GROUP OF MEDIUM. HEAVY SOILS. 
33 
On account of the sandy character of the soil and the surface 
.features, the natural drainage of this type is excellent. Where 
the soil is shallow and where the slopes are steep, the type 
frequently suffers from lack of sufficient moisture, though as 
a whole it retains moisture fairly well. 
Origin .—The original Boone fine sandy loam is largely resid¬ 
ual having been derived from the weathering of the Potsdam 
sandstone, and from a shaly phase of this formation. On some 
of the slopes, it is probable that some of the sandy material has 
been moved short distances down the slope by washing. Where 
there is silty material incorporated with the soil, it is probable 
that a part of this has been washed down from higher lying silt 
loam types. Thus it will be seen that the type may also be partly 
of colluvial origin, although this phase is of minor importance. 
In a few places, sand dumes have been formed, but these are 
also of small extent. The original timber growth consisted 
partly of black and scrub oak covering the shallow knolls and 
the lighter portions of type. 
Native vegetatio?i .—On the heavier portions there was some 
birch and maple. Sumac, hazel brush, poplar, and wild cherry 
form the second growth in uncultivated places. 
Present agricultural development .—By far the greater propor¬ 
tion of the type is put to some form of agricultural use, and 
most of it is cultivated. The wooded portion is confined chiefly 
to the steeper slopes and shallow knolls, which are covered mainly 
with small oak. As is the case with the county as a whole, 
most of the type is devoted to general farming, with dairying 
as the most important branch. In connection with dairying 
quite a number of hogs are raised. 
The chief crops grown and the ordinary yields are as follows: 
Corn, 40 to 50 bushels; oats, 30 to 40 bushels; barley, 35 to 40 
bushels; and hay from one to two tons per acre. Some rye is 
also grown, and it gives fair yields. On some of the level por¬ 
tions of the type some farmers report an increasing difficulty 
in getting a good stand of clover. Others on the gently rolling 
phase report no trouble whatever, no clover having been lost in 
the last seven or eight years. Very fine stands of clover appear 
on some of the lighter portions of the type, even though the soil 
showed indications of acidity in response to the litmus paper 
test. 
