50 
SOIL SURVEY OF WAUPACA COUNTY. 
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND FERTILITY OF FINE SANDS AND SANDY 
LOAMS 
These soils have intermediate texture and hence have moder¬ 
ate water-holding capacity. They are not fine enough to be es¬ 
pecially well adapted to grasses for pasture, though a fair qual¬ 
ity of pasturage can be secured on the heavier phases of these 
soils. The more deeply rooted crops, such as clover, rye, corn 
and potatoes, find sufficient moisture during average seasons and 
suffer from drought only during periods of relatively low rain¬ 
fall. 
In chemical composition these soils are also of an interme¬ 
diate character. The total' phosphorus averages from 850 to 
900 pounds in all types except the Vilas sandy loam which con¬ 
tains, on an average about 1,150 pounds in the surface 8 inches 
per acre, or from 25 to 40 per cent more than the other types. 
The total potassium of the surface 8 inches per acre is approxi- 
* mately 25,000 pounds or but little over one-half of that found 
in heavier soils such as the Kennan silt loam. The organic mat¬ 
ter of these soils is also comparatively low, averaging from 2.5 
to 3.0 per cent in the surface 8 inches and from 1 to 2 per cent 
in the second 8 inches. They have a correspondingly low nitro¬ 
gen content averaging from a thousand to 1,500 pounds in the 
surface 8 inches and from 500 to 800 pounds in the second 8 
inches. This organic matter is largely in the form of leaf-mold 
and fine roots and is hence of an active character so that it de¬ 
composes quickly when the surface is first broken, furnishing a 
sufficient supply of nitrogen for a good growth of crops for a 
few years. It however, is exhausted with comparative readiness 
and the most important point in the management of all of these 
soils is to follow^ methods which will maintain and increase the 
organic matter. In the virgin condition these soils are but 
slightly acid as a rule, but with continued cropping the acidity 
increases and for the best growth of clover and especially al¬ 
falfa liming is essential. This use of lime not only makes the 
soil more suitable for the growth of alfalfa and clover but as¬ 
sists in preventing the leaching of phosphorus and maintaining 
it in a form which is available for growing crops. 
The management of these soils to maintain the fertility will 
depend to a considerable extent on the crops grown and on 
whether or not stock is maintained to which the produce of the 
