tesAl^^ y- BookJtof, SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT Wisconsin Geological and Natural History sur,vey E. A. BIRGE, Director. W. O. HOTCHKISS, State Geologist. BULLETIN NO. XXIII. ECONOMIC SERIES NO. 14 RECONNOISSANCE SOIL SURVEY 01' . PART OF NORTH WESTERN WISCONSIN BY SAMUEL WEIDMAN I S- 7 ^ // ASSISTED BY E. B. HALL AND F. L. MUSBACK < 507229 MADISON, WIS. PUBLISHED BY THE STATE 1911 \Al5\Al4 OEGANIZATION OF SITKYEY. ' BOARD OF COITIITIISSIOAEKS i^RANCIS E. McGOVERN, Governor of the State. CHARLES R. VAN HISE, President. President of the University of Wisconsin. CHARLES P. GARY, Vice President. State Superintendent of Public Instruction. JABE ALFORD, President of the Commissioners of Fisheries. SAMUEL F. PLANTZ, Secretary. President of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. STAFF OF THE SUKVLTf ADMINISTRATION: Edward A. Birge, Director and Superintendent. In immediate charge of Natural History Division. William O. Hotchkiss, State Geologist. In immediate charge of Geology. _ F. G. Sanford, Clerk. GEOLOGY DIVISION: T. C. Chamberlin, Consulting Geologist, Pleistocene Geology. William O. Hotchkiss. In charge, Geology. Samuel Weidman. In charge, Areal Geology. Frederik T. Thwaites. Assistant, Geology. R. H. Whitbeck. Assistant, Physical Geography. E. B. Hall, Assistant, Geology. Charles L. Dake. Assistant, Geology. Hyruivi Sciirs'EiDER. Assistant, Geology. WATER POWER DIVISION: Leonard S. Smith. In charge. NATURAL HISTORY DIVISION: Edward A. Birge. In charge. Chancey Juday. Lake Survey. George Wagner. Report on Fish. L. G. Lytle. Assistant, Lake Survey. E. H. TooLE. Assistant, Lake Survey. DIVISION OF SOILS: Andrew R. Whitson. In charge. P. L. MusBACK. Field Assistant and Analyst. Guy Conrey. Analyst. E. J. Gkaul. Analyst and Field Assistant. A. H. Meyer. Field Assistant and Analyst. L. R. Sohoenmann. Field Assistant and Analyst. T. J. Dunnnewald. Field Assistant and Analyst.' O. I. Bergii. Field Assistant. C. A. LeClair. Assistant. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Table of Contents iii Illusteations vi Preface '. vii Chapter I. General Description of the Area 1-22 Slope and general features 1 Geology 3 Crystalline rocks 3 Sandstone 4 Limestone 4 Glacial drift 5 Alluvial deposits 6 Loess 7 Geography 7 Hills 8 Terminal moraine 8 Rivers and valleys 9 Falls and rapias 11 Lakes 11 Rock and mineral supplies 12 ' Water supplies 13 Character of well water 14 Wells in alluvial sand 14 Wells in limestone 15 Wells in crystalline rock. . . .• 16 Artesian wells 16 Origin of flowing wells 17 Springs 17 Pollution of wells and springs 18 Water powers 20 Altitudes of North Western Wisconsin 21 iv CONTENTS. PAGE Chapter II. Climate 23-33 Temperature 23 Tables of temperature 25 Precipitation 26 Tables for Grantsburg 26 ~ Osceola 26 Downing 27 Barron 27 Red Wing 28 Eau Claire 28 Frosts 32 Chapter III. Description oe the Soils 34-87 Character and origin of soil 34 Soil erosion 34 Sources of the soil 35 Soil classification 35 Chemical composition of soil 36 Baldwin loams 37 Colby silt loam 43 Kennan silt loam 45 Chelsea loams 48 Milltown loam 51 Thornapple sandy loam 53 Cushing loams 55 Rice Lake loam 58 Chetek sandy loam 62 Meridean sandy loam 65 Sterling sand 67 Management of sandy soils 71 Hartland silt loam -. 73 Auburn loams '78 Peat and muck 81 Drainage of mar'sh land 83 Chapter IV. Agriculture 88-97 Historical 88 First settlements 88 Early transportation 89 Population 89 Nativity of population 90 CONTENTii. V £!ha^ter IV — continued. page -Agricultural development 90 Cultivated and uncultivated lands 91 Farm buildings 91 Price cf farm lands 91 Crops 92 Dairying 94 Live stock 96 Transportation 96 Markets 96 Forest conditions 97 -Appendix. Coerelatiox of Soils of North Western Wiscon- sin AND of North Central Wisconsin 98-100 Index 101-104 ILLUSTKATIONS PLATES PLATE. PAGE. I. Soil map of North We>tern Wisconsin In pocket II. (Jeological map of the North Western Area 3 III. Fig. 1. Section of Glacial Drift soil 6 Fig. 2. Section of Loess 6 IV. Fig. 1. Young valleys 9 Fig. 2. Same valleys in a later si age 9' V. Fig. 1. Developed w^ater power on (Jhippewa River 11 Fig. 2. Undeveloped water power on Chippewa River 11 VI. View of Colby silt loan north of Cadott 44 Vll. View of ('olby silt loan southwest of Rice Lake 44 YIII. View of Chelsean loam 48 IX. View of jMilltowu loam 51 X. Fig. 1. Tobacco field on Rice l>ake loam " 58 Fig. 2. Section of Rice Lake loam 58 XL View of Chetek sandy loam 63 XIL View of Hartland silt loam, Pierce Co 73 Xlil. Fig. 1. Section of Auburn loam 75> Fig. 2. Section of Hartland silt loam 75 XIV. View of Hartland silt loam, Dunn Co 7(5 XV. View of Auburn loam, Eau Claire Co 79 FIGURES IN TEXT. FIGURE page: 1. Map showing North Western and North Central Areas 2 2. Section showing geological formations 3 3. Diagrammatic section showing thin drift over rock 5 4. Diagrammatic section showing thin drift over rock 6 5. Section showing terraces in Chippewa Valley 7 6. Diagram illustrating relation of groundwater to stream 13 7. Section of an artesian basin 17 8. Section of an artesian slope 17 9. A seepage spring 18 10. A fissure spring 18 11. Diagram showing safe and unsafe wells 19 12. Diagram showing monthly precipitation at Eau Claire and Osceola 30 14. Map showing dates of last killing frosts in Spring 31 15. Map snowing dates of first killing frosts in Autumn 33 16. Soil map of northeastern Rusk County 46 PREFACE. The following general reconnoissance soil survey of nine ■counties in the northwestern part of Wisconsin is presented in response to numeroos requests for information concerning the character of the soils and agriculture of the northern part of the state. This report is the result of a survey of the geologi- cal formations of the area combined with a special study of the principal types of soil developed upon these formations. The various surface formations of glacial drift, loess, and al- luvial deposits, and the indurated formations of granite, sand- stone, and limestone have characteristic soil types developed upon them, and these various soil types are described with respect to area, surface features, forest growth, character of the soils and their agricultural development. Chapter I, a general description of the geology and geog- raphy of the area, and Chapter III, the description of the ?oils and their agrieaiture, are based almost entirely on or- iginal investigations; while Chapter II, on climate, and Chap- ter IV, on the general agricultural development in the area are mainly compiled from varjous sources, as indicated. Some of the counties in the northern part of the area are still largely unopened to agriculture, while others, in the southern part, are fairly well eettled. Large portions of the area, as described in following pages, are covered with hard- wood forests, possess excellent soils, and are rich in agricul- tural possibilities. Some parts of the area also are character- ized by soils of inferior quality. It is the purpose of this general report to point out the general character of the soils and the climatic and general agricultural conditions through- out the area, with the hope that the information given and the VIU PREFACE. suggestions offered will be of value not only to home seekers^ but also to those now engaged in agriculture in the district. Since the soil sur^/ey of this area was begun, provision has. been made for a complete and more detailed soil survey of the entire state, and this work, now in progress in other parts of the state, is being executed by the Slate Survey in coopera- tion with the Bureau of Soils of the U. S. Department of Agri- culture. It is the general intention under the present plans of the soil survey, that the soils of the thickly settled counties, of this area v/ill be given a detailed study at some future time, probably as soon as the surveys of the counties of the southern part of the state are completed. In the meantime the reconnoissance soil survey of this area is presented, the authors being fully aware of its incompleteness, with the hope that it will prove to be useful to the many interested in the agricultural development of this part of the state, and that the general study of the soils described will serve as a basis for a more detailed survey of this district at some later date. I have been assisted in the preparation of this report by E. B. Hall and F. L. Musback. Mr. Hall, of the Geological Sur- vey, mainly assisted in the preparation of the soil map, and Mr. Musback, of the Soil Survey, assisted in the collection of soil samples and agricultural data. The State Survey is indebteded to the U. S. Bureau of Soils for kindly furnishing the mechanical analyses of soils in this report; the authors are indebted to Dr. E. A. Birge, Director of the "Wisconsin Survey, for the many courtesies shown in the preparation of this work, to Prof. A. R. Whitson, in charge of the Soil Survey, for suggestions and criticism, and to Dr. J. C. Elsom for the several photographic views presented. S. Weidman. July, 1911. EECONNOISSANCE SOIL SURVEY OF NORTH WESTERN WISCONSIN. CHAPTER I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. The area described in the present report is in the northwestern part of the state, as shown on the map of Wisconsin, fig. 1. Four of the counties border on the state of Minnesota on the west. It is approximately between the parallels 44° 30' and 45° 45' north latitude, and the meridians 91° and 93° west longitude, which is the same latitude as central Maine on the Atlantic coast, and northern Oregon on the Pacific, and the same longitude as central Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri in the Mississippi valley. The area includes the counties of Eau Claire, Chippewa, Eusk, Barron, Dunn, Pepin, Pierce, St. Croix, and Polk. These nine counties contain 186; townships and have a total area of 6,705 square miles, approximately one-eighth of the state. Slope and General Features. The area slopes down towards the southwest. The lowest land, 680 feet above sea level, is in the southwest corner of the area at the junction of the Chippewa and Mississippi rivers. The highest land is undetermined but is very probably the hard quartzite ridges of eastern Barron and western Rusk counties. Several of these ridges reach elevations of 1,500 to 1,600 feet above sea level, the lower land surround- ing these highest ridges in the northern part of the area in general, having a varying altitude between 1,100 to 1,300 feet. The western part of the area, Pierce and St. Croix counties, are, mainly limestone uplands, in which the valleys are relatively 2 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. deep and narrow. A large part of Polk and Rusk counties is a nearly level plain, with broad shallow valleys. NORTH CENTRAL AREA NORTH WESTERN AREA Fig. 1. — Map showing the location of the North Western and North Central Wisconsin areas. The principal topographic feature of the area is the relatively level or gently sloping surface of the land. Like other parts of the Mississippi valley it is an undulating plain into which ■salleys have heeii cut by the rivers and streams. Upon the broad uplands of much of the area also are exten- sive deposits of glacial drift which in many places still retain the general forms left by the great ice sheets that have invaded this region. The beautiful lakes in the region are also intimately related in origin to the glacial deposits. Besides the glacial deposits there are extensive Avind deposits of loess over large portions of the uplands of the area. In many of the valleys Wisconsin Sbevey. Bdlletin XXIII, PL. II. Sar)as^a/?e ti/./^rre-y/'affe GEOLOGICAL JfAr OP THE NORTHWESTERN .\REA. GENERAL DE,^CRIPTION OF THE AREA. I] are thick deposits of loose sand and gravel which assume the forms of terraces. Geology. The formations of the area may be grouped into two divisions and six sub-divisions, as follows : Indurated Formations : 1. Crystalline rocks. 2. Sandstone. 3. Limestone. Surface Formations: 4. Glacial drift. 5. Alluvial or river deposits. 6. Loess. A generalized map showing the indurated or bed-rock for- mations is presented in Plate II. A cross section showing the relations of the formations is shown in figure 2. 1. Crysialline Rocks. This group, mainly of Pre-Cambrian age, includes several kinds of rock, such as granite, quartzite and trap rock. The granite rocks which include light colored fc:cliists, gneiss and granite and dark colored coarse and fine grained diorites, are found mainly along the Chippewa river and its tributaries above Eau Claire. Many wells reach the granitic rocks in northern Chippewa and in Eusk counties. The cpart- zite forms the high hills and ridges in eastern Barron and in western Rusk counties. Flambeau Ridge is also quartzite. The trap-rocks (Keweenawan) occur in the vicinity north of Os- ceola and at St. Croix Falls and extend in a belt farther north- east across the central part of Polk county, to Clam Falls. Fig. 2. — Section showing geological formations. Origin of the Crystalline Bocks. Most of the crystalline rocks, such as the granite and trap rocks, are of igneous origin, and were brought to the surface from the interior in a heated molten 4 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. condition. The quartzite, liowever, was originally a sandstone, and was metamorphosed into quartzite by the great heat devel- oped by the intrusive igneous rocks. None of the crystalline rocks contain fossils. 3. Sandstone. The Potsdam sandstone (Middle Cambrian) formation is the prevailing surface rock in Eau Claire, south- ern and western Chippewa, southern Barron, "Dunn, and eastern Pepin counties.- It lies beneath the drift in parts of Rusk, northern Barron and Polk, and is exposed along the bottoms and side of the valleys. The Potsdam sandstone lies in horizontal beds upon the crystalline formations, a fact to be noted in all cases where the two formations are exposed together or where wells penetrate both. The sandstone is quite generally a soft friable stone. In many places, the formation contains beds of shale rock, and green-sand. The fine sandstone weathers into a sandy soil but where shale and green-sand occur, loams are developed. Where the sandstone is overlain with glacial drift, the soil has the loamy character of the drift covering. Origin of Sandstone. The sandstone is a form of sedimentary rock deposited in shallow water of the sea. Common fossils in the Potsdam, sandstone are the shells or casts of trilobites, a kind of Crustacea, and of small. brachiopods, a kind of bivalve. In Pierce and St. Croix counties, in the area of the limestone, is the thin formation of St. Peter sandstone (Ordovician). The St. Peter sandstone overlies the Lower Magnesian limestone and while it does not form many outcrops it has modified the soil conditions to a considerable extent in many places in these two counties. 3. Limestone. The limestone, mainly the Lower Magnesian formation (upper Cambrian), forms the main bed rock in west- em Dunn and western Pepin counties, and over the entire area of Pierce and St. Croix counties. The limestone also forms the summits of many of the uplands in eastern Pepin and south- western Eau Claire. It extends as far north as southern Polk county where it is generally overlain, however, with thick drift, and is exposed only along the rivers. In western Pierce and southwestern St. Croix counties are numerous high uplands and ridges capped with Trenton lime- stone (Ordovician). The soils developed on the limestones are generally loams and consist of a modification of local limestone GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. soil with the surface formations of glacial drift and loess that covers the general area of limestone in this district. Origin of the limestone. The limestone is a sedimentary rock, mainly of organic origin, heing formed generally from the ac- cumulation of lime-hearing shells and skeletons of sea organisms, more or less broken up into fragments by waves of shallow water. Common fossils in the Lower Magnesian limestone are the articulated invertebrates, both the straight and curved forms, and also abundant corals. The Trenton limestone often con- tains abundant fossil shells or casts of bivalves, Crustacea and coral. 