throughout Ohio it was forested 

 with oak, maple, beech, basswood, walnut, poplar, cherry, ash, elm, 

 hickory, black gum, buckeye, and ironwood. In localities where the 

 maple or walnut prevailed the type soon attained a wide reputation 

 for its fertility and sustained crop-producing power. In general 

 the lands occupied mainly by a beech forest were not so highly es- 

 teemed, while the growth of black gum and elm usually indicated 

 low-lying areas within the type in which the natural drainage was 

 too poor for their immediate occupation. 



The gently undulating or rolling surface of the Miami clay loam 

 *was favorable for agriculture, and as the timber was removed a 

 steadily increasing acreage was used for farm crops. At present over 

 80 per cent of the total area of the type is either arable land or is held 

 in more or less permanent pastures, which are occasionally plowed 

 for the production of a crop. The remainder of the type consists of 

 woodlots, the somewhat hilly and stony areas which are occasionally 

 encountered, and those steeper slopes along the margins of the type 

 where the upland surface breaks down to the deeply trenched 

 streams. 



In general the Miami clay loam is highly prized as an agricul- 

 tural soil. Its value varies, depending upon its location with respect 

 to markets and to transportation facilities, from $50 or $60 an acre 

 to $250 or more where the land is located near the outskirts of the 

 larger manufacturing cities. 



There is little possibility that the area of the Miami clay loam 

 under cultivation may be greatly extended. Such extension may 

 occur only through the draining of areas which still remain some- 

 what swampy or through the clearing of forested areas which are 

 required for the use of the farms upon which they occur. The 

 former improvement might well be undertaken. The clearing of 

 woodlots could scarcely be called an improvement. 



