THE CLYDE SERIES OF SOILS. 23 
the Central States. The type is susceptible of efficient tillage with 
rather light teams and tools, and these are used for the more inten- 
sive forms of cultivation. In fact much of the work of the market- 
garden farms is performed Iry hand after the land has been fitted 
by horse labor for the planting of the various crops. 
CLYDE GRAVELLY SAND. 
The Clyde gravelty sand has only been encountered in two areas, both 
occurring in the southern peninsula of Michigan. Its total extent 
amounts to only 24,G56 acres as mapped to the present time. Its most 
characteristic occurrence is in the vicinity of Saginaw, Mich., where 
it is found along eld beach lines of the glacial Lake Saginaw, and in 
low slopes along bases of the surrounding glacial hills. It is found in 
Allegan County, Mich., in the form of low, rounded gravelly hills 
and as the chief soil of the low terraces which border the Kalamazoo 
River in that county. 
The surface soil of the Clyde gravelly sand to an average depth 
of about 10 inches is a medium-textured, dark-brown, loamy sand, 
marked by the presence of a considerable proportion of medium to 
fine gravel. The subsoil is rather coarse, incoherent gravelly sand 
which is either underlain by gravel, as in the case of the river ter- 
races, or grades into coarse sand and gravel at a depth of about 2 
to 3 feet. Usually clay is found at a depth of 4 to 6 feet. 
The surface soil always contains a sufficient amount of partly de- 
cayed organic matter to give it a characteristic dark-brown or 
nearly black color and to render it somewhat loamy. The type, as 
a whole, is fairly well drained owing to its sloping position on up- 
land areas and to the near presence of drainage ways on the river 
terraces. 
The general farm crops of the region where it occurs are chiefly 
grown upon the Clyde gravelly sand. Corn produces fairly good 
yields ranging from 25 to 35 bushels per acre. It is found necessary 
to use stable manure freely upon this rather porous soil in order to 
secure the larger yields. It is not a typical corn soil and other crops 
are better suited to it. 
Among the small grains both rye and buckwheat produce fair 
yields. They are more commonly grown than either wheat or oats 
and are better adapted to this soil. Rye yields 12 to 15 bushels per 
acre, and buckwheat 15 to 20 bushels. Oats give only small yields 
in normal years, owing to the fact that the soil does not retain a 
sufficient amount of moisture to supply the needs of the crop at the 
time of the formation of the grain. Either rye, which matures 
earlier, or buckwheat, which is a late summer crop, should be pre- 
ferred to oats. 
