Soils of the eastern United States and their use-- XXXVI. The Volusia silt loam

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Issued April 26, 1912.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

BUREAU OF SOILS— CIRCULAR No. 63.
MILTON WHITNEY, Chief of Bureau.

SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES AND THEIR USE— XXXVI.

THE VOLUSIA SILT LOAM.

JAY A. BONSTEEL,

Scientist in Soil Survey.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

1912.

BUREAU OF SOILS.

Milton Whitney. Vliirf of Bureau.
Albert G. Rice, Vliirf Vlerk.

SCIENTIFIC STAFF.

Frank K. .Cameron, in charge of Physical and Chemical luvestigations.
Curtis F. Marbut, in charge of Soil Sur\'ey.
Oswald Schreiner, in charge of Fertility Investigations.
2

SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES AND THEIR USE-AXXVI.

THE VOLUSIA SILT LOAM.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.

The Volusia silt loam occurs at the higher altitudes in the plateau
country which stretches from the vicinity of the Delaware River
westward along the line between New York and Pennsylvania to
the eastern boundary of Ohio, including considerable areas in the
northeastern counties of that State. It is not found south of the
extreme limits of glaciation. Within this region it has been encoun-
tered in eight ditiPerent soil survey areas and has been mapped to the
total extent of 821,184 acres. It is estimated that the type covers not
less than 5,000,000 acres in the general region.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL AND SUBSOIL.

The surface soil of the Volusia silt loam, to an average depth of
8 inches, is a yellow or light-brown silt loam. The color varies with
the local conditions of drainage and with the amount of organic
matter present. In poorly drained areas there is a tendency toward
a gray or ash color, while in well tilled fields the surface soil is
usually brow n. From 8 inches to about 20 inches the subsoil is usu-
ally a pale-yellow silt loam, underlain by a compact mottled gray
nnd yellow heavy silt loam. The entire soil mass is filled with angular
fragments of shale and sandstone rock of all sizes. The underlying
shale or sandstone rock is sometimes encountered at shallow depths,
but is usually buried by 3 to 5 feet of soil and subsoil material cariy-
ing a few scattered bowlders of foreign rock.

The Volusia silt loam is easily distinguished from the soils of any
other series by the univei'sal presence of the flat shale and sandstone.
It differs from the Volusia loam in occurring at higher elevations
and in the generally lighter color of soil and subsoil. In general, it
does not possess the considerable depth to underlying rock of that
type.

SURFACE FEATURES AND DRAINAGE.

The Volusia silt loam covers the rolling surfaces of the high hills
which have been carved from the plateau region of southern New
York, northern Pennsylvania, and northeastern Ohio. At the highest

30489"— Cir. 03 — 12 3

4 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

elevations it is only rolling, but the hills are separated by deep-cut,
steep-sided valleys, down the slopes of which the type extends. Its
surface varies, therefore, from nearly level or gently rolling to
steepl}'^ sloping and almost precipitous. The greatest part of the
type lies at altitudes ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 feet above tide
level. Some portions of it rise to an extreme elevation of approxi-
mately 2,300 feet, while the areas found in northeastern Ohio are
much less hilly and lie between 900 and 1,100 feet.

The surface drainage of the Volusia silt loam is fairly adequate
over the greater part of the type. Numerous springs found upon
the hill slopes give rise to small swampy areas and some of the
more level tracts are so closely underlain by impervious rock as to
be poorly drained. The greatest difficulty with drainage, however,
arises from the compacted and dense condition of the subsoil just
below plow depth. Long-continued plowing to the same depth, often
at times when the subsoil was too wet, has compacted and hardened
the layer upon which the plow sole rides, forming Avhat is locally
known as " hardpan." This hardpan seriously interferes with the
natural internal drainage of the type.

