48 BULLETIN 142, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



average for the counties in which it occurs, since in each case it con- 

 stitutes the best wheat soil of the area. A typical field of wheat on 

 the Miami clay loam is shown in Plate XII, figure 2. Usually wheat 

 is seeded on land upon which corn has been produced the preceding 

 year. The winter varieties only are grown, spring wheat being prac- 

 tically unknown in this section. In Michigan the area devoted to 

 wheat usually exceeds that devoted to any other grain crop on this 

 soil type, and the average yields upon all soils in the counties of 

 which soil surveys have been made are in the vicinity of 13 bushels 

 per acre. The yields reported from this soil type in the same coun- 

 ties are 15 to 25 bushels per acre, indicating again that the Miami 

 clay loam is a good wheat soil. Complete commercial fertilizers are 

 sometimes used with the wheat seeding, but in general the fertilizers 

 incorporated with the soil in the preparation of the land for corn are 

 chiefly relied upon for the production of the succeeding wheat crop. 

 In many cases wheat is produced two years in succession, and grass 

 is seeded with the second crop. In other instances oats are seeded 

 upon the corn land and followed by wheat. 



The acreage devoted to oats in the counties in which soil surveys 

 have been made and in which the Miami clay loam predominates 

 is usually subordinate both to the wheat acreage and to the acreage 

 in corn, although in some instances the acreage in oats is second only 

 to that devoted to corn. For these counties Census statistics indi- 

 cate an average yield of over 35 bushels of oats per acre. In In- 

 diana the average yields for the Miami clay loam are stated in the 

 soil survey reports at 30 to 35 bushels per acre, while in Michigan 

 and Ohio the average yields are given as 40 to 60 bushels per acre. 

 These estimates are fully verified by an examination of the statistics 

 of yields in the counties mapped. As has been noted, oats frequently 

 take the place of wheat as a first-year small-grain crop. In other 

 instances, particularly in Michigan and the northern part of Ohio, 

 the wheat is entirely displaced by oats, which are seeded only for a 

 single year, being immediately followed by grass. 



The area devoted to grass growing and hay production in the 

 counties in which the Miami clay loam is the dominant soil type 

 almost equals the area devoted to the production of the grain crops. 

 This is due to the fact that grass usually occupies the ground for 

 two or three years in the regular rotation, being cut for hay during 

 the first and second years and not infrequently pastured the third 

 year preparatory to breaking the ground for corn. The average 

 yields for the counties in which soil surveys have been made exceeds 

 1.3 tons of hay per acre, and again the Miami clay loam may be 

 credited with a yield greater than the average for these counties. 

 On this type the yields range from 1 to 2 tons per acre, and the 

 latter yield is sometimes exceeded. In all areas where the Miami 



