GROUP OF LOAMS AND FINE SANDY LOAMS. 33 
The surface of this soil to an average depth of 8 inches con¬ 
sists of a grayish brown fine sandy loam which becomes lighter 
in color with depth. At 14-16 inches a yellowish-brown color 
may obtain and a small percentage of clay is present. In places 
there is a gravel deposit at about 30 inches and a moderate 
amount of gravel may be distributed through the soil section. 
The areas found in the eastern half of the county are usually 
free from gravel but are underlain by fine sand instead. 
The surface of this type is level, or only very slightly undu¬ 
lating and the natural drainage is good. 
This soil consists of alluvial material deposited as outwash or 
valley fill. The parent material was largely crystalline rocks, 
but in the central and eastern parts of the county, the glacial 
debris contains considerable sandstone material and some of this 
has also entered into the formation of the Antigo fine sandy 
loam. No calcareous rocks have contributed to this soil, how¬ 
ever, and both soil and subsoil are in an acid condition. 
The original timber consisted of maple, birch, hemlock, and 
some pine. 
Most of the soil is cleared and is under cultivation, but be¬ 
cause of its being found only in small tracts, but few farms are 
made up entirely of this class of land. It is mostly well im¬ 
proved and gives good yields of all the general farm crops com¬ 
mon to the region. It is excellent potato land and would also 
make fine soil for truck crops, but its location regarding mar¬ 
kets is not such as to encourage the extensive development of 
this line of farming. 
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND FERTILITY OF LOAMS AND FINE SANDY 
LOAMS 
These soils are only a little more open in texture than the silt 
and clay loam types. They have a good water-holding capacity 
and will support very good pasture, but the somewhat higher 
percentage of fine sand which they contain reduces the water 
content of the surface somewhat so that they warm up more 
readily in the spring and have less tendency to bake and crack 
than the heavier soils. These qualities make them better 
adapted to such crops as corn and potatoes than are the heavier 
soils. 
The total amount of the plant food elements, phosphorus and 
potassium, is nearly if not quite as large in the Kennan and 
3—w. a 