Upon the more level areas of this soil erosion is not a serious prob-
lem, but there are many steep slopes within its boundaries which may
be protected from destructive washing only through remaining in
permanent pasture or in woodlot or forest. From many such slopes,
denuded of forest when the region was cleared, practically all of
the original soil has been removed, leaving only a mass of shale frag-
ments mingled with a small amount of earth. Such slopes should
never have been cleared. They comprise possibly 15 per cent of the
total area of the type.

LIMITATIONS IN USE.

The Volusia silt loam occurs at high elevations in a cold northern
region. It is a moderately well drained soil, of rather heavy texture,
suited under ordinary conditions only to the production of hai*dy
crops which mature in a short growing season. The greater pro-
portion of the type lies at too great an elevation to permit of ma-
turing any variety of corn except the flint, and even this can only
be grown for silage in the majority of years. The crop adaptation
of the type is therefore restricted by its inherent characteristics and
by its climatic surroundings to buckwheat, oats, Irish potatoes, and
hay. Other crops are grown to a limited extent, and the better
drained areas, which may also lie at lower elevations, possess a
greater range in crop adaptations than the general average of the
type.

A considerable proportion of the total area of the Volusia silt loam
lies upon the rolling tops of the high hills and is unfavorably located

THE VOLUSIA SILT LOAM. 6

with respect to transportation and shipping points. Even where
the actual distance is not great there is frequently a long, steep
grade from the farm down to the main routes of transportation.
This limitation has affected the economic conditions and methods of
farming in the region occupied by this type. Only such farm prod-
ucts prove profitable as may be grown in a cold climate and easily
transported to market.

In former times sheep growing and the production of beef cattle
constituted a considerable industry upon this soil, but competition
with western ranges reduced the profits and a system of grain and
hay growing as cash crops replaced the earlier dependence upon ani-
mal products. A decline in the productivity of the soil has frequently
accompanied the abandonment of animal feeding since the former
supplies of stable manure were no longer available. Even dairying
is not at all universal upon the Volusia silt loam, owing to the lack
of local facilities for the shipment of milk or for its manufacture
into butter or cheese.

As a result of these limitations the profits derived from farming
the type have frequently declined seriously, and there has been a
general decrease in the rural population in many of the townships
where this soil is the dominant type. Scarcity of labor has resulted
in a tendency toward the aggregation of farm lands into large
holdings accompanied by the more extensive forms of cultivation
and a greater reliance upon farm machinery instead of hand labor.
The lands not so well suited to this form of occupation have re-
verted to pasture and large areas of the poorer pastures have grown
up to brush.

Thus the topographic and climatic environment of the type has
tended to diminish the intensiveness of its cultivation and to restrict
the area of its active agricultural occupation.

IMPROVEMENT IN SOIL EFFICIENCY.

One of the most necessary steps in the improvement of the crop-
producing capacity of the Volusia silt loam is proper attention to
the drainage of the type. This soil is fairly well provided with
natural surface drainage, except in places where springs break out
upon the hillsides and steeper slopes. Over a considerable propor-
tion of the type the subsoil drainage is scarcely adequate for the
production of large yields of any crops and it is rarely sufficient to
insure a growing season long enough to mature com and other long
seasoned crops. Thousands of areas of this soil would be benefited
by the installation of frequent tile underdrains, even in fields which
possess considerable surface slope and from which storm waters flow
away rapidly. The subsoil of the Volusia silt loam is a compact,
retentive silt loam, frequently compacted into a " hardpan " layer by

6 SOILS OP THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

continued plowing to the same depth or when the moisture content
of the subsoil causes puddling in the bottom of the furrow. In all
such cases the normal circulation of water through the soil and sub-
soil is disturbed and the soil is wet and cold during the early part
of the season, becoming baked and hard during the later months of
summer. It would be difficult to remedy this condition without the
improvement in the conditions of underdrainage which may best be
accomplished by the use of tile.

