DESCRIPTION OF AREA. 
17 
the series or family group to which each type belongs. Follow¬ 
ing this general discussion of the soils will be found a full and 
detailed description of all of the types, together with statements 
covering the present uses of the soils and methods through which 
each type can be best improved. 
The soil derived in part from the loessial blanket and partly 
from decomposed shale has been classified as Knox silt loam. 
This is the most extensive soil in southwestern Wisconsin. No 
other type was mapped in this series. 
Along stream valleys throughout the western part of the 
county, seme terraces or benches occur where the soil is rather 
heavy, and where it has been derived from the uplands and re¬ 
deposited by water. There soils are of the Lintonia series, and 
include the silt loam only. 
The Bates series comprises dark-colored upland soils in the 
loessial region where the original timber was thin or sparce and 
where a semi-prairie condition prevailed. The silt loam was 
the only type mapped. 
In the stream bottoms of the western part of the county where 
the soils are dark-colored and rather heavy in texture, the Wa¬ 
bash series has been mapped. The types Wabash silt loam and 
loam were found. 
On many of the slopes in western Jackson County and over 
extensive tracts in the eastern part of the area, the material 
forming the soil has been derived directly from the weathering 
of the Potsdam sandstone. This material has been classified as 
the Boone series, and the types Boone loam, fine sandy loam, fine 
sand, with several phases were indicated on the soil map. 
In a number of places, especially in the north central and 
northeastern portions of the county the Potsdam sandstone 
has a shaly phase associated with it, and from the weathering 
of this material has come the Vesper series of soils. The sur¬ 
face is level, the soils are shallow over the shaly rock, and 
usually contain varying amounts of clayey material in the sub¬ 
soil from the shale, which makes a tight subsoil and poor drain¬ 
age. The types mapped are Vesper silt loam, fine sandy loam, 
and sandy loam. 
Along Black River and its tributaries are extensive tracts of 
alluvial land now found as terraces well above present flood 
flow. The soil is light-colored and light in texture, and has 
