34 
SOIL SURVEY OF WAUPACA COUNTY. 
Antigo fine sandy loams as in the silt loam. # However, they 
have rather less organic matter and this, together with the 
somewhat coarser texture results in a slower rate of chemical 
change by which the inert plant food of the soil becomes avail¬ 
able to crops. For this reason the increase in the supply of 
fresh organic matter and the use of available plant food either 
in the form of stable manure or of commercial fertilizers be¬ 
comes more important and especially when crops such as po¬ 
tatoes which are sold from the farm, and of which heavy yields 
must be grown to be profitable, are produced. 
The increase in the supply of organic -matter is of the utmost 
importance. A high degree of fertility cannot be maintained 
in these soils unless about twice as large an amount of organic 
matter is developed in them as that which they originally have. 
The plowing under of legumes, such as a second crop of clover 
or a crop of soybeans, is the best method of securing this re¬ 
sult. The application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers 
can best be made for these crops, since it secures a much larger 
growth of these crops themselves and becomes available through 
their decomposition to the following crops of corn or potatoes. 
The Kennan and Antigo soils were derived from rocks devoid 
of lime carbonates and therefore have a marked tendency to be¬ 
come acid. The degree of acidity is usually only slight in the 
new soil, but increases as the land is cropped from year to year. * 
This acidity does not affect the growth of most crops directly, 
but makes it more difficult to maintain a good degree of fertil¬ 
ity. This is true because it is in a condition unfavorable to 
the continued growth of the best legumes—clover and alfalfa. 
The slight degree of acidity does not interfere with the growth 
of clover while the soil is comparatively new, but does reduce 
the yields as the fertility is reduced by further cropping and 
even in the virgin condition acidity interferes with the growth 
of alfalfa. It is also a condition unfavorable to the mainte¬ 
nance of a good supply of readily available phosphorus in the 
soil. These objections are probably not sufficient to make nec¬ 
essary the use of lime to correct the acidity on all of the land 
under cultivation, for a number of years, but does make it de¬ 
sirable that farmers wishing to grow alfalfa should lime as well 
as inoculate the soil for this crop and also to watch the growth 
of clover carefully from year to year, so as to begin the use of 
* See page 20. 
