22 
SOIL SURVEY OF BUFFALO COUNTY. 
The same crops are grown on the steep phaze as on the typical 
soil, but less corn and other intertilled crops are grown and 
more of the land is in grass and pasture than on the main type. 
The ordinary yields of all crops are somewhat lower. Because 
of the steep character of the surface the phase is more difficult 
to work than the typical soil. The steepest portions of the phase 
are now in timber or pasture land and the remainder is devoted 
to general farming. 
Land values are subject to considerable variation. The phase 
usually forms only a portion of the farms, occurring in associa¬ 
tion with the typical soil and in some cases also with Rough 
stony land. It is estimated, however, that the value of this class 
of land alone would range from $25 to $50 an acre, depending 
upon the degree of slope and the area under cultivation, as well 
as upon the location and improvements. 
Chemical Composition and Management .—Numerous analyses 
of the Knox silt loam indicate that it contains on the average 
about 900 pounds of phosphorus, 35,000 pounds of potassium 
and 2,700 pounds of nitrogen in the surface soil eight inches 
of an acre. Analysis of the timbered soil as compared with 
cultivated fields indicates that cropping reduced the content of 
phosphorus in the virgin soil to a considerable extent in some 
cases. The most severe drain on phosphorus was probably during 
the grain raising days of 30 or 40 years ago and the removal of 
this element of plant food is possibly not so rapid now under 
the dairy system of farming. 
The total potassium is sufficient to meet the needs of crops 
for a long time to come, but the availability of the mineral for 
the use of plants can be greatly increased by having a supply 
of decomposing organic matter in the soil. The improvement of 
this soil as a whole calls for more organic matter and may be 
added in the form of green manuring crops turned under or as 
manure. 
Many fields have become sour or acid on the surface through 
continued cropping, especially on the higher ridges, the soil in 
the valleys and on the slopes being supplied with lime dissolved 
by rain and flood water from the limestone which caps the ridges. 
Where trouble with clover or alfalfa is had, lime will be needed 
and such fields should be tested with blue litmus paper for acid¬ 
ity. Where the soil is acid a ton of finely ground limestone per 
