HBOUP OF MEDIUM HEAVY SOULS. 
35 
deficient. Because of the heavy clay layer and the shale rock 
beneath it, the rain water cannot penetrate deeply into the soil. 
The result is a soggy, cold condition of the land till late in the 
season each spring. This is liable to be true even on gentle 
slopes. The drainage is better in a few instances on small knolls 
and bordering the stream courses, and these places are where 
crops are most successfully grown. The drainage of Sections 
4, 5, 9, 19, 12, 14 (Township 22, Range 1 West) is better than 
the average as they border the East Fork of Black River. 
The Vesper fine sandy loam is largely brush covered. The 
original white and Norway pine timber has all been removed 
and outside of a few oaks and Jack pine, there is very little 
large timber. Poplar, birch, Jack pine and oak brush cover 
most of the land. Willow, alder, mess, and sweet fern grow 
on the lower portions. 
In origin this soil is largely residual from the underlying 
sandstone and shale. 
Only a small proportion of the type is improved, and the 
land has a comparatively low selling value. By many it is 
considered as having limited possibilities, but demonstrations 
which have been made with the use of lime and with phosphate 
fertilizers seem to show that with drainage this soil can be 
made to produce profitable crops. Yields of corn of 60 bushels 
per acre are known to have been obtained. 
For a discussion of the methods best suited for the improve¬ 
ment of this soil see page 36. 
The following table gives the results of mechanical analyses of 
samples of the soil, subsurface, and subsoil of the Vesper fine 
sandy loam: 
Mechanical Analysis of Vesper Fine Sandy Loam 
Number 
Description 
Fine 
gravel 
Coarse 
sand 
Medium 
sand 
Fine 
sand 
Very fine 
sand Silt 
Clay 
SI2809. 
812810. 
812810a.... 
Soil. 
Subsurface- 
Subsoil— 
Per cenl 
0.2 
.4 
.6 
Per cen 
2.2 
1.4 
1.0 
Per cen, 
4.4 
4.3 
.8 
Per cent 
05.8 
69.7 
16.1 
Per cev 1 
11.8 
11.7 
21.7 
Per ceni 
11.2 
8.8 
29.0 
Per cent 
4.3 
3.8 
80.9 
