66 
SOIL SURVEY OF WAUPACA COUNTY. 
Tlie red subsoil has the same origin as the Superior soils, but 
it is probable that the sandy portion of the material may have 
been washed in from the higher lying lands adjoining. The 
dark color is of course due to the growth and decay under moist 
conditions of a rank vegetation. 
The native timber vegetation consisted of elm, ash, willows, 
alder, coarse grasses and other moisture loving vegetation. 
But little of this soil is cleared and cultivated because of the 
poor drainage condition. Most of it is devoted to pasture or to 
hay, although some is still in timber and is not utilized at all. 
When thoroughly drained this will be an excellent soil for farm¬ 
ing crops and also for numerous trucking crops, where other 
conditions are favorable for the developmet of intensive farm¬ 
ing operations. 
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND FERTILITY OF POYGAN CLAY LOAM, 
SILT LOAM, AND FINE SANDY LOAM 
These types of soil are characterized by having relatively large 
amounts of organic matter, accumulated as a result of poor 
drainage. The supply of phosphorus in these soils is usually 
fairly high, but in many cases it is not readily available. Its 
availability will depend largely upon the rate of decomposition 
of the organic matter. The total amount of potassium in these 
soils is fair in all and large in some, but the chief question here 
also is in regard to its availability. 
While soils well supplied with vegetable matter as these usu¬ 
ally are, do not need special treatment with reference to po¬ 
tassium and phosphorus immediately after reclamation, they 
very generally do show a need of care in this regard within a 
few years, and patches of these types frequently fail to produce 
satisfactory crops even immediately after drainage and breaking 
unless barnyard manure or special mineral fertilizer is used. 
In the improvement of these types the first step of course is 
drainage. Both open ditches and tile drains can be installed 
to advantage in the reclamation of these lands. Plowing fields 
in narrow strips with dead furrows from 2 to 4 rods apart, and 
having these lead into shallow open ditches along the side of the 
field will greatly assist in carrying off the surface water. In 
order to make the internal drainage of the soil complete, how¬ 
ever, tile drains should be used to supplement the surface 
ditches. 