4. Glacial Drift. The glacial drift (Pleistocene) consists of a mixture of ground-up rock containing varying proportions of clay,, sand, gravel, and boulders PL III, fig. 1. The drift varies in thickness and was deposited upon the older bed rocks of the area by successive ice sheets that invaded this area and the ad- jacent portions of Wisconsin and northern United States. Be- tween the periods of glacial invasions long interglacial periods oc- curred, and hence there is considerable difference in the age of the several drift sheets that are found in the area. Fig. -Diagrammatic section sliowing thick drift over rock. There are some striking differences between the earlier and the later drift formations. Through the action of weathering processes, such as the work of frost, the seepage of ground- water, and the chemical alterations of rocks and minerals the earlier drifts have become more compact and consolidated and contain more clay and fewer boulders than the later drifts. Another important difference between the old and new drifts is in the surface or topographic features. The older deposits of drift have been sub.jected to a longer period of erosion than the later drift and for this reason the older drift has acquired long drainage slopes and prominent river valleys, while the newer drift subjected to a short period of erosion, is still char- acterized by belts of steep drift hills and ridges, bouldery ''hogsback" ridges, swamps, and lakes. The soil condition of 6 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. the old and new drifts, therefore, are unlike in several important respects. Fig. 4. — Diaggrammatic section showing thin drift over ttie underlying rock. • The old drift is abundant in southern Chippewa county and in a belt of considerable width extending from southern Bar- ron county southwest through eastern St. Croix and over most of Pierce county. AVhile the old drift also occurs over most of Dunn and Eau Claire counties and in western Chippewa and southeastern Barron counties it occurs only in relatively small, quantity and is not important from the standpoint of the soils. The area of the new drift is in the northeastern half of Chip- pewa county, the whole of Rusk, the ea.stern part and the north- western pari; of Barron, the whole of Polk and the northwestern half of St. Croix. The new drift area is characterized by ter- minal moraines, lakes, and swamps. 5. Alluvial Deposits. The alluvial deposits made by the rivers of the area consist mainly of gravel and sand and form level tracts of variable width in the valleys. Some time during the past, lietween the periods of the formation of the earliest and the latest glacial deposits, there was a time of extensive valley filling in the area and adjacent parts of the state, presumably caused by a general depression of the land. The rivers and streams were unable to carry away the land wash brought down from the upland slopes and were forced to deposit large amounts of gravel and sand along their courses. In this manner, broad sand and gravelly plains were built up along the Mississippi, the Chippewa, the Red Cedar, the Eau Claire, and other rivers o^ the area. The alluvial plains cover large parts of Eau Claire, southern Chippewa, Barron, Dunn, and Pepin counties. Alluvial formations oecur in the other counties also but are not extensive. Alluvial Terraces. After filling its valley with waste for a time, a river may change its action and entrench its course in the built-up flood plain. The part of the plain remaining above the new valley floor is called a terrace, or alluvial terrace. Wisconsin Sukvey. Bulletin XXIII, Tl. III. Fig. 1. TYPICAL SECTION OF GLACIAL SOIL. Shows eighteen feet of glacial drift consisting of sand, clay and boulders, at Osceola, I'olk County. Fig. 2. TYPICAL SECTION OF LOESS SOIL. Section shows ten feet of loess, characteristic of the lower slopes of valleys, near Me- nomonie, Dunn County. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. 7 The Chippewa valley below Chippewa Falls is characterized by ;i well defined system of five terraces which are especially well developed in the vicinity of Eau Claire. A cross section show- ing the terraces is illustrated in Figure 5. Well defined ter- races are also developed along the Mississippi river and also along the St. Croix and Red Cedar. Fig 5 — Section sho^Mug toiiaces lu the Cliippowi "S iUca b-'low F lu CI.iuo 6. The Loess. The' loess consists of fine loam or isilt which overlies the bed rock and the glacial drift of considerable por- tions of the area. It is usually from one to five feet thick and is found mainly on the uplands and slopes and occasionally in the valley bottoms. A view of the loess is shown n PI. Ill, fig. 2. The counties in which the loess is an abundant surface formation are Eau Claire, Chippewa, Dunn, Pierce, and Pepin. The loess is mainly restricted to the areas occupied by the older drift formations and to that part of the area in eastern Pepin and western Eau Claire which is entirely free from drif L The loess very probably mainly owes its origin to the action of wind in recent geologic time, probably during the time of one of the later glacial stages. The loess is free from stone or any other rock material too large to be transported by wind action. It is essentially of uniform character and forms one of the most fertile soil types of the area. Geography. The various geographic forms of the land, the valleys, the hills and the plains are the results of the work of the rains and the rivers, the glaciers and the wind, acting throughout a long period of time. In some parts of this area the work of the glaciers and the wind is not important but in most parts of the area these influences were very important in shaping certain forms of the land. In all parts of the area, however, 'the work of the rain in its course down the land slopes, and of the rivers 8 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. and streams flowing through the valleys, were of great import- ance in shaping the land features. Hills. The area contains but few hills that reach an elevation exceeding 200 or 300 feet above the adjacent valleys. The high- est hill in the area is Flambeau Ridge in northern Chippewa county, which reaches 400 to 500 feet above the adjacent valley of the Chippewa and Flambeau rivers. Other notable high hills are the ridges of quartzite trending northeast and southwest in eastern Barron and we-tern Rusk counties. In Polk county are ridges and broad uplands of trap rock trending in a north- east direction. Elk Mound is a prominent hill of sandstone capped with limestone in eastern Dunn county. Along the Lower Chippewa, the Red Cedar, the Mississippi and the St. Croix rivers there are steep mounds and valley slopes rising ab- ruptly to heights of 200 to 500 feet above the adjacent rivers. Origin of hills and ridges. — The hills a.nd ridges of the area were carved into their present reliefs by the erosive work of the rains and the streams. Two types or ages of hills and ridges may be distinguished in the area: One type was formed at an early geologic period out of the crystalline rocks, and the other type was formed at a much later period out of the sand- stone and limestone formations. Such ridges as Flambeau Ridge of northern Chippewa county and the high quartzite ridges of eastern Barron and western Rusk counties and the high ridges of Polk county were formed as hills before the age of the Potsdam sandstone. They were subsequently buried under the deposits of sandstone, and in the later period of denudation of the land Avere uncovered again by erosion. They are in reality fossil hills, like the Baraboo Ridges, and are the remnants of old Archean mountains, the oldest hills on the con- tinent. The other type of hills consisting of sandstone or lime- stone, like Elk Mound, and like Mt. Tom and Mt. Simon at Eau Claire, and other mounds in the western part of the area, were formed during the present period of erosion, contemporaneous with the denudation of the old crystalline hills. Terminal Moraine. — ^A prominent feature of the topography is the belt of boulder ridges and drift hills forming the terminal moraine of the latest ice sheet that invaded the region. This belt of terminal moraine consists of billowy hills associated with swamps and lakes, and has a usual width of 2 to 6 miles. These Wisconsin Survey. Bulletin XXI II, Pl. IA^ \ '~v 1 ~? i 'x K y 1. . \ \y .,^ .-.sPT^ "^"^^te^? t«^** " Fig. 1. YOUNG VALLEYS. Fig. 2. SAME VALLEYS SHOWN IN FIG. 1, IN A LATER STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. 9 undulating hills generally reach a height of 50 to 100 feet above the surrounding lower land. The terminal moraine of the Chippewa valley ice lobe extends from the vicinity five or six miles north of Stanley Avestward to Jim Falls on the Chippewa river, then turns to the north and passes through the west central part of Chippewa county and along the border of Rusk and Barron counties, crossing the northeast part of Barron county in the region of Red Cedar lake. From the vicinity of Haugen there is another belt of moraine, formed by the St. Croix valley ice lobe, lying across the northwestern part of the area and extending through the vicinity of Cumberland, Turtle Lake, Clear Lake, New Rich- mond, Chapmans and Glover. The topography of terminal moraine is illustrated in Plate VIII. Origin of the Terminal Moraines. — The terminal moraines are the thickened belts of drift accumulated at the margin of the ice sheets, where the ice margins remained essentially con- stant for a considerable time. A large amount of drift material gathered hj the ice in the advance is dropped at the edge of the ice on account of the wastage of the ice by melting. Bivers and Valleys. — The Chippewa river is the largest river, and, with its tributaries, drains about two-thirds of the area. Its principal tributaries flowing from the east are the Eau Claire, Yellow, Jump, Flambeau and Thornapple. On the west side of the Chij)pewa the main tributaries are the Eau Galle and Red Cedar. North of Chippewa Falls the Chippewa river has a broad shallow valley, but to the south the river has a deep valley bottom bounded on both sides by abrupt uplands rising from 100 to 200 feet or more above the sandy river bottoms. A series of terraces occur along the valley bottom from the vicinity of Chippewa Falls down to the Mississippi. The Eau Claire river has a sandy valley bottom relatively narrow near its junction with the Chippewa but very wide in the eastern part of Eau Claire county. The Yellow river has a broad sandy plain below Cadott, but farther up stream the river winds among drift hills with no marked valley depression. The Jump and Flambeau rivers are not intrenched in prominent val- leys but have their courses in broad drift-covered, slightly un- dulating plains. The Red Cedar river drains about one-fourth of the area. 10 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. In its lower course from Cedar Falls to its mouth, the river flows in a narrow rocky gorge. The upper part of the valley if? quite hroad and in striking contrast with the lower narrow por- tion. It is very prohahJe that the broad valley east of the river about Rusk prairie, was originally the main valley of the Red Cedar, and that the river lelow Cedar Falls is at present in a relatively new channel. The valley about Chetek, Cameron and Rice Lake is a broad plain from two to six miles wide. The Eau Galle river in the vicinity of Woodville and further north ha'3 a broad valley, but south of this it has a relatively deep A^alley from 100 to 200 feet deep with precipitous banks on either side. At Spring Valley the valley bottom is narrow, gen- erally less than one-half mile wide, but farther south it gradu- ally widens, being about a mile wide below Eau Galle where it opens out into the valley of the Chippewa. The Mississippi and the St. Croix rivers form the western boundary of the area. The Mississippi river has a prominent valley bounded by steep escarpments rising abruptly from 200 to -500 feet above the river. The principal tributaries flowing into the Mississippi are the Rush river, Ifrabel creek, Trimbello river, and Big river. All these tributaries have deep promi- nent gorges in their lower courses. The valley of the Rush is prominent as far north as Martell. The St. Croix river lies in a relatively deep valley through- out its course in this area. The valley is especially prominent and picturesque at St. Croix Falls and south as far as Still- water. South of St. Croix Falls at the Delles of the St. Croix, the banks of the river rise abruptly to heights of 150 to 200 feet. From Stillwater to Prescott the river broadens out into Lake St. Croix. The principal tributaries of the St. Croix in this area are the Kinnikinnic, "Willow, and Apple rivers. The Kinnickinnie beloM^ River Falls has a deep and narrow valley with precipitous banks. The Willow beloAV Burkhardt is prominent. The val- ley of the Apple is fairly prominent below Somerset, and espe- cially prominent below Big Falls only a short distance from the St. Croix. Origin of the Rivers and Valleys. — The valleys were carved out of the surface of the land by the erosion of the rivers and streams that flow through them. Rivers and valleys therefore Wisconsin Suevet. Bulletin XXIII, Pl. V. Fig. 1. DEVELOPED WATER POWER ON THE CHIPPEWA RIVER AT EAU CLAIRE. Fig. 2. UNDEVELOPED WATER POWER ON THE CHIPPEWA RIVER AT BRUNETTE PALLS. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. H are so closely connected in life history that they can best be described together. The rains that fall upon the land surface flows off; the slope and tends to gather into rills and to wash out gullies as illus- trated upon every hillside after any considerahle shower. The gullies grow into ravines, and the ravines grow into valleys by the simple work of running Avater. By constant erosion the 'valleys lengthen and broaden out and the inter-valley areas be- come narrower and narrower, as illustrated in the figures of Plate IV. Rivers and streams work untiring throughout their courses. The more rivers are studied the more wonderful their place in nature is found to be. They wash along in every part of their course the waste of the land on the way to the sea. Falls and Rapids. — Falls and rapids are conmion features of the rivers of this area. These are usually developed in the valleys where the streams cross from a more resistant rock to a less resistant one. In the course of time, however, the streams \W11 succeed in cutting dow^n these harder rocks of the rapids to grade with the stream above and below. Rapids and falls, therefore, belong to the youthful stage of a valley history rather than to that of old age. AA^aterfalls and rapids are an import- ant natural resource of the area and many of them have already become sites for the development of valuable water power. The location of nearly all the large cities and villages of the area has been determined by the presence of rapids. The cities of Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, ^Menomonie, Rice Lake, River Falls, New Richmond, Ladysmith, Barron, Cumberland, St. Croix I'alls and many small villages are located on river rapids. Ex- amples of river rapids and developed power on the Chippewa river are illustrated in Plate V. Lakes. — The districts containing lakes and swamps lie in the northeastern and in the northwestern parts of the area, as may be seen on the map, Plate I. In the northwestern part of Chip- pewa and southwestern Rusk counties, the most prominent lakes are Long lake, Island lake, and Potatoe lake. In Barron county are Chetek, Prairie, Pokegema, Rice, Red Cedar, Bear, Beaver Dam, and Big Horse Shoe lakes. The most prominent lake in St. Croix county is Bass lake. In Polk county there 12 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. are many lakes, the largest being Cedar lake, Sucker lake. Round lake, Balsam lake, and Bone lake. Lake Pepin, an enlargement of the Mississippi river and Lake St. Croix, a similar enlargement of the St. Croix river are promi - nent lakes on the western border of the area. Ongin of the Lakes. — ^^The existence of any hollow which is capaible of holding wat;er may give rise to a lake and hence many of the sags and depressions in the terminal moraines are occu- pied by lakes and ponds. Many lakes in this area also are due to the depressions of drift in pre-existing valleys. Such elon- gated lakes as Red Cedar, Bear, Beaver Dam, Bone lake and Sucker lake were formed by the blocking of valleys by the drift. Another type of lake is formed in the abandoned meander'^; of the large rivers, such as the Chippewa and St. Croix. Lake Hallie, north of Eau Claire, is an example of this type. The life history of lakes is transitory as compared with that of rivers. The lakes of the area are comparatively recent in origin and do not date back beyond the formation of the last two drift sheets. The Usually recognized processes operating to destroy lakes are three : the down-cutting of the outlet, thereby draining the lake ; the filling of the lake by detritus eroded from the lake shore or brought in by streams ; and the accumulation of organic matter, both vegetable and animal, such as peat and marl, formed in the lake itself. Rock and Mineral Supplies. The rock formations of the area furnish, material for various useful purposes. The crystalline rocks, occurring as boulders in the glacial drift, or in the uolid rock ledges are used to a variable extent as crushed stone for road material. The Pots- dam sandstone furnishes good building stone in many localities. The important sandstone quarries at Colfax and Dunnville sup- ply large quantities of good building stone. The limestone is quarried for building stone for local uses in Pierce, Pepin and St. Croix counties. The limestone in the vicinity of Spring Valley is used as a flux in the Spring Valley Iron Furnace. It was also formerly burned for lime at various lime kilns in one area but this industry has been largely discontinued. Common brick clays occur abundantly throughout the area. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. 