The surface configuration of the type is such as to afford sufficient
grade for the tile systems and outlets are not difficult of location.
The chief difficulties to be encountered lie in the high initial cost of
the tile and of the labor for ditch digging and covering. The uni-
versal presence of a large amount of stone in the subsoil, the presence
of rock ledges at shallow depths and the distance of the farms from
points where tile may be obtained cheaply, all tend to make drainage
operations expensive. Yet, upon the majority of farms, this im-
provement is the first essential step toward increased profits. Tile
drainage should be undertaken, at least upon a small scale, upon
three-fourths of the farms containing areas of this soil.

Drainage should be started by laying lines along the natural de-
pressions to carry away excess moisture which accumulates in the
spring and retards the tillage of the field. In many instances a field
of 20 or 30 acres may be greatly improved by a few rods of tile drain
along some swale or run-off channel which divides the field and inter-
feres with timely cultivation and planting. As the benefits of such
drainage are realized laterals may be extended into the body of the
field. In all cases careful surveys should be made to establish grades
and to arrange the lines of tile to drain the largest area with the
least expenditure for tile and labor. Provision should usually be
made for the extension of the system as its benefits are proved. Tile
of less than 3 inches internal diameter should not usually be laid.
The depth of tiling, while dependent upon local conditions, should
not be less than 2 feet. The cost per acre will, of course, depend upon
the conditions of the particular field to be drained. Experience in
other areas and with other types of soil show that fairly good drain-
age may be secured at a cost ranging from $10 to $20 an acre.

This seems to be a large item of expense for the improvement of a
soil having an acreage value no higher than the average of the
Volusia silt loam, but it must be remembered that without adequate
drainage many of the other required improvements upon the type
can not be made at all and the majority of them are only fully effi-
cient after drainage has been attended to. Drainage is, therefore,
fundamental to the profitable occupation of the Volusia silt loam and
the agricultural efficiency of this soil is chiefly dependent upon this
improvement.

THE VOLUSIA SILT LOAM. 7

In its present condition large areas of the Volusia silt loam can
not be made to grow a crop of red clover until the soil has been
heavily limed. The use of lime is essential not only to correct
" acidity " in the soil, but also to assist in the proper internal drain-
age of the surface soil through its granulating effect upon the soil
particles. It also favors the increase of the bacteria living upon the
roots of the legiuninous crops, such as clover and peas, and is bene-
ficial to practically all crops grown upon the type. Only in the case
of Irish potatoes is the use of lime before the planting of the crop
liable to be harmful.

The greater proportion of the Volusia silt loam would be markedly
benefited by acreage applications of not less than one ton of burned
stone lime, slaked and applied to the soil as it is being prepared for
seeding to oats and the grasses. Instead of the stone lime, two or
three tons of finely ground limestone or pulverized marl may be used
where these sources of lime are cheaper in the equivalent quantities
than the burned lime. The lime should be applied from 10 days to
2 weeks before the seeding of the land is attempted and thoroughly
harrowed into the surface soil to a depth of 2 or 3 inches. It should
be used once in a regular crop rotation of five or six years.

The surface soil of the Volusia silt loam is frequently deficient in
organic matter, as shown by the pale gray or ashy color of plowed
fields. Continued cropping to hay and grain without the use of any
large amounts of stable manure has been largely responsible for the
present condition of the soil. In other instances the lack of perfect
drainage and consequent poor aeration have resulted in the decay and
disappearance of the vegetable matter from the surface soil. The
restoration of organic matter is, therefore, one of the problems of its
most effective management. In extreme cases, where a run-down field
must be built up to a normal condition, buckwheat may be sown in
midsummer and allowed to make a good growth until it comes into
blossom. This mass of vegetation may then be plowed under as a
very effective step in the restoration of humus to the soil. It is a
good plan to apply lime to the soil immediately after a large mass
of organic matter has been plowed under, especially if a small-grain
crop is to be sown.

