Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. 315 
in its mineral constitution, and not in a superficial layer of vegeta¬ 
ble mold, soon to be exhausted. Cultivation improves it, and it 
will still continue to yield bountiful harvests when many other 
soils will need the constant stimulant of fertilizers. The stirring, 
washing out of the finer material and exposure to the air incident 
to cultivation, give it a lighter and warmer character, so that after 
a few years, crops that were at first unsuccessful may profitably he 
introduced. It occupies a belt along Lake Michigan, from Milwau¬ 
kee north to Sturgeon Bay, widening to the northward until it 
possesses the summit and occupies the basin of the Fox River and 
Lake Winnebago, and extends onward to the northwest. 
5. THE LIMESTONE LOAM. 
This is not a very distinct class, being closely allied to the marly 
clays. It appears to have its origin in the decomposition of the 
magnesian limestone upon which it rests. It thus differs from either 
of the marly clays in not being a drift soil. It is usually yellowish 
or reddish in color, rather plastic and adhesive, moderately fine in 
texture, and medium porosity. Chemically it is chiefly silicious and 
aluminous, or in the language of its origin, the insoluble portion of 
the limestone, the lime and magnesia having been removed by 
water, the name given it, Limestone Loam, refers to its origin, 
and not to the amount of lime in it. The depth of the soil, except 
in the valleys, is not great, and the rock itself is really to be re¬ 
garded as the permanent sub-soil. It can be reached even by the 
roots of cereals over much of the area occupied by this soil. 
Notwithstanding this, it is a fertile soil and supports a dense 
growth of native vegetation. It occupies the greater portion of 
Door county north of Sturgeon Bay and a smaller area south of it. 
6. THE SILICIOUS SANDY SOILS. 
This class needs little attention here, because in the first place 
it is too well known to require much description, and in the second 
place, fortunately, it covers so little ground that it possesses no 
great importance in considering the region, as a whole. As found 
in this region it had its origin in beach deposits made by the lake 
in former times. As it occurs in narrow strips, surrounded or 
bounded by clay soils, it may not on the whole prove a disadvan¬ 
tage, although it is of itself a sterile soil, for where it mingles with 