13 An important brick industry is carried on in Menomonie and Tramway in Dunn county. The manufacture of brick is car- ried on also at Chippewa Falls, Stanley, Ladysmith, Barron, St. Croix Falls, Amery, Barronett, Spring Valley, River Falls, Durand and Ellsworth. At present drain tile is not manu- factured at any of these yards. Drain tile is made from the more plastic and finer-grained brick clays. Good drain tile could probably be made at several of the brick yards mentioned. Grocd road material is abundantly supplied in the drift cov- ered areas by the boulders and gravel in the drift. The trap rock ridges of Polk county, the granite ledges along the Chip- pewa river and tributaries in Eau Claire, Chippewa and Eusk counties are available sources for crushed rock for the con- struction of macadamized roads and streets. In the vicinity of Eau Claire the Potsdam shale is used quite extensively to improve the sandy roads. Water Supplies. The many streams and lakes of the area furnish an abundant supply of good water for stock. At most of the farm houses, however, wells are mainly relied upon to furnish water for domestic purposes. A. --_ 1 V~X J-.'-"l'S ". _"_ A'. ' : . .' I'rc'r --__:_ Fig. 6. — Diagram illustrating relations of groundwater to streams and wells. The dotted line A^i. represents the usual groundwater level which rises to A" A" in wet seasons and sinks to A' A' in dry seasons. Well water is found at various depths below the surface, de- pending mainly upon the general topography, the distance above the permanent stream levels, and the character of the under- lying rock formations. At certain depths below the surface all the pores and fissures in the rock are filled with ground water and it is into this water-filled portion of the ground that wells must be sunk in order to obtain an abundant and constant supply. The upper surface of the ground water, the ground water level, is usually very near the level of the permanently flowing streams and rivers of the area. The level of ground- 14 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. water is not expictly horizontal but is slightly undulating in general conformity with the topography of the land surface. The relation of the ground water level to streams and wells is shown in the diagram, fig. 5. Some of the lake levels of the small lakes in northeastern St. Croix county, are somewhat unusual in being far above thy gen- eral level of the groundwater. Wells in the immediate vicinity of these lakes go down 50 to 100 feet below the lakes to reach the ground water level and obtain a permanent water supply. Changes in Groundivatcr Level. The level of groundwater ri&es and falls from season to season depending- upon the sea- sonal rainfall. It also changes locally from year to year, due to amount of annual rainfall. The ground water level is also appreciably lowered where considerable pumpage or flowage from wells takes place. Character of the Well Water. The well water within the area, is known in domeitic economy as "soft water" and "hard water." The soft waters are located within the general area of the sandstone and crystalline rocks in the northeastern and eastern parts of the area and the hard waters are mainly con- fined to the area of the limestone in the western part. One of the softest waters in the United States is the famous Chippewa Spring water of Chippewa Falls. A well known mineral water, is used extensively for bottling purposes, at the Bethania Min- eral Springs at Oceola. North of Osceola a few miles, is ..., flowing well, made in exploring for copper, which is unusually strongly mineralized. it is possible therefore, to find waters within the area, con- taining but slight traces up to large amounts of mineral mat- ter, though in general the well waters usually used for domestic purposes are only the ordinary phases of hard and soft waters. Much of the glacial drift of the northwestern part of the area in Polk and Barron counties contains much limestone material and hence the waters from these localities are also generally hard waters. Wells in the Alluvial Sands and Gravels. Abundant well water is readily obtained in the sandy and gravelly stretches along the rivers arid main streams of the area. Very generally the wells are sunk to the approximate level of the adjacent GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. ]5 rivers. Along the Chippewa river south, of Chippewa Falls, the wells on the highest benches of the alluvial plains are from 50 to 100 feet deep. In the broad sandy plains of eastern Eau Claire county and in northern Chippewa, in Rusk, Barron, and Polk counties, wells are usually shallow, only from 10 to 30 feet deep. As a rule in order to secure good pure water the wells should obtain their supply more than 20 feet below the surface and where the groundwater stands less than 20 feet from the surface, drive wells or drilled wells should be made. Welh in the Glacial Drift. AVater is found at various depths in the sand and gravel of the glacial drift. The deepest wells in the drift, usually from 50 to 100 feet deep, are tliose in the hilly portions of the terminal moraines. On the more level areas of the drift the wells usually vary from 20 to 40 feet in djepth. "Where the drift overlies the crystalline rock, as in the northeast part of the area, abundant water is usually found within the drift, or at the contact with the underlying crystal- line formations. Yv'here the drift overlies limestone and sand- stone however, the wells usually have to penetrate the latter to a variable depth to the general level of the underground water. ^¥€Us in the Potsdam tiandstone. Wherever the sandstone has a thickness of 10 to 20 feet or more and the land is gently sloping, it usually furnishes an ample supply of water. The wells in the sandstone ridges and u]3lands usually have to reach down to the level of the surrounding low lands along the run- ning streams to obtain a water supply. Wells in the Limedone. The wells in the limestone rock are mainly confined to Pepin, Pierce and St. Croix counties. In Pepin and Pierce, while the wells penetrate limestone, the wat- er supply is generally obtained from the underlying formation of Potsdam sandstone. In St. Croix, however, many wells ob- tain water from the Lower Magnesian limestone at depths of 50 to 150 feet below the surface. Many wells in Pierce county on the limestone uplands are from 150 to 300 feet deep and ob- tain water from the underlying Potsdam sandstone. In some places in St. Croix county where the St. Peter sandstone con- tains a thin bed of shale at its base, a water supply is obtained where the wells reach these shale beds but do not penetrate through. 16 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Wells in The Crystalline Rocks. Wells that obtain their water supply from the crystalline rocks are mainly confined to northeastern Chippewa and Rusk counties and along the belt of trap Took in central Polk county. The wells in the trap rock in Polk are of varying degree of efficiency, and occasionally it is impossible to get a satisfactory supply from this formation. Where there is an overlying formation of drift or sandstone having a thickness of 10 to 20 feet which may serve as a catch- ment basin for water, a supply can be obtained by going down to the trap rock or a short distance into it. The crystalline rocks in northern Chippewa and Eusk coun- ties quite generally furnish a sufficient supply of water for domestic purposes. Where the overlying drift and sand is more than 15 or 20 feet thick, a supply can generally be obtained ait the contact with the crystallines or within a few feet into the latter formation. W^here the crystalline rock is massive and in solid formation, it is more difficult to obtain water than in the much fractured and fissured rock, for it is from the openings in the rocks that the water is obtained. In drilling wells in the crystalline rocks, the heavier drills should be used, those having a combined weight of bit and stem of 1200 to 1400 pounds. The light weight drills usually make too slow progress. The possible clogging of water passages in drilling crystalline rock should be taken into account. In the crystalline rocks most of the water is near the surface because of the larger proportion of rock opening near the sur- face, and hence, dug wells are often much more satisfactory than drilled wells. The dug wells being of larger diameter open up a larger number of veins and fissures and also have a larger storage capacity and on this account need, not be so deep as the drilled wells. Artesian Wells. Artesian flowing wells are obtained in the southwestern part of the area, on low ground along some of the rivers and streams. The sources of the flows are in the Potsdam sandstone and also in the alluvial formations in the valleys. The Artesian wells in Durand obtain their flows from depths of 200 to 500 feet, the water rising 25 to 35 feet above the level of the Chippewa river at Durand. The flowing wells that furnish running water for the Fish Hatchery at Hudson have their GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. 17 source in the alluvial sand and gravel of the Willow river and are only from 10 to 15 feet deep and rise only a foot or so above the general level of standing water. There are some flowing wells also near Arkansaw and in the vicinity of Osceola. Fig. 7. — Section of an artesian basin. A, Porous stratum ; B, G, impervious beds below and above A, acting as confining strata ; F, heigbt of water level in porous beds A, or, in other words, height in reservoir or fountain head ; B, E, flowing wells springing from the porous water-filled bed A. It is only on very low ground in Pepin, Pierce, St. Croix, and Polk counties that artesian flows are likely to be obtained. In the southeastern part of the area, artesian flows are not known at present, though they might be developed occassionally in small restricted areas in the glacial drift or in the alluvial de- posits. Origin of Flowing Wells. The water in wells that flow at the surface is under pressure. The essential condition for the ex- istence of a flowing well is a relatively porous stratum lying be- tween impervious strata, or below one ; the porous stratum which transmits the water having an outcrop or catchment area at a higher elevation than the water bearing stratum at the well. In this manner the water in the porous stratum is held under pressure and when penetrated by a well the water tends to rise up to the level of the intake. There are many qualifying con- ditions that effect the quantity of the flow or the pressure. Artesian systems of flowing wells are Illustrated in figures 7 and 8. Fig. 8. — Section of an artesian slope. A and C are w.'^ter-bearing beds : B and D are relatively impervious beds acting as confining strata ; E, F and 6 are flowing wells springing from the water-bearing beds. Springs. There are many large springs in the southwestern part of the area, along the lower Chippewa river, the St. Croix, and Mississippi, and the tributaries in Pierce county. The cop- ious springs at St. Croix Falls along the St. Croix are a well known feature of that locality. 11 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN., Origin of Springs, A "spring" is properly applied to' the water emerging- from the ground at a single point or within a small restricted area. Seepage springs are springs in which the water ,seeps out of sand or gravel. Such springs are usually marked by abundant vegetation, and their waters often carry a scum due to the decomposition of vegetable matter or the pres- ence of iron. The scum is frequently mistaken for petroleum. Springs of this kind commonly occur along the sides or bottoms of valleys, as illustrated in figure 9. Fig. 9. — Spring fed from unconflned waters in porous sand. Fissure springs are those that issue along bedding, cleavage, or fault planes. The waters are deeper seated and are almost never subjected to contamination. The accompanying diagram, fig. 10 illustrates a typical fissure spring. The springs at Ilwaco on the St. Croix river are of this type. Fig. 10.- -Fissure spring. Waters spring from the underlying up through fissures in the limestone. porous sandstone The Pollution of Well and Spring Water. Farms, which are generally remote from towns and cities or other areas of con- gested population are especially favorably situated for obtain- ing pure and wholesome water. As a matter of fact, however, polluted water is exceedingly common on the farms, and typhoid fever, generally contracted from drinking water, is usually more prevalent in country'- districts than in cities. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. 19 Many of the failures to protect water supplies used for drink- ing are due to a lack of knowledge of the manner in which wat- ers circulate through the ground and of the ways in which the groimd water may become polluted. The diagram, fig. 11 il- FiG. 11. — Diagram showing location of safe and unsafe wells and their relation to farm buildings. lustrates the location of safe and unsafe wells, and the general relation of these to the location of farm buildings and to the ground water level. Springs may also be contaminated, especially the seepage springs, if proper care is not taken in the location of buildings near the spring. Open or dug wells may be polluted by ma- terial seeping through the ground and curbing or entering from the top of the well. The distance from a source of pollution, such as cesspools and bamyardsj at which a surface or open well may be sunk with a fair degree of safety va-" ries with the formation but generally should never be less than 100 feet and often should be at least 200 feet. The more open and porous the soil and the more rapid the move- ment of the ground water, _ the greater is the safety distance required. "Well waters that become mud- dy after rain storms indi- cate surface contamina- tion and should be avoided^!?- ^\ Diagram showing danger Of pollu- tion where easmg is carried only to rock. 20 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. if possible. Wells should be protected from surface water by properly constructed curbing, stock should be kept away from the well, and protection from pump drippings, from small ani- mals, and dust should be ensured, as they are all possible sources of pollution. The water of deep wells are usually safe and hence many people go to the expense of drillitig for deep well water. Deep wells, may however become polluted by the entrance of sui-- face waters (See iig. 12) unless the casing is carried into the well a sufficient depth to shut off all surface water entering through fissures. Cisterns, which are especially valuable in supplying soft rain water or in furnishing supplementary supplies from wells, if properly constructed are safe sources of water supply. The disadvantage of cisterns is the liability of contamination by dust from the roof, and the liability to crack and admit shallow and possibly polluted waters. WATER POWERS. 5 The water powers are a valuable natural resource of the area. A general survey of the water powers of the state has been made by L. S. Smith.'"' Much less than one-half of the available wat- er power in the area is now developed. On the Chippewa river extensive power is developed at Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls, and on the Flambeau at Ladysmith. There are very many power sites still undeveloped on the Chippewa and Flambeau, among which may be mentioned the important sites at Jim Palls, Brunett Falls, and Holcombe on the Chippewa, and Burnt Is- land, Big Falls, and Cedar Rapids, on the Flambeau. Water powers have been developed on the Red Cedar at Men- omonie and Chetek, and on the tributaries of the Red Cedar at Rice Lake and Barron. The St. Croix river has many power sites in its upper course. At St. Croix Falls, is a 50 foot dam, having an estimated development of 27,000 II. P. at present only partially equipped, the power being conducted electrically to Minneapolis and St. Paul. There are no powers developed above St. Croix Falls but important sites are located at Nevers * Bulletin No. 20, Wis. Geol. & Nat. Hist. Survey, Madison, Wis. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA. 21 dam, at Kettle River rapids and farther north. Powers are developed on the Kinnieldnnic river at River Falls, on the Wil- low at Burkhardt and New Richmond, and on the Apple at Ap- ple River Falls, Somerset, and Huntington, the power developed on the Apple river, being conducted to Stillwater and Minne- apolis. , .... fi .. i.U,;*|^| ALTITUDES OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Elevations above sea level, of many of the railroad stations within the area, some of which are also indicated on the soil map, are shown in the following table : Table I. — AltiUides of railroad stations. Station. Amer.v Augusta Baldwin Barron Bloomer Boyd Bruce Burkhardt Cadott Cameron Chetek Chippewa Falls, C. St. P. M. O. Chippewa Falls. W. C. R. R. Clear Lake Colfax Cumberland Dallas Durand Eau Claire, C. M. &St. P.... Eau Claire, C. St. P. M. & O. Elk Mound Ellsworth Fairchild Fall Creek Frederick Glen wood Altitude. 1,070 972 1.136 1,111 1,012 1,105 1,098 927 977 1,098 1,053 86R 831 1,198 947 1,241 1,052 725 788 841 931 1,068 1.018 939 1,204 1,026 Station. Hammond Herse.T Holcombe Hudson Knaiop Ladysmith (on river above dam) Luck Maiden Rock Menomonle. C. St. P. M. & O.. Menomonie Junction New Auburn New Richmond. W. C. R. R. . . Osceola Pepin Prairie Farm Prescott Rice Lake Kidgeland River Falls Roberts St. Croix Falls Spi ing- Valley Stanley Stockholm Turtle Lake Woodville Altitude. 1,104 1.201 1,045 699 928 1.110 1,207 6S6 788 884 1,109 986 809 688 706 1,148 1,083 886 1,039 920 922 1,077 692 1,258 1,152 22 SOIL 8VRYEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Table II— Altitudes of points on the important rivers. Station. Chippewa River. Reeds Landing;— High water Reeds Landing-— Low water. Eau Claire River, moutli Chippewa Falls, foot of dam Yellow River, mouth Jim Falls, foot Brunett Falls, foot Holcomta Rapids, foot Flambeau River, mouth Bruce, Sec. 28 Murra.y, N. E. Sec. 23 Flamheau River. Ducommon Rapids Ladysmith. below dam Little Falls Rapids Bier Falls, foot Big- Falls, head Rock Island rapids Altitude. 