Winter rye may be sown as a cover crop and pastured during the
.spring montlis. Later it may be plowed under and a hoed crop —
potatoes or corn — planted. This method is effective upon the steeply
sloping lands where protection from erosion during the fall and
spring is desirable.

No better method for maintaining the organic matter content of the
Volusia silt loam could be devised than the feeding of the crops pro-
duced and the restoration of the stable manure to the soil. When
this system is regularly practiced and the land is limed to. give a

8 ■ SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

good stand of clover, the organic matter content in the surface soil
is readily maintained or even increased, especially if a reasonably
short rotation of crops is practiced.

Frequently the proper rotation of crops is seriously neglected, and
the ordinary succession is haphazard in the extreme. Some sem-
blance of rotation is still maintained over the greater part of the
type. Usually sod land is plowed for corn, potatoes, or even buck-
wheat. The following year oats constitute the almost universal
small-grain crop, although a small acreage of rye is grown upon some
farms. Tlie land is then seeded to grass and allowed to remain in
sod as long as anything approaching a satisfactory cut of hay may
be secured. This includes a period ranging from three to five years
or more. When weeds and less valuable grasses have crowded out
the timothy, the land is again plowed for com or potatoes. This
system results in a great preponderance of grass land and of tilled
land devoted to oats.

The crop rotations should be shortened and carefully maintained
in regular order if the best results are to be secured from the crop-
ping of this soil. At all of the lower elevations and upon the better-
drained areas at higher altitudes corn should be planted on a part of
the acreage devoted to an intertilled crop and potatoes should occupy
the rest of the sod land plowed. The best general practice will be
to follow the tilled crops with oats, seeding down to the mixed
grasses. On dairy farms or where other cattle are fed, a part of the
area given to small grain should consist of a seeding to oats, beard-
less barley, and Canada field peas. In this case the land should
certainly be limed before the seeding. The crop may be used as
green feed to supplement the pastures or cured for hay for winter
feeding. A good stand of mixed grasses is usually secured when they
are seeded with this combination. It is practically certain to follow
the liming of the crop upon well-drained land. The resulting grass
sliould not be cut for hay more than two years, and the land should
then be plowed for the production of corn or potatoes.

Another rotation especially well suited to farms upon which only
a small amount of live stock is maintained would be buckwheat, fol-
lowed by potatoes, followed by oats, and then for two years by grass.
The buckwheat, oats, and potatoes constitute sale crops, while the
hay may be sold in part and in part used for feeding the work stock.
This system requires an abundant use of mineral fertilizers with the
potato crop to insure the maintenance of crop-producing capacity.

Another requirement of many thousands of acres of tJie Volusia
silt loam is that of gradually increasing the depth of plowing, so
that a portion of the immediate subsoil may be reworked into the
surface soil and the " hardpan " layer broken up. Any immediate
increase in depth of plowing-by more than an inch at a time would

THE VOLUSIA SILT LOAM. 9

be liable to result in temporary decrease in crop yields. With each
plowing of the sod land, however, the plow should be set a little
deeper until the total depth of the surface soil is increased to 8 or 9
inches. The average depth of plowing at present is not over 4 or 5
inches. The plow should always be in good condition, and the land
should not be plowed when the soil or subsoil is too wet. Even if
water does not stand in the furrow the subsoil is frequently much
compacted by plowing the soil too wet.

The Volusia silt loam is a type of soil easily thrown out of a good
condition of tilth, but it may usually be restored to satisfactoi-y
condition within three to five years by good, careful farming.

LIMITATIONS TTPON SPECIAL CROPS.

The Volusia silt loam is not only very limited in the character of
the special crops which may be grown upon it, but is also restricted
as to the general farm crops to which it is best suited.

