Wheat Investigations. 11 



Soils. 



The soils of Aroostook County have been formed by glacial 

 drift, and vary from sand to heavy silt loams. According to 

 Westover and Rowe 16 there are twelve distinct soil types in 

 Aroostook County, but the greater part of the area is made up- 

 of a friable loam, Caribou loam, derived from unmodified glacial 

 drift. The Caribou loam is composed of about 50% silt and 

 only 16% of clay, the rest being made up of more or less fine 

 sand and gravel. The soil though most ideal for the potato 

 crop, is well adapted to small grains. The average yield of 

 wheat is about 25 bushels per acre. The fertility of the soil is 

 kept up by high applications of commercial fertilizers in con- 

 nection with the potato crop, very little barnyard manure being 

 used. The humus content of Aroostook soils is restored through 

 cultural methods which consist of a crop rotation usually includ- 

 ing potatoes one year, grain one year and clover and timothy 

 for two or three years. Frequently, however, this rotation is 

 not adhered to potatoes being grown for two or more years in 

 succession. In such cases the drain upon the humus of the soil 

 is probably too great to insure good wheat crops following the 

 potatoes. 



Characteristics of the Aroostook Grown Wheats. 



The commercial wheat varieties grown in Aroostook are 

 classed with the semi-hard spring wheats of the Northeastern 

 wheat district. The varieties of wheat grown at present in 

 Aroostook belong to two spring wheat groups — Fife and Pres- 

 ton. Owing to the prejudice of some growers against the 

 awned wheat, the majority of the Aroostook wheat varieties 

 belong to the beardless Fife group. More recently the Marquis 

 wheat has found its way from the Northwest into Aroostook 

 County, but does not seem to be so well adapted as the Fife 

 wheats. 



An investigation into the physical characteristics and chemi- 

 cal composition of Aroostook grown wheats and into their mill- 



16 H. L. Westover and R. W. Rowe. Soil Survey of the Caribou 

 Area, Maine, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. of Soils, 1910, pp. 1-40. 