680 b64 770 806 852 901 967 1,004 1,050 1,064 1,112 1,070 1.099 1.137 1.177 1.209 1.233 Station. fieri Cedar. Mouth of River Dunnville Irving- Menomonie, foot of dam Cedar Rapids, foot Hnv River, mouth Colfax Cameron. (2 miles west) Rice Lake (R.R. crossing) — Cedar Lake, dam St. Croi.v River. Prescott, mouth of river Low water Kinnikinnic River, mouth — Apple Ki ver, month Osceola St. Croix Falls (head of navi- g-ation St. Croix Falls (crest of dam) Altitude. 705 723 766 788 823 859 895 1,068 1,116 1,191 672 683 687 750 CLIMATE. , 23 CHAPTER 11. CLIMATE. The climate of the area is not influenced by the Great Lakes but is influenced in a general Avay by its location with respect to the average track of the storms that move eastward, along the Canadian border, and those that move up the Mississippi valley from the southwest. As in other parts of the northern Mississippi Valley, extremes of temperature prevail, the sum- mers being warm with abundant precipitation, and the winters cold and relatively dry. Temperature. The climatic element-s of greatest importance to agriculture are temperature and precipitation. The temper- ature conditions of the area, are shown in the two tables, Table III and IV. The period covered is from 15 to 21 years, the period ranging from 1890 to 1909, the data being compiled from a recent sectional report of the U. S. "Weather Bureau of north- western Wisconsin. There are at present nine Weather Bureau stations within and near the area, but of the^e five have records of observations for only a relatively short period, of three to five years. The stations at present in the area or near the area, are located at Barron, Downing, Grantsburg, New Richmond, Osceola, Stanley, Weyerhauser, Eau Claire, Ellsworth and Red Wing, Minn. In compiling the temperature data, only the sta- tions at Barron, Osceola, Downing, Eau Claire and Grants- burg and Red Wing, Minn, are considered. Grantsburg, lo- cated in Burnett county, is but a short distance north of Polk county. Table III shows the mean temperature conditions for the grow- ing season of the year, from April to September. The mean or average temperature for each of the six stations for each month is given, and also the highest, and the lowest temperatures for each month. The mean temperature is the most import9,i}t 24 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. datum to consider in agriculture, as the highest and lowest tem- peratures represent only the rare and extreme conditions. By comparing the data for the several stations, it will be ob- served that the mean temperatures are almost identical at all the stations for the summer months, and yet there is a slight and persistent difference between them which is worthy of note. The temperature of BaiTon is about one to two degrees colder than that of Osceola and Grantsburg, and about two to four degrees colder than that of Eau Claire. The table indicates that the summer isothermal lines or lines of equal temperature do not run east and west across the area, but run northwest and southeast. The summer temperatures of Eau Claire Dunn, and St. Croix counties are about the same. In the same way the summer temperatures of Chippewa and Polk would be the same. Rusk county is the coldest in the sum- mer, and Pierce and Pepin counties the warmest as indicated by the records at Red Wing. The Table IV showing the temperature for the non-growing season indicates that the temperature of Barron and the north- eastern part of the area is slightly colder in winter than the western part of the area at Grantsburg and Osceola, as well as colder than the southern part of the area at Eau Claire. At all the stations there are much greater extremes in temperature in winter than in summer. While the mean temperatures are the ' most important data in the tables, extremes of temperature are also of interest. The unusually low temperatures recorded in the area have reached 40° to 48° below zero, and unusually high temperatures have reached .100° to 105° above zero. There are generally from 5 to 10 days in winter when temperatures below 20° below zero may be expected, and from 5 to 10 days in summer when tem- peratures above 90° may occur. CLIMATE. 25 ■lSf»A\OT[ CQ'£i o iN o eo W »-i W T-l CM CO m :o OS y:) r-i T-t ■«^aiM 00- oo- a.- «:-:-• m ifs irt ift CO to =:^ ■^S8AVot; •c^saqSiH 'ti'e9i\[ 'ct* CO o (M re irs CO CO CO CO CO rJ^ COGO-rf O QOlfi 05 05 o c:)a5 Oi Cl -^ O l^ C2 :0 ■^ 'O t- -JD Oi 00 ^ -^ ^ -JD O to ^ ^ ■;saqSiH CO -rs m CO CO - (Z> oi to Xi O "to t— 1>. •^S9avot; lO CO iC GO lO CO Ci (M tM ;M CNJ CO •a'B9j;\[ ^-GO Oi oi>- Oi ci Oi as o as Ci -^ CO t—-"!^ 00 OS CO "^ -rf -rH to t^ CO CO to to to to ';s9mot; ■^saq^iH •uBai\[ CO lOi to^-OlO ^ »-<'-"—' CM CM ■*:*< CO CO oo '^ CM Oi O) a^ C5 ~. Ci as to to i>- o o CM -* -rt^ "tH f^ to' o lO mm lO lO ■:jsaAVOT; •:^S9ii^[H O t^'^^H'^ ^^CO 00 CO C-- -^ oo Ci 00 CO GO 00 CO GO •Ltt:8J\[ JO q^JSiiaq OI T-( 't^ CM to t- ^' co' TO co' lo in m ITS to CO O 00 is Sm 03 o ^ iSiS tS fH 01 o c3 (t WOOOWM ^ E^ I 00 t— t-OOOb- lO CM to '^ t- 'r*^ CM OI C^l Oi C-l C ■qsawoT; I I I I M ■^saqSiH o CM o^i c^i a; o m m lO ^ m liJ I I M I I •IsaqSiH in lO to in o -* CO C3 O T-l t-H (M ■q.saiVO'T: OOCS OCOCOiO Cvt CO ^t^ CO C^> (M I I I I M ■IsaqSiH •ireaH Ifi m li^ lO m lO CO l^ CO i>- 1- ^H CO to to to 00 O '^S9a\ot; in c*» -* -^ m OS t-hCOCOCM^ I i I I I I •Isaq^TH •a'Gai\[ oi vc o 'n c• t^ t- t^ I--. ^- ^OOOC~CO-HCO 03 o a^ o M CO CM CO C^I CO CO CO •^S9AlO'7 Otr-C0 03000 ■jsaqStH •UBai\[ to ^ti to iO to o oo OOQOOO 00 oo I^ 00 00 i:^ :o t- in X" CO CO 00 00 JO qiSuaq; i 00 GO OS in :3^ ^^ ■nonBAaig in in ;o to o 00 ^ Oi ooooo ■^O 00O5Q0 c- C3 Ah c/} O ce

> "a by a 0) O o O O o Q 1.95 a 1889 2.55 3.4 1.96 4.00 4.01 T. 0.65 1890 1.20 2.25 » 10.76 6.17 7.51 2.50 1.55 0.71 1891 1892 1.10 0.80 1893 1.40 2.35 0.90 3.35 2.45 2.20 1.21 2.03 i.io 2.60 0.90 2.20 22.99 1894 1.40 0.20 2.40 5.15 7 41 1 41 0.55 0.72 1.80 3.72 1.80 1.37 27.93 1895 0.99 0.40 0.40 1.76 4,61 5.09 4.36 2.50 4.70 o.ot 0.65 0.50 26.00 1896 1.15 0..50 2.57 7.10 5.9t 3,47 1.30 1.53 2.63 4.22 4.75 1.35 36.48 1897 1.35 1.28 2.70 0.75 2.00 7.93 9.67 2.00 3.65 1.70 1.04 0.35 .34.42 1898 0.39 0.88 2.12 1.64 4.85 6.00 1.59 2.67 1.9D 5.F.0 1.80 T. 29.14 1899 0.77 1 57 2.56 2.50 5.97 2.30 2.08 4.89 1.63 4.(^3 0.67 1.93 31.50 1900 0,77 1.42 0.67 1.19 1.31 1.35 8.77 9.43 4.60 4.41 1.05 0.75 35.74 1901 0.50 0.65 3.98 1.65 1.13 5.26 3.49 2.13 4.25 1.68 0.88 1.02 26.62 1902 0.85 0.05 0.75 1.99 2.85 2.98 5.31 1..36 :<.55 1.82 3.05 2.68 27.24 1903 0.82 1.90 2.17 4.25 6.55 1.12 9.37 5.70 10.02 3.14 0.60 1.50 47.23 1904 0.70 1.55 0.65 1.25 3.08 5.33 4.76 3.68 7.23 5.04 1'. 1.50 34.77 1905 1.45 0.55 1.20 1.40 3.19 9.81 5.53 5.18 7.73 3.20 2.48 T. 41.72 1906 3.05 0.80 1.10 3.56 4.95 7.08 2.38 4.08 2.61 2.41 1.93 1.60 35.55 1907 1.80 0.90 2.30 0.85 2.15 7.11 4.. 35 2.44 9.38 0.40 1.00 0.50 33.18 1908..... 0.55 1.66 2.35 5.13 8.22 8.38 3.05 0.94 1.90 2.38 0.42 0.90 35.88 1909 0.90 2.15 0.45 4.02 3.50 1.57 5.75 3.28 3.93 3.03 3.50 2.50 34.58 Means.. 1.11 1.11 1.75 2.78 4.11 4.80 4.40 3.45 4.18 2.70 1,44 1.23 33.06 Osceola, Polk County, Wis (Elevation 80o feet.) 1891 0.90 1.80 2.30 2,05 1.95 4.52 2.38 1.02 1.52 i.m 1.22 3.93 25.25 1892 0.03 1.47 1.13 1.32 8.10 8.14 6.22 4.64 1.34 0.62 0.49 0.63 34.13 1893 1.46 2.45 2.91 3.62 2.58 2.08 3.17 2.18 2.04 3.42 0.79 1.97 28.67 1891 1.07 0.15 2.80 4.74 9 9.» 2.40 0.44 0.65 1.85 4.69 0.13 1.60 30.47 1895.... 0.86 0.24 0.55 1.95 4.67 4.31 5,.S5 1.83 5.72 0.22 1.14 0.16 27.00 18H6 0.71 0.10 2.34 5.67 4.86 6,63 1.83 4,38 2.77 3.54 3.20 0.79 36.82 1897 2.50 0.73 2.09 1.34 1.60 7.30 4.94 1.35 3.76 2.11 1.32 0.11 29.15 1898 0.03 1.13 4.43 1.63 6.60 4.92 1.32 4.24 0.87 5.67 1.69 0.07 32.60 1899 0.90 1.30 2.19 2.86 3.41 6,85 1.66 4.87 1.06 3.72 1.02 1.54 31.38 1900 0.35 0.92 0.70 1.95 0..36 0.90 9.76 7.96 8.14 6.08 0.71 0.h7 38 50 1901 0.38 0.63 3.24 1.51 1.74 6,40 3.79 2.35 5.20 1.71 1.87 2,28 31.15 1902 0.76 1.42 0.80 1.95 2.51: 3.02 3.98 3.60 3.9.-1 1.23 2.55 2.11 i7.95 1903 0.67 0.44 2.09 2.92 7.31 2.26 9.58 4.42 8.76 4.14 0,20 0.83 43.62 1904 0.70 0.88 1.37 1.52 5.21 5.61: 5.05 3.54 5.66 5.32 T. 0.50 35.39 1905 0.35 0.78 73 0.62 2.77 6.27 2,65 5,35 6.01 2.62 1.80 0.20 30.15 1906 4.50 0.18 3.50 1.55 6.61 4.07 5.02 2.56 3.75 3.20 1.77 1.97 38.68 1907 1.39 0.53 0.70 1.05 0.66 3.35 4.51 2.98 7.33 1.45 1.12 0.20 25.27 1908 0.55 0.85 1.45 3.61 8.23 5.50 3.05 0.79 3.32 2.43 0.98 0.70 31.46 1909 0.86 1.41 0.85 2.50 2.05 5.68 3.53 3.66 3.80 2.20 4.45 1.92 32.91 Means.. 1.00 0.92 1.90 2.33 4.27 4.75 4.12 3.28 4.05 2.95 1.39 1.17 32.13 Prom Weather Bureau Report, Section 58, Northwestern Wisconsin. CLIMATE. 27 Doioning, Dunn County, Wis. (Elevation, 983 feet.) t>. Year cS a ^ 1891 2.05 1892 0.47 1893.... 1.43 1894 1.25 1895..... 1896 1.23 1897 1898 b'.lb 1899 0.65 1900 0.31 1901 1902. ... 0.60 1903 0.30 1904 1.00 1905 1.60 1906 3.00 1907 3.14 1908 0.91 1909 0.60 Means.. 1.17 2.63 1.90 3.53 0.32 0.55 1.04 0.60 0.51 o^go 0.05 0.65 1.00 T. 1.60 1.80 2.80 1.24 o a < 2. S 3 3.12 3.37 2.14 4.30 2.09 2.13 7.4b 5.83 2.81 6.17 2.55 1.54 3.02 5.65 10.56 1.90 o!87 i;23 2;67 4!86 1.10 1.60 5.87 8.37 1. 10 2.00 2.15 0.04 2.46 0.30 2.15 3 80 3.00 2.06 3.55 7.14 1.62 2.10 2.00 4.72 4.92 1.01 T. 5.90 7.05 1.20 2.25 8.44 4.45 2.21 1.26 1.70 6.24 1.50 5.45 2.75 9.32 0.40 2.81 2.58 4.77 1.66 2.74 4.55 4.71 2.44 8.31 2.81 0.42 2.11 1.64 10.55 3!73 8.78 5 60 2.65 1.95 3.30 1.60 4.96 4.06 3.85 2.91 2.33 0.50 3.55 4.91 4 34 1.31 2.00 5,01 4.90 7.40 5.63 4.71 1.50 3.50 1.41 2.90 2.59 2.93 0.89 3.42 9.46 5.20 2.45 7.37 4.20 2.30 4.91 5.06 1.20 4.29 3.65 3.77 4.16 2.60 2.93 4.33 4.45 4.45 7.46 1.39 1.65 2.45 7.44 3.15 3.51 1.10 1.03 2.94 3.44 0.52 0.76 0.77 1.93 1.04 0.80 0.37 3!.«6 52 0.10 1.06 1.68 1.00 1.08 4.56 5.33 1.09 4.01 1.68 T. 1.90 0.95 slei 0.80 0.90 0.50 1.80 0..30 1.20 1.15 35.32 38.35 33.47 34.49 22.76 35.31 39.55 1.33 1.6? 27.99 39.65 38.53 33.62 38.82 31.62 29.34 35.34 33.99 Note— Observations at Menomonie from January, 1891, to February, 1895; at Knapp from January, 1898, to June. 1902; at Downing- from July. 1902, to December. 1909. Barron, Barron County, Wis. (Ele^'atlon. 1,115 feet.) 1891.... 1892.... 1893.... 1894.... 1895.... 1896.... 1897.... 1898.... 1899.... 1900.... 1901.... 1902.... 1903.... 1904.... 1905.... 1906.... 1907.... 1908.... 1909.... Means. 2.68 1.86 1.42 1.46 1.90 0.70 4.. 52 0.26 1.73 6.98 2.29 7.03 7.44 4.61 3.94 1.77 1.80 1.04 0.71 1.23 2.91 1.75 4.91 3.85 1.25 3.28 3.66 2.85 3.40 2.05 1.6S 0.45 2.44 4.64 8.94 2.01 2.40 1.30 1.85 4.73 1.40 1.24 0.83 1.63 2.03 0.60 0.48 1.68 3.63 4.87 4.93 1.78 3.90 0.26 0.80 1.66 1.75 2!60 \M 2.17 6!23 5. '54 1.25 2.93 i!85 6!29 O^SO 0.25 1.83 1.80 1.02 4.40 2.27 1.90 2.51 0.98 4.64 1.00 T. 0.45 1.16 3.30 1.73 3.15 7.00 2.00 5.87 0.65 4.26 0.95 2.02 1.16 1.19 l.ll 1.71 2.20 7.70 7.64 5.40 1.00 1.05 0.49 0.50 3.50 2 22 1.82 5.23 5.10 1.70 6.55 1.28 1.50 0.40 1.50 0.26 86 2.06 3.63 4.. 39 3.65 1.09 2 39 0.68 4.. SO 1.37 0.59 0.40 2.52 2.44 5.86 3.04 6.55 4.75 5.95 3.20 0.50 0.54 1.25 1.40 l.U 2.20 6.55 8.45 6.15 5.51 6.76 5.61 T. 90 1.50 0.50 0.47 1.00 4.50 13.70 3.50 8.50 3.70 2.40 2.70 T. 3.20 0.40 1.00 2.58 7.45 3.84 2.40 2.92 2.08 1.20 0.43 1.00 1..30 1.05 1.08 0.70 1.83 3.39 2.75 2.50 3.75 0.50 1.00 1.75 4.05 3.85 5.64 2.56 1.61 1.46 3.08 0.95 0.87 0.35 1.35 0.80 3.61 2.60 2.56 2.96 4.08 4.27 2.54 4.48 1.24 1.12 1.08 1 63 2.36 4.29 4.79 3.88 3.45 3.14 2.84 1.38 1.17 33.60 33.08 25.42 28! 80 22.60 32.54 30.29 26.18 .^6.. 34 45.92 42.47 28.50 27! 32 30.84 31.13 28 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Red Wing, Goodhue County, Minn. (Elevation, 708 feet.) Year. ►-5 S "3 o (^ 0.54 1.36 0.43 3.35 0.51 0.98 2.01 0.87 2.31 1.10 0.20 0.20 2.50 3.22 1.95 1.09 1.79 0.90 0.73 1.09 1.74 2.22 0.61 1.68 0.77 1.38 3 3.09 4.68 2.52 4.92 1.35 1.87 2.25 1.09 4.14 3.30 1.75 4.56 1.14 1.38 0.71 1.83 0.85 2.36 1.70 0.88 0.23 2.10 1.66 4 10 2.54 2.28 3 bt 3 a a m O o O s CD o 12; S o Q 3 S 1885 1.89 ].45 0.99 7.53 1.85 4.55 1.46 6.06 2.17 2.71 4.25 4.10 1.54 3.08 4.16 0.26 1.12 6.75 8.44 3.29 5.46 7.41 0.81 6.08 3.34 3.63 4.62 3.23 5.24 3.01 3.01 8.03 6.36 7.74 2.28 2.61 3.72 2.98 4.29 2.07 6.60 1.57 5.42 2.29 0.41 5.04 7.40 3.15 4.05 9.10 4.40 4.34 5.99 1.50 3.58 3.30 2.23 1.80 2.77 7.17 2.63 0.10 3.60 1.31 4.51 3.01 1.93 4.43 1.94 8.72 3.38 4.56 3.64 3.60 3.26 3.60 1.86 3.37 2.70 4.51 6.70 3.34 3.96 3.96 3.13 1.80 2.18 1.45 1.84 1.55 3.29 3.80 4.50 3.56 3.74 4.36 4.40 3.52 8.71 4.30 7.57 0.76 1.78 3.65 4.43 4.99 5.04 1.32 1.45 3.15 1.23 3.38 2.50 2.54 3.92 2.79 5.09 0.48 1.50 6.70 7.28 4.01 11.74 4.57 1.94 2.ii6 6.54 2.06 7.38 3.94 1.62 2.58 1.58 1.63 0.02 3.38 1 64 1.18 1.60 5.12 0,18 2,73 4.51 5.25 4.20 3.21 1.56 2.62 1.80 6.30 3.08 2.44 0.84 3.68 1.98 2.59 44 2.29 0.73 0.24 1.32 0.72 0.86 0.40 0.45 0.40 1.62 3.10 1.78 2.76 0.88 1.33 0.62 4.02 0.22 0.00 2.24 2.54 0.96 0.82 5.50 1.45 0.81 1.18 3.67 0.98 1.94 0.15 4.60 0.66 3.15 0,95 0.60 0.95 0.30 0.00 1.12 0.75 0.61 1.56 0.53 1.32 0.30 1.20 0.48 0.80 1.44 1.20 1886. ... 1887 1888 1889.. .. 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894... . 1895 1896 1897 1898.... 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 Mfians.. 5.25 1.22 1.45 0.80 1.36 2.06 0.17 0.y2 0.90 1.30 0.97 2.00 0.32 2.25 0.79 1.00 0.46 0.22 0.31 0.81 1.86 1.30 0.26 1.30 1.22 6.65 1.71 0.91 0.54 0.53 1.66 1.90 2.84 0..35 0.80 0.20 0.95 1.50 4.39 1.21 0.69 0.69 0.59 0.63 1.03 0.25 1.10 0.98 1.34 1.14 33.67 33.41 31 98 18.98 30.48 30.06 30.42 27.17 21.53 23.78 25.44 31.90 26.87 34.19 26.73 26.62 38.74 34.16 31.51 36.58 33.63 29.18 33.92 33.63 30.19 Note— From November, 1896. to Decsmber, 190.1. inclu jive, e.xcept January and Feb- ruary, 1908, the records ai-e from the river observing station at Red Wing. Bail Claire, Eau Claire County, Wis. (Elevation, 800 feet.) 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1899.... 1900.... 1901.... 1902.... 1903 ... 1904.... 1905.... 1906.... 1907.... 1908.... 1909.... Means. 2.95 1.85 1.70 2.00 5.40 2.20 1.70 1.07 3.10 0.70 4.65 0.30 1.31 1.60 2.70 1.00 1.90 2.40 5.90 6.15 4.87 9.10 0.66 2.90 2.21 1.70 3.26 0,75 1.30 1.00 5.10 2.73 1.77 1.30 0.98 0.90 0.44 2.03 0.22 2.92 1.67 6.62 1.17 2.90 0.56 1.23 1.83 1.09 0.90 5.60 4.13 1.28 4.06 1.40 0.40 0.60 6.35 4.50 6.25 2.67 3.00 3.03 3.00 3.70 0.50 2.00 2.75 4.10 1.16 3.65 5.05 3,26 3.20 2.10 2.49 0.92 0.72 0.32 2.26 2.85 2.22 1.96 1.50 1.27 0.23 0.77 5.13 1.79 0.27 0.98 1.47 2.90 1.58 8.47 7.02i 1.62 7.67 3.23 3.61 0.67 2.20 1.00 1.49 1.23 2.95 0.75 1.86 8.88 3.37 8.73 9.41 1.32 1.00 0.56 0.63 3.58 1.45 2.26 6.47 4.01 2.06 5.71 4 64 0.54 0.55 0.77 0.88 1.51 3.49 5.27 2.27 5.91 3.25 2.21 2.58 4.28 3.05 0.32 0.87 2.10 3.72 7.03 2.44 8.78 5.09 9.12 1.99 0.65 0.84 0.31 0.75 1.65 1.31 2.52 7.17 2.42 2.76 3.66 5.46 0.24 1.68 0.73 0.49 2.28 0.51 6.61 6,59 2.46 6.82 4.43 3.68 1.33 0.31 2.24 0.32 3.07 1.52 7.20 3.47 3.10 3.61 4.13 2.79 2.75 1.33 1.85 0.75 1.95 1.20 3.27 3.80 1.12 5.68 3.65 0.77 1.33 0.42 0.58 0.97 2.63 3.46 5.64 6.32 2.28 1.74 2.91 1.56 0.08 1.07 1.03 1.61 1.28 3.42 3.00 2.96 2.20 2.22 6.S4 2.63 5.42 1.46 1.00 1.28 2.04 2.58 4.37 4.66 3.47 3.26 3.93 3.22 1.67 1.48 33.71 22! 84 35.40 31.40 20.57 41.42 41.99 32.46 35.47 42.95 29.93 36.24 35.53 25.79 30.14 34.07 32.96 CLIMATE. 29 These tables show the actual amount of precipitation for each month at the various stations for the past 15 to 20 years, and also the annual amount for each of the years, as well as the mean monthly and mean annual precipitation for the period. The amount of rainfall during the growing season exerts the most influence on growing crops. The mean rainfall for the growing season and also the non-growing season is shown in the following table : Table VI. — Mean monthly ijrecipitation for the growing and non- growing season for the entire period of record of each station, to 1909. Month. April May June July August ae&tember Mean of the growing' season October November December January February March Mean ol the non-grow- season Mean annual Grants- burg. 2.78 4.11 4.80 4.40 3.45 4.18 23.72 33.06 Osceola. .i.6.-i 4.27 4.75 4.12 3.28 4.05 22.80 2.70 2.95 1.44 1.39 1.23 1.17 1.11 l.UO 1.11 0.92 1.75 1.90 9.33 Barron. 2.36 4.29 4.79 3.b8 3.45 3.14 21.91 1.38 1.17 1.12 1.08 1.63 9.22 31.13 Downing 2.74 4.55 4.71 4.06 3.65 3.77 3.44 1.33 1.67 1.17 1,24 1.66 10.51 33.99 Eau Claire. 2.58 4.37 4.66 3.47 3.26 3.93 3.22 1.67 1.48 1.00 1.28 2.04 10.69 32.96 Red Wing 2.28 3.63 4.34 3.37 3 65 3.94 21.21 2.59 1.45 1.20 1.22 1.14 1.38 The mean annual rainfall varies from 30.19 to 33.99 inches at the several stations. During the growing season from April to September the amount of rainfall is from 21.21 to 23.72 inches, the greatest fall occurring in May, June, and July, when most needed by the growing crops. The amount of precipitation in the non-growing season from October to March, varies at the stations from 8.98 to 10.69 inches, being less than one-half the amount falling during the growing season. A little more than two-thirds of the annual rainfall, therefore, falls in the growing season. The monthly precipitation at Eau Claire and Osceola is illustrated in the diagram, fig. 13. While "the mean annual rainfall is generally from 30 to 33 30 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. inches there are occasional dry years when there is much less precipitation. During the 10 year period from 1893 to 1903, the precipitation during the driest year was 20.6 inches at Eau Claire and 27.1 inches at Barron, and during the wettest year of this 10 year period, there was a rainfall of 42.7 inches at Eau Claire and 36.3 inches at Barron. The records appear to show that the annual rainfall in the northeastern part of the area is more uniform from year to year than in the southwestern part. EAU CLAIRE OSCEIOLA 60 — Ij z «i c cc > z J d a" H >' o .... o z mo: tt:>z-iCJfl.