The best special crop for this soil type is late Irish potatoes. A
small acreage of potatoes is annually grown upon almost every farm
located upon the type. It is the aim of the farmer to grow enough
to supply his own needs and possibly to furnish a few bushels for
sale. Under average conditions of tillage yields are not large, owing
to poor seed, faulty preparation of the land, and the neglect of the
growing crop. Under such conditions of production the yields range
from 75 to 125 bushels per acre. With modem methods of manage-
ment the crop is productive and profitable. In some portions of
southern New York potatoes are grown upon a commercial scale.
The land is well prepared, organic manures and commercial fer-
tilizers are liberally supplied, the crop is carefully tilled and sprayed,
and yields ranging from 150 to 250 bushels per acre are secured. In
(his region potatoes constitute the chief sale crop, and one New York
county, containing large areas of the Volusia silt loam, ranks among
the leading counties in potato production in the United States.

In many areas where the type has been encountered it has been
recognized as the best soil for potato growing. The tubers are smooth
and of good cooking quality. Even neglected crops 3aeld fair re-
turns. Potatoes should form a valuable supplementary crop upon
many of the farms upon this type now chiefly given to dairying or
stock raising.

The areas of the Volusia silt loam best suited to potato growing
possess effective natural drainage in both soil and subsoil. The soil
should be well supplied with organic matter either from applications
of stable manure or through turning under clover sod or buckwheat.
Any area showing a pronounced tendency toward a " hardpan " con-
dition in the subsoil should he avoided.

10 SOILS OP THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

In addition to the liberal use of stable manure, many growers apply
from 250 to 500 pounds i^er acre of some commercial fertilizer high
in potash. Very few crops are properly sprayed, and this practice
should be extended wherever potato growing is undertaken upon a
commercial scale.

EXTENT OF OCCUPATION.

The entire area of the Volusia silt loam has long been occupied
for agricultural purposes. This soil was cleared from its heavy stand
of mixed hardwood and evergreen trees in the pioneer days and
occupied for general farming purposes and cattle raising. Some
sheep were kept upon the majority of farms, the farm being divided
between tilled land, pasture, and considerable stretches of forest.
The merchantable timber has been cut from practically all of the
type at present, and only small woodlots upon the steeper slopes re-
main. It is probable that fully C)0 per cent of the Volusia silt loam
is at least nominally under tillage, about BO per cent is in pasture,
and the remainder is occupied by partially wooded tracts, lying upon
<he steeper slopes.

The improvement in the agricultural efficiency of this soil must take
the fonn of better cultivation of the land now in farms and of the
rejuvenation of the pastures which occupy a large proportion of the
rype. Drainage, liming, the restoration of organic matter to the soil,
and the adoption of proper crop rotations which shall make use of
the crops best adapted to the type are the most essential steps for its
more profitable occupation. Coupled with this attention to the soil,
some form of animal husbandry, either dairying, where market
facilities are favorable, or the feeding of heei cattle or sheep, in the
more remote locations, should become general.

The restoration of profitable grasses to the badly neglected pas-
tures upon the type is essential to its improvement. In many in-
stances the old pastures must be plowed before a profitable reseeding
can be obtained. In other cases the cutting of brush, sweet fern
and other weeds and the harrowing, liming, and reseeding of the
pastures will be sufficient to improve their conditions. Timothy,
redtop, Canada blue grass, and alsike and red clover are all avail-
able for the mixing of a good pasture combination. Brome grass
should be tried alone and in mixtures for pasturage purposes and
might be valuable for mowing lands.

CROP ADAPTATIONS.

