56 
SOIL SURVEY OF WAUPACA COUNTY. 
of the Vilas sand is under cultivation at the present time. 
Where cleared and under cultivation general farming, dairying 
and potato raising are the usual lines followed. Potatoes are 
the most important cash crop and yield from 75 to about 125 
bushels to the acre with occasional yields-which are somewhat 
higher wdiere special and improved methods have been followed. 
Corn yields from 15 to 35 bushels, oats from 15 to 30 bushels, 
rye from 10 to 15 bushels, and hay from % to % tons per acre. 
It is somewhat difficult to get a good stand of clover on this soil 
and timothy does not succeed very well. The yields on this soil 
depend to a considerable extent upon the amount and distribu- 
0 
tion of rainfall and the manure or organic matter applied to 
the soil. The type is quite easily exhausted by continuous or 
improper cropping, and the methods followed are usually not 
those best suited to building up the productiveness of the land. 
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND FERTILITY OF SAND SOILS 
In some respects sandy soils have advantages over heavier 
soils. They become drier and therefore warmer and can be 
worked earlier in the spring and more quickly after rains than 
heavier soils. These advantages are particularly important in 
regions of short growing periods. But when the soil is too 
sandy it does not hold sufficient water from one rainfall to an¬ 
other to satisfy the needs of the growing crops and they there¬ 
fore suffer from drought. Moreover, sandy soils are lower in 
their supply of the chemical elements demanded by crops than 
heavier soils. When these two factors become too low they limit 
the profitable farming of these soils. In the mapping of the 
Soil Survey those soils which are classed as fine sands or sandy 
loams have fairly good water-holding capacity, and when their 
fertility is properly maintained their good qualities in regard 
to warmth and earliness can be taken advantage of and they 
can be farmed with profit. But soils which are classified as 
sands, such as the Coloma and Plainfield sands, are so coarse 
as a rule that they do not have sufficient water-holding capacity 
and their use for the growth of staple crops is ordinarily un- 
piofitable, unless unusual skill is used in their management. It 
must be kept distinctly in mind, however, that all types as 
mapped show some variation in texture or fineness of grain. 
The chief factor limiting their agricultural use is that of wa¬ 
ter-holding capacity. This depends chiefly on the texture or 