|->oz < u < a, < D D D ui oo u ~ ->li.5<-2-j-j g Hi c t-S o SO fs O & d -^ t^ fo H^ m ^ 02 H oo a H -;j £. O o •^ '^ S ^^ O c' H (D j> o o DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 45 type at present and will probably continue to increase in im- portance as the land is brought under the plow. The soil is especially well adapted to live stock. The tract furnishes abundant pasturage, and springs and streams afford plenty of water. Clover and other tame hay produce excellent yields. Oats are the leading grain raised. Barley and wheat are grown to a small extent and give good yields. Corn has not been raised extensively on this soil, though both soil and climate are favorable. A large acreage is devoted to pasture, clover, and timothy. Potatoes are a good crop for export. Sugar beets and other root crops are grown quite extensively. The acreage of corn should be increased not alone for its value as silage and grain, but also for its value as a rotation crop with oats and the grasses. Larid Values. — The prices at which improved land is held varies from $60 to $100 per acre. Uncleared land of this type is generally held at $15 to $25 per acre. Good stands of timber still remain on, large tracts of this soil type. KENNAN Sn^T LOAM, Area. — The Kennan silt loam lies in the northeastern part of Chippewa county and over a large part of Rusk county. It is mainly the gently undulating ground moraine area of the latest drift sheet. This soil type extends over a large portion of Price, Taylor and Lincoln counties as described in the soil report of North Central Wisconsin. Surface Features. — The surface of the soil is generally rolling or slightly undulating with here and there, throughout the area, broad stretches that are quite level. Nearly all of the soil can be brought under cultivation. Large swamp and marsh areas are prominently associated with this type in portions of Rusk county. Nearly one-fourth of some of the towns in Rusk, as indicated on the soil map, are marsh and wet soil. The tract is drained mainly by the Chippewa and Flambeau rivers. See map of eastern part of Rusk county, figure 16. Native Forest. — ^This silt loam developed some of the finest stands of hardwoods in the state. Pine was not relatively abund- ant, but considerable hemlock was interspersed with the hard- wood. Cedars are common along low river areas. 46 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. At present but little of the original forest remains. Th« pine has been wholly removed, and at present the hemlock and hardwoods are being rapidly cut out. Forest fires have caused much damage in places. The wooded section of northeastern Rusk county suffered especially from wind storms, at an early date as indicated by numerous tracts of windfalls. Large mills for sawing hardwood and hemlock are located at Atlanta, Lady- smith, Ingram, Hawkins, Euby, and Arnold. R-4.-W T-35-N. KENNAN SILT LOAM. SWAMP LAND Fig. 16. — Soil map of northeastern Rusk county. Soil. — The surface soil to depth of eight inches is a silt loam, somewhat grayish in color and quite free from stone. The sub- soil is silt loam, carrying considerable clay. As shown by me- chanical analyses most of the soil is very fine sand, silt and clay. DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 4t Both surface and subsoil are quite uniform over the area. Some stone occurs in the soil and in some places interferes with agri- culture. These stony areas are found in low places or bordering marshes, and in a few cases on the uplands. Some of the soil on the gentle slopes will require tile drainage to get the best crop results. The results of the mechanical analyses of samples of the soil and subsoil are shown in the following table : Table XIII. — Mechanical analys es of A 'ennan silt loam. No. Location. Descrip- tion. Fine gravel. Coarse sand. Me- dium sand. Fine sand. \ ery fine sand. Silt. Clay. 120 120 Chippewa Co Chippewa Co Ruslf Co Soil Subsoil... Soil Subsoil... .0 .0 .1 2.5 .7 2.3 1.9 1 8 .7 2.4 2.2 3.0 1.3 4.0 3.6 18.5 29.1 12.1 25.1 60.3 52.6 67.7 55.3 14.7 15.4 11.2 11 5 1fi5 Rusk Co Agriculture. — This soil area is opening up and developing rapidly into a typical dairy section, for which purpose it is well adapted. The grasses grow exceptionally well, especially clovers, timothy, and red top. The many streams furnish abundance of water for stock. Common wells 15 to 30 feet deep furnish a supply of water for the home. Blooded stock is being intro- duced, Holsteins aud other dairy types being most prominent. Sheep have been introduced and pay well. Small grains such as oats, and barley yield abundantly, the yield of each being 30 to 40 bushels per acre. Corn has not been grown to a large extent. With the increase in the dairy industry more corn, especially for ensilage, will be grown. Spe- cial crops like seed peas for canning purposes have been found to do well on this soil. A large farm in southeastern Rusk has been developed for growing peas for seed and canning purposes. The common pea could be successfully raised for fattening hogs and other stock in place of corn. In Chippewa county tobacco has been grown successfully on this silt loam soil. The acreage of both the tobacco and pea crops will be materially increased in these counties in the future. The chemical analysis of a sample of virgin soil collected from northwestern Chippewa county shows that the soil is well sup- plied with essential plant food elements. This should not be 48 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. taken however, to indicate that excessive grain cropping with- out proper attention to rotation can be practiced on it. The present up-to-date agriculturist should profit by the experiences of others in the past and maintain the fertility of his soil. The Kennan clay loam is very largely wild land, either thickly forested with hardwoods of cut-over land. Probably less than 5 per cent of this soil in Chippewa county is under cultivation and less than 3 per cent in Eusk. The cost of clearing this land ranges from 15 to 30 dollars per acre, dependmg upon the amount of slashing and stumpage found on it. The wood not fit for lumber is usually sold as fuel to the paper and saw mills and the profit received from this source helps considerably to defray cost of clearing the land. Land Valuea: — The wild land, with little or no merchantable timber, is generally held at $10 to $20 per acre, depending on location and accessibility. Cleared farms, with buildings, are generally held at $50 to $80 per acre. CHELSEA LOAMS. Area. — The Chelsea loams form a belt of considerable width in northeastern Chippewa county, western Rusk county, north- western Barron county, and a large portion of Polk county. This soil type, as defined, consists essentially of undulating ter- minal moraine of the latest period of glacial drift. The Chelsea soil covers a large area farther east, in Taylor, Lincoln and Langlade counties, as described in the soil report of North Cen- tral Wisconsin. Surface Features. — Because of the manner in which this soil type was formed, as glacial moraines, considerable variation in the surface features have developed. In general, the land is undulating with belts of low ridges and billowy hills, associated with basin-like depressions, swamps and small lakes and ponds. See Plate VIII. Here and there, throughout, are stretches of more level areas. The hilly land is usually more stony than the level areas, the latter usually being either more sandy or more clayey than the former. In western Rusk and eastern Barron counties are relatively high uplands consisting of hard quartzite formations. On the slopes of these ridges there is usually much loose stone. Flam- beau Ridge in northern Chippewa county is a prominent feature DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 49 of the topography. In the west central part of Polk county are broad upland areas of trap rocks, showing abundant outcrops of rock ledges. Native F'Ore&t. — The Chelsea loam was originally covered with a den^e growth of hardwoods, hemlock, and pine. Practically all the pine has been cut for a number of years. Large bodies of hardwoods and hemlock, however, still remain. The hard- woods were chiefly maple, oak, birch, basswood, and elm. The amount of hemlock was generally equal to or greater than the combined hardwoods. On the lighter phases of the soil, some scrub oak was devel- oped. In the swampy and wet tracts, spruce, ash, soft maple, and ash are common. Soil. — The Chelsea loam varies from a sandy to silty loam in the surface eight inches, with a somewhat heavier subsoil of loam from eight to thirty inches. The surface soil is grayish to medium dark in color, and the subsoil lighter colored. The soil is not uniform over the area as mapped, but varies from a sandy loam to silt loam. The soil is derived from the weathering of glacial material, consisting of sand, clay, and boulders of crystalline and sand- stone formations. No limestone material occurs in the soil. A detailed soil map of the area should show a complex asso- ciation of sandy loam and silt loam type of soils. In some places the heavier silt loams prevail, in other places, the sandy loams. The surface feature of the soil as already described are uneven and undulating, and the variation in the physical texture of the soil, is strongly influenced by the, topography. Stone and boulders are a common occurrence in the soil. Gen- erally the stone is found in narrow belts and patches, and occa- sionally becomes a serious handicap to the development of agri- culture. The low marshy areas are often quite stony. The mechanical analysis of the soil is shown in the following table : 50 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Table XIV. — MecJianical analysis of Chelsea loam. No. Location. Descrip- tion. Fine gravel. Coarse sand. Me- dium sand. Fine sand. Very fine sand. Silt. Clay. 110 Polk Co Soil Subsoil.. . 0.1 .0 5.7 3. a 7.4 4.0 3.2 4.3 4.0 3.0 4.2 19.4 27.2 14.2 53.6 46.3 57.3 12.8 140 136 PollvCo 16.8 Polk Co Soil .2 11.8 Agriculture. — ^The soil is well adapted for certain lines of ag- ricultural development. Chief among these is dairying together with sheep and stock raising. The rougher and more hilly por- tions are admirably adapted for grazing purposes. In some few localities sheep and goat raising has already assumed im- portance. In the newer sections sheep and young stock will be found profitable while the cultivable areas are being cleared for the plow. Dairying is now the most important industry and will become more important in the future. Several factors are strongly fav- orable to dairy farming on this soil. In the first place, pas- turage, as stated above, is abundant, and all grasses thrive readily. Clovers, timothy, and alfalfa do exceptionally well for hay crops. Oats are the principal grain crop, the average yield being about 40 bushels per acre. Barley and wheat are raised to some extent. The acreage of corn has markedly increased dur- ing the last 10 years, being more than double that of 10 years ago. The average yield per acre of wheat is about 15 bushels, of rye 16, bushels, of barley 30 bushels, and corn 40 bushels. The yield of hay is generally from one and one-half to two tons per acre. Excellent potatoes are grown, the usual yield being 100 to 150 bushels per acre. The grains and forage crops are generally fed on the farms instead of being marketed. Concentrated feed stuffs are pur- chased besides, especialy where the dairy business is continued throughout the year. If the dairying system of farming continues in its rapid de- velopment, the question of maintaining the fertility of the soil will be easily solved. A low stage of fertility like that which tends to be developed by excessive grain cropping, is not likely to be developed on farms where much stock is raised and where |H H 6 o 'm u bB w a tJ S o a Ch "o H O m" be .S ti 2 P5 3 H a iz; ■+-> ■^ tH o g h:i SH ^; f>S o OS t^ ^^ J 1-) t>i p=( -w fe OJ o o ^ d M w hH l> DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 51 the return of plant food to the soil is made in the form of barn yard manure. Only a small percentage, probably less than 5 per cent, of this soil type in Chij)pewa, Rusk and northeastern Polk counties is opened to agriculture. Part of the uncleared area is still cov- ered with dense forests, and part of it is cut-over land. Most of the unsettled area is as good for agricultural purposes, as that which has already been brought under the plow. Land Values. — The land still unopened to agriculture, is held at various prices, varying from $8 to $15 per acre, the price de- pending on location, amount of merchantable timber, etc. Cleared land generally sells for $40 to $60 per acre, depending on the character of the farm buildings. As already described, the soil of this type and its surface features are quite variable, and nearly all farms are likely to contain some land of relatively low agricultural value with the land of very good character. MILLTOWN LOAM. Area. — The Milltown loam is mainly within Polk county, oc- curring in bodies of considerable extent in the region about Mill- town, Centuria, and Sand Lake; farther east in the southern part of the town of Georgetown is a large body and also a con- siderable area in the region about Joel and Range; there is also a small body in the town of Farmington. The total area of this type is about 110 square miles. Surface. — The surface varies from level to slightly undulat- ing, containing depressions or basins, some of which are occu- pied by lakes, ponds, and small marshes. The topography is the characteristic "pitted plain" topography of glacial drift areas. The depressions and basins, however, occupy only a relatively small proportion of the tract, most of the land being nearly level to slightly rolling, see Plate IX. Native Forest. — The soil was originally covered with dense hardwoods, with some pine and hemlock. The hardwoods were mainly, maple, birch, oak, elm and basswood. Some poplar and pine grew along the streams. The pine has been wholly cut and most of the hardwoods have been removed. Practically all of this land is set off into farms and probably 40 to 50 per cent of the land is now under cultivation. 52 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Soil, — The surface four to eight inches of this soil is generally a fine, sandy loam or loam, grayish to brownish in color. The subsoil is grayish yellow ]oam, quite similar in texture to the surface soil to a varying depth of one to three feet, at which depth much sand and gravel is often met with. The mechanijsal analysis shows this soil to consist largely of very fine sand and silt. In some places the soil is quite stony, the stone being glacial boulders mainly of granite rock. Like all other glacial soils in the area the type contains a variable amount of gravel in the soil, the gravel being more abundant in the subsoil than in the surface soil. The material of the drift consists wholly of granite and sandstone material mixed with silty clay, and sand. The subsoil conditions are favorable to good underdrainage and the surface soil is capable of holding sufficient soil moisture, for all crops, with tlie ordinary rainfall. The type is an easy one to cultivate, and on the whole is one of the most fertile soils in the region. It has already developed into one of the most thrifty agricultural sections of Polk county. The results of mechanical analyses of a sample of the soil and subsoil is shown in the following table : Table XXJX.— Mechanical analysis of Milltown loam. No, Locality. Descrip- tion. Pine grravel. Coarse sand. Med- ium sand. Fine sand. Very fine sand. Silt. Clay. Ufi Polk Co Soil Subsoil... .0 .0 7.. 