Owing to its physical characteristics, its high altitude, and its
northern location, the Volusia silt loam is better suited to hay than
to any other farm crops. Fully 60 per cent of the tilled area of
the type is annually devoted to grass growing for hay with an addi-

THE VOLUSIA SILT LOAM. 11

tional large area for permanent pasture. Timothy is most extensively
grown among the grasses. Sometimes alsike clover is seeded witli
it. Red clover is little grown because of the increasing difficulty in
securing a good seeding. Without the liberal use of lime clover is an
extremely difficult crop to grow upon any large areas of the Volusia
silt loam. The yields per acre of hliy vary widely in the different
areas where the type has been encountered. In southern New York
and north-central Pennsylvania a yield of 1 ton per acre is about
the average production upon this soil. In these areas the hay crop
ranges in yield from less than three-fourths ton to more than 1|
tons. The grass lands are allowed to remain in seed for too long a
period. As lime is never applied and a top dressing of stable manure
is rarely used crops are necessarily small. In northwestern Penn-
sylvania and in northeastern Ohio better management produces
larger yields averaging about 1^ tons per acre. Even this production
may be considerably increased by attention to drainage, liming, the
use of stable manure as a top dressing upon the meadows, and the
shortening of the crop rotation.

There is no question that, rightly managed, the Volusia silt loam is
an excellent grass soil. Its fair average yields persisting under long
years of mismanagement are proof of this. There is no crop which
can be made to give as large clear profits with as little expenditure
for labor upon this type as hay. Even fields which now produce too
small a crop to pay for the cutting may be brought within three to
five years' time into condition to yield 1^ to 1^ tons of hay to ihe
acre. Better treatment will increase the yields even above this
amount.

Oats rank next in acreage to hay. The yields range from 25 to
40 bushels per acre with a general average for the type in the vicinity
of 30 bushels. When good seed is used the grain is heavy and bright
and the straw of good quality. Improved seed of varieties suited
to northern latitudes would increase these yields.

Buckwheat occupies an acreage nearly equal to that given to oats
upon the Volusia silt loam. It is not a common farm crop in regions
outside of that dominated by this soil, where it constitutes the main
catch crop of the farmers. It is commonly sown between July 1
and July 10 upon land not prepared in time for corn, or upon which
the latter crop has failed to make a stand. It matures early in
September, giving an average yield of about 15 bushels per acre, but
with a range between 12 and 25 bushels. Midsummer droughts or
early frosts frequently blight the grain and care should be taken to
see that only well-drained land is occupied by this crop to give it an
opportunity to mature before the first frosts.

As a soil renovator buckwheat ranks high in clearing land from
noxious weeds and insect pests. It is frequently sown as a first crop

12 SOILS OF THE EASTEBN UNITED STATES.

upon old pasture lands which it is desired to bring under tillage.
The grain is sold for milling and large amounts are shipped out of
the area for this purpose. Grinding at local mills, where these are
properly equipped to produce a good grade of flour, would give rise
to the production of buckwheat middlings, high in protein, and
admirably suited to supplement the other feeds grown for the dairy
herd. The buckwheat crop is worthy of more careful attention in
planning crop systems for the Volusia silt loam.

Only a small acreage of corn is attempted at the higher elevations
on the Volusia silt loam, since above an altitude of 1,500 feet the
growing season for the crop is too short to permit the maturing of
grain in ordinary years, except upon particularly well-drained land.
At all elevations com may be grown for silage if the flint varieties
like the King Philip or the Genesee River flint are planted. At the
lower elevations occupied by the Volusia silt loam, in northwestern
Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio, corn constitutes one of the
crops grown in regular rotation, both for grain and silage. The
yields range from 80 to 45 bushels per acre of grain and from 8^ to
10 tons of silage per acre.

A small acreage of Irish potatoes is grown upon nearly every farm
found on the Volusia silt loam. An area sufficient to produce pota-
toes for home use and sometimes a surplus for sale is planted
each year. In some portions of southern New York the crop has
become an important one upon a commercial scale. In the majority
of areas where the tj'^pe has been encountered the special adaptation
of the Volusia silt loam, under proper conditions of management, to
the production of late Irish potatoes has been recognized. The tubers
are usually smooth and of good cooking quality. Where modern
methods of production are employed the yields range from 150 to 250
bushels per acre. Usually the crop is badly neglected and the general
average of the yields outside of the commercial potato-growing dis-
tricts ranges from 75 to 125 bushels per acre. The crop should con-
stitute the chief reliance of the farmers upon the Volusia silt loam for
sale as a money crop to supplement dairying or stock raising.

