THE MIAMI SERIES OF SOILS. 45 
of the arable acreage each year. The better farmers throughout the 
section occupied by the Miami clay loam practice these methods of 
organic-matter restoration and are well repaid by crop yields being 
maintained and even increased. 
In connection with the production of the grass crops, particularly 
the clovers, the application of lime to this dense, compact soil results 
in increased yields wherever it is properly practiced. Either finely 
ground limestone rock or the burned stone lime may be used for this 
purpose. Where the powdered limestone is used, considerably larger 
applications are required than in the case of the quick lime. In the 
latter case applications of 1,500 to 2,000 pounds per acre result in 
marked increases in the yields of clover hay. At least double this 
quantity of ground limestone is necessary in order to secure the same 
results. 
Another method for securing improvement in the crop yields of 
the Miami clay loam consists of the maintenance of the best tilth 
possible in the surface soil. The fine texture of the surface soil gives 
rise to a tendency toward clodding and baking unless the land is 
handled when the moisture conditions both of the surface soil and 
subsoil are particularly favorable. Plowing should not be attempted 
either when the soil is thoroughly baked and hardened or when it is 
wet and soft. In the former case large clods are formed which are 
very difficult to break down into a favorable condition by any sub- 
sequent tillage operations. In the latter case both the surface soil 
and the subsoil at plow depth are likely to become puddled and to 
form a " hardpan " or other physical condition unfavorable to the 
processes of root growth. A little care in the plowing of this land 
when it is in the condition of optimum moisture content will usually 
obviate both of these difficulties. It should be held in mind, more- 
over, by every owner of land of this character that the soil resources 
locked up in the baked and hardened clods are absolutely unavailable 
for the use of the growing crops, besides constituting a danger in the 
cultivation of the intertilled crops through the breaking down of 
the young plants. Thorough harrowing, preferably with the disk 
harrow, will generally serve to break up the surface clods, and the 
use of some such tillage implement is necessary in the proper prepara- 
tion of the land. 
There are few special crops which are suited to production upon 
the Miami clay loam, and the best types of agriculture conducted 
upon this soil are those embodying the production of grain and 
grass and the utilization of these for feeding dairy cattle and other 
stock. In the more rolling areas, especially where the low hills of 
the morainal belt are found, apple orcharding may be undertaken on 
e small scale. Even in such areas the heavy texture of the soil and 