7 9.9 9.9 12.8 14.2 17 4 23.9 22.0 36.0 24.7 8.0 14R Polk Co 13.3 Agriculture. — The Milltown loam is well adapted to diversi- fied farming and is now quite generally devoted to dairying and grain raising. The leading grain is oats, with a much smaller acreage of barley, wheat, corn, and rye. The average yield of wheat is 18 to 22 bushels per acre, of oats 40 to 50 bushels, barley 35 to 40 bushels, and corn 30 to 35 bushels. The yield of hay is generally 1% to 2 tons yer acre. The acreage to potatoes is relatively small, the usual yield being 100 to 150 bushels per acre. Dairying is the leading industry on this type of soil as it is on all the soils throughout Polk county. The value of dairy DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 53 products from the farm on this type is more than that of the grain crops raised. Stock raising is also important, the principal stock sold from the farm being cattle and hogs, with sheep relatively unimpor- tant. The principal dairy product is creamery butter, though cheese is the principal product in the Farmington area. The cream is quite generally separated on the farm. Besides supplying local creameries, large shipments of cream and milk are sent to St. Paul and Minneapolis. This soil type is well adapted to dairying. Silos are common and indicate a progressive dairy system. The grade of dairy stock is gradually being improved, but more attention should be paid to this subject, and more rapid improvements made. The improvement of dairy stock is very important and is well worth the closest attention by the farmer. The practice of extensive dairying on this type has kept up the soil to a good grade of fertility as is shown by the good yields of grain. Land Values. — The farm lands on this type are of good value. Unimproved land is generally held at $20 to $30 per acre. Im- proved land is usually held at $60 to $80 per acre. Most of the land of this type has already been divided into farms, though a large percentage of the farm area is still uncleared. THORNAPPLE SANDY LOAM. Area. — The Thornapple sandy loam is mainly within Kusk and Chippewa counties, the largest area mapped being in the town of Thornapple, Rusk county. It is typically developed on the so-called ''Peninsula" between the Flambeau and Chippewa rivers. The boundaries fixed for this soil formation on the map are only approximate. Within these soil areas as mapped are several phases of sandy loam^, but owing to the fact that largf^ portions of this area are not well settled, exact boundaries could not be located with any degree of accuracy. Surface Features. — While in a general way the surface of this soil is nearly level to undulating, there as areas which are hilly, having a sort of choppy appearance. The uneven tracts are characterized by small knob-like elevations and some depres- 54 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. sioiis. Marshes and lakes are common features within the gen- eral area of this soil. The surface of this soil was determined largely by the ice which moved over this tract. The erosion by streams thus far has not caused much change in the original topography left after the deposition of the glacial drift sheet. Forest. — Most of this soil was originally covered with forest trees, consisting mainly of black oak, and white pine. Within the general area are ridges of heavier soil which developed good stands of hardwoods. The heavy pine timber has been cut, and aside from a few hard wood ridges yet remaining, the area is now mainly covered with a thicket of poplar, birch, small oak, and pin cherry. On the level areas where the soil is sandier, thick brush and sweet ferns are common. Soil. — Both the surface soil and subsoil are sandy loam, con- sisting of a large proportion of fine to coarse sand and a small proportion of silt and clay. The surface soil to a depth of six or eight inches contains sufficient organic material to give it a medium dark to grayish color. The subsoil is light colored, grayish to yellowish, and consists mainly of sand with a little clay to a considerable depth. The results of the mechanical analysis of the soil and subsoil are shown in the f ollomng table : Table XV. — Mechanical anah/sis of Tliornai^ple sandy loam. No. Location. Descrip- Fine tion. gravel. Coarse sand. Me- dium sand. Fine sand. Very fine sand. Silt. Clay. 16+ Rusk Co Soil Soil Subsoil. . 1.1 .1 4 28.2 15.1 13.6 22.7 23.5 23.3 15.7 3>.8 33.8 5.6 11.1 10.1 20.3 13.6 14.6 6.5 IrtS Rusk Co 5.9 163 Rusk Co 4.6 There are slight variations from the general type. The level stretches along the rivers are nearly flat, mostly pine land, and the soil contains much coarse sand. Over the undulating areas, some stone occurs and there is a larger proportion of fine sand and silt in the soil, and hardwood forest mixed with the pine was developed. Agriculture. — The soil is well adapted to dairying and to the raising of such grains as oats, buckwheat, and barley. Corn has been raised and matured successfully. The soil may be DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 55 worked earlier in spring than the heavier soils and is not apt to be cold in spring months when corn wants a warm seed bed. There is, however, some danger from drought on sandy phases during dry season on account of porous nature of the soil. Tobacco and potatoes are grown with good results. Clover hay yields plentifully. Alfalfa and mammoth clover should be gro"v\Ta on this soil. So far little has been attempted in the way of growing alfalfa and other special crops. Only a small percentage of the area of this soil is now under cultivation. The farms already developed are in a thrifty con- dition and prove the soil well adapted to general agriculture with dairying and potato raising as the principal industries. Land Values. — The open land is more easily cleared than th-^ dense hardwood areas. The wild land is generally held at $10 to $20 per acre, and the cleared land generally from $40 to $60 per acre. GUSHING LOAMS. Area. — The Gushing loams lie in the western part of Polk and St. Croix counties. They lie wholly within the area of the un- dulating terminal moraines of the latest drift sheet. Swr^face. — The surface of this soil is more or less hilly, with low hills associated with depressions, lakes and ponds. The topography is the characteristic terminal moraine topography, with abrupt basins and steeply sloping ridges. Surrounding many of the lakes, and also adjacent to streams are many small marshes, most of which are too small to be shown on the map. Throughout the area, are many nearly level areas which are usually either quite sandy or quite clayey. Stone and boulders are more common in the uneven lands than over tilie level tracts, but some of the low and marshy tracts are also stony. The stones are not usually so abundant as to interfere seriously with agriculture. Native Forest. — This soil was quite generally covered with a dense growth of hardwoods, pine, and hemlock. As elsewhere in this region, the pine has been wholly cut. The hardwoods and hemlock remain only in isolated tracts. The hardwoods were chiefly maple, oak, elm, birch, and basswood. On the lighter phases of the loam the white pine predominated, while on the heavier soil the hardwoods were most abundant. de SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Soil. — The surface eight inches of this soil consists generally of a loam. From eight to twenty-four inches the subsoil becomes more clayey and also carries a larger content of gravelly ma- terial than the surface soil. This soil, however, varies considerably both in the surface and subsurface layers. Some tracts contain a large percentage of medium and fine sand and are a sandy loam. These sandy areas are usually rolling though in some places adjoining stream bottoms the surface is more nearly level and also more sandy. The soil is derived from the weathering of glacial drift in Avhich limestone debris is generally an abundant constituent. This soil area therefore is confined to that part of the region con- taining limestone bearing drift, or is within the general area in which limestone is the prevailing underlying rock. A large area of hilly, sandy loam occurs in the town of Somer- set in St. Croix county and around Dresser Junction in Polk county. Another variety of soil with a high content of clay and silt occurs in patches here and there within the tract mapped as Gushing loam. These areas are less undulating and somewhat stony in places but are generally well improved. In Polk county, southM-est of Clayton, in Black Brook, and in Alden, south of Little Falls, are areas of these heavy loams. In the preliminary soil mapping done here neither the sandy nor the clayey phases of the loam have been separated from one another. To do so with any degree of accuracy would require a very de- tailed survey. Table XVI. — Mechanical analysis of Gushing loams. No. Location. Descrip- tion. Fine gravel. Coarse sand. Me- dium sand. Fine sand. Ver.y fine sand. Silt. Clay. 138 Polk Co Polk Co Soil Subsoil... Soil Subsoil... Soil Subsoil... Soil Subsoil... .0 .1 .7 .5 .1 .0 .5 5.1 5.7 9.5 6.9 12.6 13.2 9.6 8.4 4.7 5.4 9.3 8.6 15,4 12 9 8.6 7.8 16.0 6.4 18.3 18.2 16 2 14.2 9.5 8.8 11.2 18.9 25.4 21.8 10.7 13.4 21.8 24.5 62.5 45.5 26.5 26.4 35.8 31.3 43.3 36.2 10.4 1" 8 14^ Polk Co.. 10 2 142 151 151 127 127 PolkCo Polk Co PolkCo St. Croix Co St. Croix Co 17.6 8.9 1,4.4 6.4 13.8 AgriculUire.'—l^\\e, Cushing loams are well adapted to general agriculture. They are especially well adapted to dairying and stock raising. The summer rainfall. is usually abundant and DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 57 grains and hay do exceptionally well. Sheep raising is quite important in the towns of Alden and Black Brook. Dairying is now the leading industry and will probably increase in im- portance in the future. Clover, timothy, and alfalfa do excep- tionally well for hay crops. In portions of soutlieast Folk county hay is sold at present in large quantities from the farm^. It is usually baled directly from the held or from stacks later in the season. This system of selling hay from the farm is not altogether commendable unless concentrated feed for stock is imported. The better way is to adapt the farm practice so that the hay and forage crops are fed directly on the farm and the dairy product and live stock sold. This system of farm management of course, would require more work and skill, but on the other hand, the fertility of the soil could be maintained and increased by the application of manure from the stock, and the value of the farms increased. The distance from market should ako be considered in adopt- ing systems of farming. Long hauls over heavy roads has the tendency to reduce farm produce to as concentrated a form as possible. For this reason, many farmers' co-operative cream- eries have been established. In southern Polk fewer creameries have been organized than cheese factories. Oats are the most important grain crop and the average yield is 35 to 45 bushels per acre. Wheat is grown quite extensively, the yield on the heavier loams with high content of limestone being 18 to 20 bushels per acre, while on the lighter sandy loams the average yield is about 15 bushels. Barley on the heavier limesstone soil generally yields about 30 to 35 bushels per acre, and on the lighter sandy soil from 25 to 30 bushels. The corn crop is about as abundant as wheat or barley, the usual yields being from 30 to 35 bushels per acre. In Farmington and Osceola considerable corn is grown for silage. The potato is also an important crop, the usual yield being about 100 bushels per acre. The yield of hay is about one and one-half tons per acre. Land Values. — The area of this soil is fairly well settled and a relatively large proportion of the land, probably 25 to 35 per cent, is under cultivation. Uncleared land is generally held at $15 to $25 per acre, and cleared land at $50 to $80 per acre. Quite often, however, farms Avell located and in a high state of cultivation are sold for more than $80 per acre. 58 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WlSCONSW. RICE LAKE LOAM. Area. — The Rice Lake loams are in bodies varying from five square mile3 to twenty square miles in extent, and are located in nearly all the counties of this area. The largest continuous tracts occur in the vicinity of Eice Lake and Barron in Barron county, and about Rusk in Dunn county. Another large area is in southwestern St. Croix county. East of Hudson this soil area is known as Hudson Prairie, north of Richmond as Star Prairie, near Chippewa Falls as Eagle Prairie and west of Eau Claire as Truax Prairie. Other small areas occur as indicated on the map. The total area includes about 328,000 acres. Surface. — The soil is confined to the valleys, and is typical valley bottom land. The surface of this formation is uniformly level, with some portions quite flat. See Fig. 1, Plate X. Here and there small depressions may be found, some of which are occupied by small lakes. Some marshes and wet land are asso- ciated with this type, but the marshes are usually small and are not indicated on the map. Forest. — In the area about Rice Lake in Barron county and about Eagleton in Chippewa county there was a rather dense growth of mixed hardwoods and pine. The hardwoods were mainly maple, oak, elm, and some basswood. Besides the white pine, there was some Norway pine and hemlock. Farther west in Dunn and St. Croix counties, the native vege- tation consisted largely of a light stand of scrub oak poplar, some birch and pine. In most cases the clearing of this thinly forested land was a comparatively easy matter for the early settlers. Soil. — The Rice Lake loams vary from a fine sandy loam and loam to silt loam. Most of the soil, however, is a fine sandy loam or loam, and only in a small proportion of the area is silt loam. See Fig. 2, Plate X. In general the surface eight inches is a loam carrying sufficient organic matter to produce a medium dark color. The subsoil is a sandy to silty loam to a depth of 1 to 3 feet, grading into gravel and sand. In places the gravel and sand subsoil lies very near the surface, less than a foot of loam overlying it. The surface soil also shows some variations, and grades from dark sandy loam to a brown, silty loam. Wisconsin Suevet. Bulletin XXIII, Pl. X. Pig. 1. TOBACCO FIELD ON RICE LAKE LOAM. EAGLE PRAIRIE, CHIPPEWA COUNTY. Fig. 2. SECTION OF RICE LAKE LOAM, NEAR CAMPIA, BARRON COUNTY. TYPE OF ALLUVIAL SOIL. DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 59 This soil about Rice Lake and Barron, in Barron county, and in the area about Eagleton and Bloomer in Chippewa county, contains small areas of the heavier silt loam, but much the larger proportion in the:e localities is a fine sandy loam or loam. In eastern Eau Claire county in the valleys of Thompson's Creek, and Bear Grass Creek, silt loams predominate while in the vaJ leys farther Avest fine sandy loams are the prevailing type. Silt loams ako predominate in the simall valleys on the west side of the Eau Galle river in the town of Eau Galle and Weston in Dunn county. Outside of the localities referred to, the soil mapped as this type is a fine sandy loam or loam. The results of the mechanical analyses of the soil and subsoil are shown in the following table : Table XVII. — Mechanind analy.^is of Rice Lake, loams. No. 6 6 108 108 124 124 155 155 157 157 Locality. Descrip- tion. Chippewa Co Chippewa Co Soil SuljsoU... Soil Subsoil... Soil Subsoil... Soil Subsoil... Soil Subsoil. . . Dunn Co St. Croix Go St. Crol.v Co Barron Co Barron Co Eau Claire Co Eau Claire Co.... Fine g-ravel. Coarse sand. 12.5 11.3 18.0 11.9 11.9 11.5 20.0 20.1 3.5 2.4 Me- Fine sand. Very dium sand. fine sand. Silt. 11.4 9.1 7.2 46.8 11.9 10.4 5.7 47.1 14.3 10.0 9.0 32.3 14.3 12.1 10.4 29.8 9.8 9.0 13.9 35.2 9.0 8.9 18.9 33.5 1 14.9 9.1 4.0 36.3 14.7 11.3 8.8 28.7 6.5 8.1 10.5 59.2 4.3 5.4 10.1 64.0 Clay. 12.4 13.2 14.8 15.1 19.3 17.3 14.2 15.4 11. 9 13. 8 This soil is uniformly free from boulders, and practically all of it can be brought under cultivation. It is very largely under improvement in many of the areas. The dark sandy loams like that of Rusk Prairie and Pludaon Prairie were easily brought under the plow and have long been under cultivation. The heavier phases of the soil do not contain a very high percentage of clay and are not sticky when wet and do not bake when dry. Where the land is nearly level some complaint is made on new land that the soil is cold in the spring, but this difficulty will probably be overcome after the land is cultivated more and the soil more thoroughly aerated. Some of the level tracts, how- ever, will probably require tile drainage to bring them up to a proper state of fertility. Chemical analyses of composite samples of the surface eight inches of the soil show it to be well supplied with potassium, with Co SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. a fair amount of nitrogen, and Avitli a fair amount of phos- phorus. Extreme acidity has developed on much of this soil in Dunn and St. Croix counties. From a large number of actual fer- tilizer tests of acid soils, it has been shown that soils in an acid condition require phosphate fertilizer to insure best results. The Wi&consin Experiment station carried on considerable ex- perimental work with acid soils, and results are published in Bulletin No. 139, showing quite conclusively that corn growing in acid soils made more rapid growth and developed more fully when a fartilizer was added which contained phosphorus, either alone or in combination with potash or nitrogen, than when phosphate was omitted and the potash and nitrogen alone v/ere added either singly or in combinations. The supply of nitrogen can be maintained by judicious seeding of clover and alfalfa crops. At the present time but little of the latter valu- able legume is being raised. Red clover does well as a rule. In a dairy country, where bran or other concentrated food stuffs are commonly purchased, and wdiere the manure is care- fully cared for and little loss incurred from barnyard leaching and in handling, the supply of phosphorus can be maintained. This has been found true in older dairy sections of the state. Where the purchase of feed stuffs is impracticable, the phos- phorus supply can be increased for large crops by the purchase of this element in the form of commercial fertilizers, as explained elsewhere. Agriculture. — This soil has developed into one of the best general farming soils of the region. The common grains are all grown to a variable extent wdth good average returns. In the western part of the region in Dunn, Polk, and St. Croix