In the more western areas of its occurrence a small acreage of
winter wheat is grown upon the Volusia silt loam giving yields rang-
ing from 12 to 20 bushels per acre.

Formerly hops were grown to a limited extent upon this type in
central New York, but the crop has nearly disappeared at present.

Nearly every farm upon the Volusia silt loam has a few apple
trees, planted to furnish a home supply of fruit. Frequently these
are neglected to the point of ruin, and very few apples are sold from
orchards upon this type. In all of the better-drained areas of the
Volusia silt loam, particularly in northwestern Pennsylvania and in
northeastern Ohio, where elevation and exposure are favorable,

THE VOLUSIA SILT LOAM. 13

apples might be made a paying commercial crop. The Northern Spy,
Twenty Ounce, and Rhode Island Greening are fairly well suited
to production upon this type if locations possessing a depth of soil
and subsoil of not less than 4 or 5 feet are chosen, with proper
I'egard, also, to the subsoil drainage and the selection of a site not
unduly exposed to prevalent storm wiuds.

The Volusia silt loam is best adapted to the growing of oats, buck-
wheat, potatoes, and hay at all of the higher elevations, with corn
as a supplementary crop, to be cut for silage. At lower elevations
and upon the best-drained areas, corn may be grown for grain pro-
duction, and winter wheat is a fairly valuable crop. Among the
grasses timothy and redtop are best suited to this soil. Red clover
can be grown only with difficulty upon the greater proportion of the
iireas of this type, but alsike is more readily seeded. Attention to
the reseeding of pastures is necessary.

Because of the high altitudes at which this soil is developed, its
distance from shipping points and markets, and particularly because
of its definite crop adaptations, the raising of live stock, includ-
ing beef cattle and sheep, constitutes the best development of agri-
culture upon it. It is also desirable that animal husbandry should
constitute the chief reliance of farmers upon this soil since it is in
need of the restoration of organic matter, and this treatment is diffi-
cult or impossible under the prevalent system of oat and liay produc-
tion for sale away from the farm.

FARM EQUIPMENT.

The present farm equipment of the Volusia silt loam is too fre-
quently antiquated or defective. This is especially true of the areas
lying at high altitudes and in positions rather remote from principal
highways and railroads. The dwellings and barns in the majority
of cases Avere built 50 years ago, and many of them have not been
kept in good repair. With the aggregation of the lands of this tyi)e
into larger holdings and with the corresponding decrease in rural
population, many dwellings have been abandoned and are rapidly
falling into decay. Contrasted with these local conditions are areas
in many localities where the building equipment has been well main-
tained, and many comfortable farm homes exist upon the type. In
fact, the differences between good equipment and poor within a single
township are frequently veiy noticeable.

Nearly all of the older homesteads, cleared and equipped in the
earlier days, are furnished with a one and a half story dwelling and
one or several of the 30 x 40 foot hay barns built in the center of the
old hay fields. More modern equipments include a good dairy bam
and sometimes a feeding shed, if sheep are still kept.

14 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

In general the farm equipment of work stock and tools is not
abundant. Small horses are chiefly used, and are scarcely adequate
to the proper tillage of such a heavy soil. There is also a consider-
able variation in equipment between the larger and better farms and
that of the more remote and scarcely profitable holdings.

In certain areas dairying is the general form of farm management
upon the type. Many of the dairy farms are well equipped with
good herds, adequate barns, and silos. Milk is produced for ship-
ment, for the creamery or cheese factory, or for home manufacture
into butter. The herds are usually either grade cows of some of
the dairy breeds, or else native stock of no particular breed. Upon
farms where some sale crop is produced in addition to the dairy
business, good profits are made. Oats for sale, buckwheat, and
potatoes are the chief crop interests upon such farms aside from
the growing of the grain and roughage for the herds. Even when
no great profits are derived from this system of farming the land is
maintained in better condition, and a living income is derived from
the capital and labor invested.

