THE CLYDE SERIES OF SOILS. 25 
former existence of small glacial lakes, ponds, and succeeding swamps 
within upland areas or associated with other glacial lake deposits. 
In the chief occurrence along the terraces of the Kankakee River, 
in northern Indiana, the Clyde fine sand has been formed as a sandy 
deposit of the glacial predecessor of the present river, whose flood 
plain was many miles in width and probably consisted of ponded 
glacial waters at one or more stages of the development of the drain- 
age way. It would be unusual to encounter such a large area of such 
uniformly assorted sand in the channel of any very active stream 
and it is more probable that the present channel represents stream 
excavation followed by the ponding of water and the deposition of 
the sand as sorted material derived from a variety of sources and 
laid down to some extent by the tributary streams as well as by the 
major stream which later occupied the valley. 
The Clyde fine sand, in Newton County, Ind., occupies a strip of 
territory south of the Kankakee River, having a breadth of 10 to 12 
miles. It extends across the boundaries of the county both to the 
east and to the west and a similar strip of soil is found on the north 
bank of the river. The area surveyed in Newton County comprises 
only a small proportion of the total area of the type as it occurs 
along the Kankakee River. 
Near the river the surface of the Clyde fine sand lies at elevations 
of only 5 to 10 feet above the normal stream level. There is a gentle 
rise away from the river which rarely amounts to more than 1 or 
2 feet per mile and the appearance of the river terrace is that of a 
very level plain which is only relieved through the irregular occur- 
rence of sandy ridges, rising in the form of old shore lines or sand 
dunes above the general level. These have altitudes of 10 to 30 feet 
above the surrounding plain. It is along the flanks of these ridges 
that the Clyde fine sand reaches its highest elevations above the 
river and where it was best drained under natural conditions. Shal- 
low depressions are also found in the plain within which the swampy 
conditions have so long persisted that accumulations of peat or muck 
were formed, having a depth of a few inches to many feet. Other- 
wise the broad, nearly level river terrace is occupied chiefly by the 
Clyde fine sand. 
For a long period of time, during the settlement of the region, 
the plain occupied by the Clyde fine sand remained in a swampy and 
almost impassable condition. More recently extensive ditches have 
been opened by the counties involved and into these the local farm 
drainage is led. In the majority of instances the drainage is still 
accomplished by open ditch, but a beginning has been made in the 
tile underdrainage of the land. This should be extended over the 
entire area, since it is the only permanent and completely satisfactory 
55812°— Bull. 141—14 4 