counties on the thinly forested or prairie tracts, this soil was cropped to grain, especially wheat, for many years. The grain yields, how- ever, after a few years decreased, and 20 to 30 bushels of wheat per acre became the exception instead of the rule. The causes that led to the decrease in yield were partly due to soil condi- tion, and partly to the chinch bug. The result was that other grains, such as barley, rye, oats, and corn were tried and a rota- tion practiced. Clover became a crop that occupied the land a portion of the time. Stock raising became more general, espe- cially for dairy purposes and during the last 15 years a marked DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 61 increase in dairy and live stock production has taken place. The census statistics show the increase in dairy products to have been very marked, during the last ten years through all the countries. On the whole this is a very desirable change as far as it concerns the maintenance of a good state of agriculture on this soil. The present yield of wheat is about 12 to 18 Inishels per acre, of oats 35 to 40 bushels, rye 32 to 15 bushels, of barley 30 to 35 bushels, and corn 25 to 35 bushels. The potato is usually an important crop, the avearge yield being 100 to 150 bushels per acre. Special crops have developed to considerable extent north and northwest of River Falls, on the area northwest of Eau Claire known as Truax Prairie, and north of Chippewa on Eagle Prairie. The special crops are potatoes, tobacco, cabbage, can- ning peas, sweet corn, sugar beets, and small fruit. Peas for canning are extensively grown on this soil about Rice Lake, Campia, and Barron. An attractive market near by and soil adapted to such crops are doing much to increase the revenues from farming. "Where these special cultivated crops are grown to a large ex- tent year after year, the rotation must include some crop that ^Y]\l replenish the organic matter which is removed by a system of special crops. Red clover or rye are excellent crops to plow down and allow to decay. The clover also serves the pui'pose of enriching the soil in nitrogen, one of the elements that special crops like peas and corn require in large amounts. The pea crop, although a leguminous crop, contributes but a small amount of nitrogen to the soil, its root system being very limited as compared to that of clover. The location of these tracts near to towns of considerable size makes it possible to purchase manure from livery stables and elsewhere. "Where this can be purchased at reasonable price it makes good fertilizing material although there is danger that fields so fertilized wall become infested with noxious weeds. The system of farming, w^here such crops as peas are raised, is especially conducive to a rapid spread of weeds even where no manure from cities is applied. This is an added reason why rotation is desirable, involving clover and oats where these can be fed profitably to stock, either to sheep or to dairy cattle. 62 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. This probably is the preferable method of maintaining soil fer- tility on these areas, where special crops are remunerative and adapted to the soil condition. Corn is grown extensively in the Farmington area and to some extent in other portions of Polk county. In Barron county corn has not been grown so exten- sively on this soil. Fertilizer requirements become of much importance in some of these special crop areas. Tobacco, cabbage, and potatoes and sugar beets are heavy feeders of potassium and where these crops are raised in considerable quantities, fertilizers rich in potassium are needed. Potassium sulphate at the rate of 150 to '175 pounds per acre will be sufficient for the special crops grown. The better and more economical Avay for the farmer is to purchase fertilizers for his particular crop requirement rather than to buy the complete fertilizer already mixed by the manu- facturer, as the latter fertilizer often contains elements with which the soil is already well supplied. While all grains receive more or less attention, the dairy in- dustry is rapidly becoming much more important than grain raising; and while some grain is sold from the farm, the lead- ing exports are dairy products and live stock. On most of this soil, the dairy product is cream sent to the local creamery. Farmers usually, separate the milk on the farm. In Farming- ton, the cheese factories make American cheese, while in Rice Lake and Turtle Lake, the manufacture of brick cheese is more important. Land Values. — Farm values on this soil are relatively high, the soil in general being well adapted to agriculture. Wild land is probably held at $20 to $30 per acre. Improved lands are sold at $50 to $100 per acre, the average prices being from $70 to $90 per acre. Well organized dairy farms, and farms de- voted partly to special crops, especially to peas, command the highest prices. CHETEK SANDY LOAM. Area. — ^The Chetek sandy loam is in irregular areas border- ing some of the large rivers and streams. It occurs in small tracts in every county except Rusk and Polk, the largest tract being in Barron county. In the entire area it includes about 230,000 acres, As a general rule this soil is associated with >H H !z; P o a ? w < a ^ 99 m S CL| u d ^ 0) ^ a o 1-1 a M 15 M <) 1 « IH s P +J < m H +j &^ O o ^ n w H d P (> 0) o a2 -d g" a si ■flj w o t^ h3 S iz; ni tf o P 4J M m P '^ -sj 0) o O C3 ^ ^ a H QJ M > "^ DESCRIPTION OF THE 80ILS. 79 more gently roliug in the area south of Elk Mound. In other places similar uplands with gentle slopes are found but more often sharply undulating and hilly features prevail. The sur- face features are illustrated in Plates XIV and XV. F-orest. — The area was originally wooded with hardwoods, mainly red oak, black oak, burr oak, some birch, poplar and scattering maple. At present considerable wooded tracts re- main made up chiefly of black oak, and poplar. More of the steeply sloping areas of this soil type ought to remain in forest These slope areas are well adapted to tree growth and when covered with forest would prevent destructive 'gullying so noticeable on many of the fields which lie on the slopes. Soil. — ^The surface eight inches of this soil varies from a loam to a silt loam containing considerable silt. The surface soil is buff to yellowish in color and contains a medium amount of or- ganic matter. The subsoil to depth of 24 inches is usually a sandy to clayey loam. At three to three and one-half feet the soil in many cas;es become quite sandy. Shale and sand rock outcrops are commpn along road cuts and in many places there are only a few inches of soil overlying the sandstone formation. The sandstone and overlying soil is illustrated in figure 1, Plate XIII. The Auburn loam has been formed largely from the weather- ing of shaley sandstone of the Potsdam (Middle Cambrian) for- mation. The shale contains much coarse sand and a large pro- portion of clayey material. Although the area of this soil has been glaciated by the earliest glaciers, only a very small con- tribution of drift was added to the soil. The soil is a typical residual soil and is the only one of this class within the area. While the general soil type is a loam, there are considerable areas in which the soil becomes quite sandy. The more sandy soils are usually in the areas where the underlying rock is a nearly pure sandstone, without any shale and the soil is the direct result of weathered pure sandstone. North of Wheeler in Dunn county some especially sandy areas are found. Like- wise in the eastern part of Eau Claire county there are isolated areas of very sandy uplands. The results of the mechanical analyses of the soil and subsoil from various parts of the area are shown in the following table : SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Table XXI. — Mechanical analyses of the Auburn loam. No. Locality. Descrip- tion. Fine gravel. Coar e sand. Med- ium sand. Fine sand. Very fine sand. Silt. Clay. 158 158 12 12 110 Barron Co Barron Co Eau Claire Co. .. Eau Claire Co. .. Soil Subsoil... Soil Subsoil... Soil Subsoil . . .1 .0 .2 .0 .5 .5 3.3 4.1 6.9 5.3 15.0 14.3 5.9 6.4 11.1 9.6 18.0 17.3 11.6 15.3 13.1 14.4 17.6 19.0 9.6 15.4 14.9 15.1 12.9 18.9 57.1 39.6 42.7 43.0 26.6 21.1 11.9 19.0 10.5 12.5 9.7 110 Dunn Co 9.3 Somewhat heavier soils as well as lighter, more sandy soils than those analyzed in the table occur within the area. But the variation in the general texture of the soil is fairly well illus- trated by the samples analyzed. Soil Erosion. — The character of this soil with regard to its topography aifords conditions favorable to side hill erosion. It is difficult to estimate the annual loss by erosion, either from loss in fertility by removal of fine &oil particles or in consequence of gullying of the fields where the slopes are cultivated. As above stated as far as possible the steep slopes should remain in forest. If the steep slopes are already cleared the cultivated crops should not be planted oftener than once in three or four years, and the slopes should be allowed to remain in hay mead- ows or pasture the remainder of the time. Farmers thus far have not apparently appreciated the loss from erosion, other- wise more precaution would have been exercised to prevent it. Agriculture. — A highly developed system of diversified farm- ing is practiced on this soil type. Abundant pasture lands and a soil well adapted to cereals and corn make this area one espe- cialy well suited for general farming. The usual grains are oats, barley, wheat and some rye. Oats, however, are the leading grain, the average yield being 35 bushels per acre. Corn is an important crop, especially in Dunn county. It matures early and yields 40 to 50 bushels per acre. Clover and timothy are the usual hay crops, the average yield, being one to two tons per acre. Alfalfa has not been introduced extensively as yet but where farmers have planted small fields it has been found to give splendid results. It will probably be more extensively grown on this soil w^ien its value as a forage crop is realized. The potato crop is generally important on the sandy loam, the yields being 100 to 150 bushels per acre. DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 81 Dairy products together with live stock, hogs, beef, etc., are the leading exports from the farm. Cream is shipped to local creameries operated on a co-operative basis by the farmers. Very little grain is sold from the farm, but is fed on the farm and sold as manufactured dairy and live stock product. The tendency at present is toward keeping more pure-blooded ani- mals, of dairy type as a rule; breeders' organizations are aiding materially in the movement to eliminate the scrub cow from tho farm. Besides the general system of farming to which this soil is well adapted, the production of fruit ought to receive more at- tention. The loamy soil is splendidly adapted for raising apples and other tree fruits. The steep hillsides may be brought to produce abundantly when planted to fruit trees and grapevines, provided proper attention be given. At the present time little has been attempted in this way. The Auburn loam, except where the very sandy phases predominate is one of the most productive soils of northwestern Wisconsin. Crop yields have been fairly well maintained and only few farms showed soil in poor condition. Acidity of the soil has not developed to a large extent. The supply of nitrogen can be maintained by the growing of leguminous crops, clover and alfalfa. This is the cheapest source of obtaining the most expensive constituent of plant food. With regard to phosphorus farmers have already in few instances ex- pended $4 to $4.50 per acre for rock phosphate fertilizer. Where concentrated food stuffs for stock is not brought onto the farm from outside sources the application of mineral phosphate is a good method of maintaining the soil with high phosphorus con~ tent. Land Values. — Practically all this soil type is now laid out into farms though less than one-half is cleared land. Uncleared land is generally held at $15 to $30 per acre, and cleared land from $50 to $80, with occasional higher prices where farms are well situated and in a good state of improvement. PEAT AND MUCK. (Marshland.) Area. — ^While marshy tracts of more or less limited extent occur in all of the counties five of the counties contain a larger proportion of marsh than the others. These are Chippewa, Rusk, 6 82 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Barron, Dunn and Eau Claire. In Chippewa and Rusk are areas occupying four to five thousand acres in one continuous marsh tract. In Barron, Dunn and Eau Claire counties many small areas adjacent to streams or in bottom lands are wet and marshy. In Polk many small tracts of marshy areas occur over the entire county. Surface. — The surface of these marshes is nearly level, the level surface being primarily the cause of its being a marsh. But while the areas appear to have almost a level surface, upon more careful observation a fall, sufficient for drainage can usually be obtained. Nalive Vegetation. — Over many marsh areas a stand of tama- rack, some cedar, and willows are found, while in others only marsh grass thrives. Moss is a common growth acquiring a depth of several feet in some cases. The peat in the marshes consists of an accumulation of moss and marsh grass, and varies widely in depth. In Dunn and southern Chippewa and Eau Claire the depth ranges from two to four feet, and is underlain by sandy subsoil. Along the Lamb Creek in Dunn county four to five feet of peat were often measured before the sandy lower soil was reached. In Rusk county large areas where the peat measured about three feet before clay soil was reached were common. Oftentimes lakes and ponds are included within marshy land, making it more difficult of drainage unless sufficient fall and out- let can be secured. Of the marsh lands of the entire area, a conservative estimat? would be about five to six per cent. In Pierce and St. Croix counties less than one per cent of the total area is marsh land. The amount of marsh land in some of the townships in eastern Rusk, and northeastern Chippewa where marsh and swamp Ian i is most abundant is probably from 20 to 25 per cent of the town- ship. Other townships in Rusk and Chippewa counties have less than one per cent of marsh land. The agricultural value of these marsh areas is dependant en- tirely upon their reclamation. At the present time undrained and unimproved the larger proportion of marsh land is only of incidental value and then only for wild hay as a rule. In the management of these marshes the first requisite is proper drain- age to remove surplus water and thus fit the area for cultivation. DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. §3 Before taking up the question of crops and fertilizer requirement the subject of drainage will be discussed. The following dis- cussion is abstracted from a recent bulletin* of the Wisconsin Experiment Station. Drainage of Marsh Lands. Deep outlet ditches. The con- struction of deep outlet ditches is the first step in the reclama- tion of broad marsh areas, particularly the peat marshes. Such marshes usually receive the run-off from upland areas several times their size. Covered drains of the required capacity would be very expensive. The minimum depth of outlet ditches should be five feet, ex- cept where opportunities for self cleaning are good, when the depth may be decreased to four feet. The bottom width should be at least one-half of the depth. Eight feet is perhaps the most advisable depth on marshes more than half a mile wide. On marshes less than half a mile wide or where the transverse slope to the ditch is more than a foot in eighty rods, the depth may be reduced. Here also the bottom width should be at least one-half the depth and as much more as the requirements seem to demand. It must be remembered that it is the depth to which a ditch will empty itself and not the depth to which it i? dug that determines its efficiency. Usually the outlet ditch is not made too deep, but it is often made too wide. One ditch that has been observed was mad.3 four feet deep and sixteen feet wide, because the dredge used could not mai;e a narrower ditch. The result was that during the normal summer flow, a stream about two feet wide shifted from one side to the other on the wide bottom. The remainder of the bottom grew up with rank weeds, which, collecting sedi- ment during high water, is gradually filling up the ditch. A ditch with a four foot bottom and six feet deep would be more serviceable and durable. Dredge men unskilled at handling the dipper frequently find it easier to make the slopes almost verti- cal. This should not be tolerated because with such slopes the banks are almost certain to fall in and to accumulate on the bot- tom of the ditch. A ditch six feet wide at the bottom, six feet deep and eighteen feet wide at the top (6x6x18) is more perma- nent than a ditch of the same depth and eighteen feet wide at * "Principles and Practice of Land Drainage," by E. R. Jones, Bul- letin No. 199, Wis. Exp. Station. S4 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. the bottom and top. With a small effort the slopes of the former ditch can be made smooth and sodded over to prevent erosion and growth of rank weeds. Shallow Surface Ditches. — 'Shallow surface ditches are those intended only to conduct surface water to