SUMMARY.

The Volusia silt loam is an extensive type of soil developed at
the higher altitudes in the glaciated northern portion of the plateau
country which extends westward along the New York and Penn-
sylvania line from the vicinity of the Delaware River to the north-
eastern part of Ohio.

The type lies at altitudes ranging from approximately 900 feet
above sea level in northeastern Ohio to elevations of 2,300 feet in
south-central Xew York.

The surface drainage of the type is fairly well established, since
the surface configuration of this soil is rolling to hilly, or even
steeply sloping. The internal drainage of the subsoil is poor over
considerable areas, and numerous springs give rise to small swampy
areas even upon some of the steeper slopes. Tile drainage is one of
the chief requisites to the better farming of large areas of this soil.

The Volusia silt loam is chiefly devoted to the production of grass
for hay and pasture. Fair yields of timothy hay are cut, but there
is general difficulty experienced in securing a good seeding to red
clover. Alsike clover is fairly successful upon this soil.

Oats constitute the chief small grain grown upon the Volusia silt
loam. Buckwheat is most commonly seeded upon lands which have
not been prepared in time for the growing of any other crop, or upon
fields which have been planted to com without securing an adequate
stand.

Corn can be successfully grown as a grain crop only at the lower
elevations and upon the best-drained portions of the type. For

THE VOLUSIA SILT LOAM. 15

silage it may be grown at higher altitudes. The flint varieties are
best suited to production upon this soil, since they mature in a short
growing season.

Potatoes are generally grown in small acreage upon nearly all the
farms located upon the Volusia silt loam. In some areas the crop
IS grown commercially with good yields of smooth tubers of good
(piality. Potatoes constitute one of the best money crops to be
grown upon this soil in conjunction with some form of animal hus-
bandry.

Apples are chiefly grown in small home orchards. There are Imi-
ited opportunities for commercial apple orcharding at the lower
elevations, where the total depth of soil and subsoil is over 4 feet
and where drainage and exposure are adequate.

The farm equipment upon the Volusia silt loam diffei's materially
within single townships and in the different areas where the type has
been encountered. In the more remote localities the buildings are
old and in poor repair, especially at the higher altitudes, where the
decrease in rural population has been most marked within the past
20 years. Elsewhere the farm equipment is fair to good. Upon the
dairy farms the equipment of buildings, stock, and tools is usually
better than upon the majority of farms devoted to a system of grass
and grain farming for cash sale. '

For its improvement the Volusia silt loam requires drainage, the
liming of the soil, the restoration of organic matter, the adoption of
shorter crop rotations, and the general return to a system of farming
in which the crops raised are chiefly fed to live stock.

Approved.

James AVilson,

Secretary of Agnculture.

Washington, D. C, Fehruary 12, 1912.

APPENDIX.

The following table shows (he extent of the Volusia silt loam in the areas
surveyed to this time. In the first column is stated the particular soil survey-
in which the soil was encountered, in the second column its extent in acres, and
in the third column the volume of the Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils,
in which the report upon the area may be found. Those desiring a detailed
description of the soil and of the general conditions which surround it in any
particular area may consult these volumes in almost any public library.

Areas of the Volusia silt loam encountered in the soil survey.

Survey.

New York:

Bigflats area '

Blnghamton area

Livingston County. .

Madison County

Montgomery County
Tompkins County. .

Oliio:

Wooster area

Pennsylvania:

Erie County

Area of
soil.

Acres.

108,800

118,976
55,680

137,920
30,720
78,912

78,464

211,712

Date.«

1902
1905
1908
1906
1908
1905

1904

1910

Year of publication. Field Operations.

* Mapped as Hagerstown shale loam.

16

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