SOIL SURVEY OF OUTAGAMIE COUNTY. 
42 
This soil is of minor importance because of its limited extent 
and also because of its rather low value from the standpoint of 
crop production. While part of it is under cultivation, the yields 
are low. It is low in organic matter, and the mineral plant food 
elements. 
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND FERTILITY OF FINE SANDS 
These soils have intermediate texture and hence have moderate 
water-holding capacity. They are not fine enough to be especial¬ 
ly well adapted to grasses for pasture, though a fair quality 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 intermediate 
character. The total phosphorus averages from 850 to 900 
pounds. The total potassium of the surface eight inches per 
acre is approximately 25,000 pounds or but little over one-half 
of that found in heavier soils such as the Superior silt loam. 
The organic matter of these soils is also comparatively low, aver¬ 
aging from 2.5 to 3.0 per cent in the surface eight inches and 
from one to two per cent in the second eight inches. They have 
a correspondingly low nitrogen content averaging from 1,000 to 
1,500 pounds in the surface eight inches. This organic matter 
is largely in the form of leaf-mold and fine roots, and it decom¬ 
poses quickly when the surface is first broken, furnishing a lim¬ 
ited supply of nitrogen for a growth of crops. However, it 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 alfalfa liming is essential. This 
use of lime not only makes the soil more suitable for the growth 
of alfalfa and clover, but assists 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 
farm is fed. When dairying or other live stock farming is prac- 