deep ditches or to natural outlets. Since they are of u:e only during flood flow, they are dry most of the time and they may be called "dry" ditches. Forms and Size. — Except where a cutting has to be made through a ridge they seldom need to be more than two feet deep. With rounded bottoms and a top width of ten or twelve feet the slopes are such as to admit of crossing with teams, vehicles, and implements. Where the slopes and bottom are sodded, the ap- pearance is improved and the grass growing in them may be mowed for hay. Shallow ditches along permanent fences, where they will be out of the way of cultivation may be made narrower and Math steeper side slopes. All that has been claimed for deep outlet ditches is that they are the first step in the reclamation of a humus marsh. They stand ready to carry off the water brought to them, but are slow to reach out after water. The logical way of developing a humus marsh is as follows : Co-operate with your neighbors in organiz- ing a drainage district and put in a deep outlet ditch. Then along forty lines or property lines put in shallow surface ditches one foot deep at the head and perhaps three feet deep where they empty in the deep ditch. Then plow the adjacent fields in nar- row lands so that there will be dead furrows every four rods leading into the shallow ditches. Such a net work of surface drains with a deep ditch for an outlet will aft'ord sufficient drain- age to raise timothy hay on the area. When it seems advisable to put in covered underdrains, other crops may be raised. Small ditches with dikes on the side toward the marsh are frequently used to protect marshes from flood water. The dike may be made of the earth excavated. Cost. — The construction of the vast majority of deep outlet ditches requires the use of steam or gasoline dredges. The cost of hauling a dredge from the railroad station to the marsh, and that of putting it together and tearing it apart is the same whether the ditch be long or short. Large contracts are fre- quently taken for seven cents a cubic yard. The rate for small DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 85 contracts is sometimes twice that figure. At ten cents a yard a 6x7x20 ditch costs about $1,700 a mile. Peat can be handled for less money than either sand or clay. The cost of shallow ditches can be materially decreased if a dry time is chosen for their construction. Where team and scraper or a road grader can be used, a depression two feet deep and ten or twelve feet wide at the top can be made for thirty cents a rod. Causes of Failure. — It is evident, that three of the causes of failure in tlie reclamation of humus marshes are: (1) shallow ditches have been put in without first providing a deep ditch for an outlet; (2) deep ditches have been put in without afterwards putting in shalloAv ditches for feeders : and (3) some well drained marshes have been poorly managed. Deep and shallow ditches should be given an opportunity to work hand in hand. Neither is complete without the other. Land owners who have expended five dollars an acre for a deep outlet ditch, lose a large part of its value by xefusing to expend two dollars an acre more upon surface ditches for feeders, or m greater amount for tile where deeper and more permanent drain- age is desired. Crops. — Having properly provided for removal of surplus water by suitable drainage system as outlined above, the ques- tion of crops adapted and fertilizer requirement is in order. It may be stated at the outset that the marsh tracts of this section differ in sorne respects from similar tracts in adjoining states. Some of the peat here is not so well decomposed — not so muck- like, — and not so deep as those of neighboring states. The crops to which Wisconsin marshes are adapted likewise differ. Of course the location being further north, likewise exerts an in- (iuence on plant growth not always given due weight. The best crop thus far tried on Wisconsin marshes for the first year or two is buckwheat. The marsh is plowed to a depth of 6 inches or so and disked up and seeded to buckwheat at a rate of 1 bushel per acre. After first or second crop of buck- wheat the field may be seeded to alsike and timothy or red top and if a system of farming is followed that requires much hay the marsh land can very profitably be devoted to that purpose. It will, of course, be necessary occasionally to turn up the sod and seed to some grain crop to establish new growth of seeding 86. SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. ag^ain. Yields of two tons of hay per acre are not uncommon when this type of land has been properly managed and cared for. If grain crops are desirable, barley has been found preferable, and also corn where climate is favorable. Oats was found to do wonderfully well in some areas. Trucking crops, such as pota- toes and cabbage, have proved successfuU as well. To maintain maximum yields addition of fertilizing material is essential. Practically all the marsh lands with possible ex- ception of those in Polk county are sour or in an acid condition. They also require both phosphoric acid and potash fertilizer. Wood ashes where these can be obtained in unleached condition, are a cheap and excellent fertilizer to supply the potash. They may be applied at rate of one ton per acre and should be har- rowed in thoroughly. "When wood ashes are not available the imported potash fertilizer should be used. To supply the phosphorus* needed the ground rock phosphate is preferable, although ground bonemeal also gives good satisfac- tion where tried. The ground rock phosphate may be added in the fall of the year at the rate of one-half ton per acre for the first application, and smaller amounts later. If the bonemeal is used, 300 pounds per acre are sufficient. Application of phos- phate need not be repeated for three or four years. The additional supply of nitrogen fertilizers has shown no marked improvement in crop yield. The peat marshes with their large supply of organic matter usually afford more than enough nitrogen in a form available to plants. Wherever barn yard manure is available on the farm it can be added with profit Where this is done, purchase of commercial fertilizers is unneces- sary. As a rule, however, it is best to use the manure on the ordinary soils of the farm where a complete fertilizer is needed, and to apply a special mineral fertilizer of phosphate and potash to the muck soils. In the Newer Portion. — With cut over land in the northern part of the state selling for about fifteen dollars an acre, the greatest factor in determining the value of cleared land is . the cost of removing the stumps, slashings and stones. Assuming * For a more complete discussion of the management of marshland soils, see Bull. 205, which may be had on application to the College of Agriculture, Madison, Wis. DESCRIPTION OF THE SOILS. 87 this to vary from ten to forty dollars an acre, the total cost of cleared upland ready for the plow is from twenty-five to over fifty dollars an acre. Open peat marshes, those containing no wood or brush, can be bought for from three to five dollars an acre. For ten dollars an acre mth a combination of deep and shallow ditches they can be drained to a degree that will permit the growth of timothy hay. They can be plowed immediately after drainage at a cost not greater than that of breaking up- land. Assuming farther that the fertilizer requirement of the marsh soil can be supplied for a few years at least very cheaply in the form of wood ashes from the saw mills or from the burned brush piles of the upland, the settler in northern Wisconsin can make tame hay land out of peat marshes for less than half the average cost of doing the same with upland. It is probable, however, that for the production of the cereals, it is better for •the present to clear upland, than to attempt the more complete drainage of the humus marshes that would be necessary for this purpose. 80IL SURVEY OF NORTllWESTERN WISCONSIN. CHAPTER IV. AGRICULTURE. HISTORICAL. This area like other portions of central and northern Wis- consin, was originally covered Avith much hardwood and pine, the latter being especially ahnndant on the sandy lands along the rivers. Only in the western part of the area, mainly in St. Croix county, thinly wooded and prairie lands occur. It was the pine lumber industry that first attracted the permanent set- tlers to the area. The location of saw mills around which vil- lages and cities were built were the centers from which the agri- cultural development later proceeded. The pioneer lumbermen came in from the south, up the Mis- sissippi river and its main tributaries, the Chippewa and the St. Croix. Before the railroads penetrated the area the logs and sawed lumber were floated or towed down the river in rafts. To a certain extent this mode of transportation is still used, though the more rapid sliipment by rail is now the usual method. For a number of years lumbering was the leading industry o^ the area. For the last 15 or 20 years, however, agriculture has .been in the lead and is steadih^ growing in importance. F-irst Settlements. — Long before the first permanent settle- ments were made in tb.is area the region had been visited by ex- plorers and fur traders. Father Hennepin visited the Sioux Indians at St. Croix Falls as early as 1681. "Fort Beau Har nais" trading post was liuilt on Lake Pepin in 1793. Jonathan Carver went up the Chippewa river as far as Chippewa Falls in 1767. The first permanent settlement in the area was made in 1828 when a saw mill was erected at the mouth of Wilson Creek, the present site of Menomonie. As early as 1839 three mills were in operation in the vicinity of Menomonie. St. Croix Falls was first AGRICULTURE. 89 settled in 1837, and Chippewa Falls in 1839. A saw mill at Eau Galle was built in 1840. A saw mill was built at Osceola in 1842 and a grist mill in 1848. Hudson was first settled in 1840 and tlie first farm opened there in 1841. Eau Claire was iirst settled in 1845. Settlers located in the vicinity of Pepin in 1846, at River Falls in 1848, and at Arkansaw in 1852. The first logging in Barron county was carried on in 1848 and the first farm opened in the southern part of the county in 1855. Early Transportation. — Before the advent of the railroads, steam boats ascended the Chippew^a river as far as Eau Claire, and a:cended the St. Croix river as far as St. Croix Falls. River traffic on the Chippewa was abandoned soon after the railroads reached Eau Claire, but river traffic is still important between Stillwater and Hudson and various ports on the Mississippi. Occasionally excursion boats go beyond Stillwater to St. Croix Falls. The first railroad, now the C. St. P. M. & 0. R., reached the area m 1870. The present C. St. P. M. & 0. R R. railroad con- nection between Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire was made in 1875, and the "Wisconsin Central, now the "Soo"' line reached Chippewa Falls from Abbotsford in 1880. The railroad was built from Eau Claire to St. Paul in 1871-2. Population. — The growth in population in the nine counties of the area since 1860 is shown in the following table : Table XXll.— Population of the area from 1S60 to 1910 (U. S. Census). County. 1860 1870 1880 189D 1900 1910 Chippewa 1.895 3,162 2,704 2.H92 4.672 5.392 1,400 13 8,311 1 ,769 9,488 4.659 9.958 11.035 3.422 538 15,491 19, 993 16.817 6.226 17,744 18.956 10,018 7,024 25. 143 30,673 22.664 6.932 20. 385 23.139 12,968 15,416 33,037 31,692 25,043 7.905 23.943 26. 830 17,801 23,677 32,103 Eau Claire Dunn 32,721 25,260 Pepin 7,577 Pierce 22,079 St. Croix 25 910 Polli Barron 21 367 29,114 Ruslt* 11,160 21,630 58, 180 112,269 157,320 189,928 207,291 *Rusk county was organized from Chippewa county in 1901 . The table shows an increase of population for the entire area from 21,630 in 1860 to 207,291 in 1910. From 1860 to 1890 the increase in population was due to the development of lum- bering as well as agriculture. Since 1890 the increase is largely 90 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. due to the steady growth in agricultural population. The rural population of the southern and well settled counties, Eau Claire, Dunn, Pepin, Pierce, and St. Croix has remained about station- ary since 1900. The northern unsettled counties, such as north- ern Chippewa, Eusk, Barron, and Polk show a steady increase. Nativity of Population. — Most of the population of the several counties is Jiative born. The following table compiled from the state census of 1905 shows the source of the population : Table XXill.—JVativity of pop ulation , State census, 1905. County. Total popu- lation. Native born. Ger- many. Nor- way. Swe- den, Den- mark. Can- ada. Ire- land. Barron 28,376 32,000 26,074 33,519 7,569 23.433 20, 885 26,716 9,748 21,225 24, 862 20, 570 25,893 6,182 18,851 15,035 20, 640 7,824 1,226 2,200 1,857 2,609 249 872 547 1,024 328 2,648 1,766 2,509 2,847 54 1,364 1,397 2.208 343 911 233 219 280 .378 1,152 2,126 536 226 205 122 108 99 ""224" 1,141 347 ■69 713 1,633 306 938 121 251 346 602 484 67 Chippewa 251 99 Eau Claire 253 Pepin 29 Pierce 203 Polk 52 St. Croix 556 Rusk 17 The population is largely native born. The lowest percentage of native born is in Polk county, and the highest percentage is in Eusk, Pepin and Pierce. A large portion of the native born, however, from one-third to two-thirds, is of comparatively recent foreign parentage. The table shows that in all the counties ex- cept Chippewa the most important foreign element is Scandina- vian. Of the Scandinavian element, the Norwegian predomi- nates except in Polk county where the Swedes are more promi- nent. In Chippewa county the Germans are the most important foreign element, with Norwegians second, and French Canadians third. The Canadian element, mainly French Canadian is also important in Eau Claire, Barron, St. Croix and Eusk. The Danes are important in Polk, and there are numerous Irish in St. Croix. General Conditions of Agricultural Development. — Certain parts of the area in Pepin, Pierce, Dunn and Eau Claire coun- ties, are well settled, the earliest farm settlement dating back 50 to 60 years. Other parts, especially in the northern portion in Polk, Barron, Eusk and Chippewa, though having in general equally as good soils, are still covered with large areas of dense hardwood forests. The soil map of the area showing the distri- AGRICULTURE. 91 bution of wagon roads, expresses fairly well the distribution of the well settled and the very thinly settled parts of the area. Proportion of Cultivated and Uncultivated Lands. — 'The fol- lowing table gives the total land area in each county and also the amount of land under cultivation in 1885, 1895 and 1905. The percentage of total land under cultivation, aecording-to cen- sus of 1905 is also given: Table XXIV. — fJultirated land. Counties. Total land areas in 1000 acres. Cultivated land in 1885 1000 acres. Cultivated land in 1893 1000 acres. Cultivated land in 1905 luOO acres. Percentage of total land under cultivation 1905. Barron 561 654 540 396 152 3 IT 597 455 586 43 91 136 111 45 135 63 207 79 131 175 14". 54 158 83 228 136 169 218 166 62 189 124 252 16 24.2 Chippewa 25.9 Dunn 40.4 Eau Claire Pepin Pierce 41.9 40.9 51.6 Polk 20.8 St. Croix 55.5 Rusk* 2.8 *Rusk, a part of Chippewa county until 1901. This table shows the steady growth of agriculture in all the counties of the area. The county showing the greatest improve- ment between 1895 and 1905 is Barron, with Dunn second and Polk third. St. Croix county has the largest percentage of land under cultivation with Pierce second and Eau Claire third. Rusk county, only recently set off from northern Chippewa has only a small percentage of its area under cultivation. Farm Buildings. Occasionally log houses are built in the newest settlements, but usually the farm homes are the ordinary type of frame structures. In all the better settled areas, new frame houses much more pretentious than those first built, have been constructed. Houses of brick have been built in many localities, but are not abundant. A very large number of the barns are of the stone basement type. Silos are not abundant but are gradually being built as the interest in dairying in- creases. Price of Farm Lands. The value of cleared lands varies con- siderably in the area depending upon character of soil and also the general location. The best class of farm land is generally 92 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. held at from 50 to 80 dollars per acre. Some lands, however, are held as high as 100 dollars per acre. Much of the lightest sand land is held at 20 to 40 dollars per acre. Good farm lands without improvements and witli little or no merchantable timber, generally vary at present (1910) from 8 to 20 dollar& per acre, the price depending upon accessibility by rail and wagon road, as well as upon character of the soil. Crops. All the iinportant common crops are grown in the areas. The following table shows the production of the im- portant grain crops in 1901 from the latest available statistics. Table XX[[. — Table showing acreage and producti,on of grain in 1904. County. Barron Chippewa Dunn Eau Claire Pepin Pierce Pollv- St. Croix . .■ Ruslc Barley. 3,502 1.952 4,674 4, 1.52 8,924 91,89.^ 54,427 r24,2l8 131. 05H 279.321 35, 023 1 1. 075, 79i 4,024 15,753 151 120,654 447,883 4,974 Buck- wheat. 1,114 17,380 954116,399 1,812 2.510 238 1.58 26, 391 34,885 3,041 2,270 2011 3.629 662110,165 115 1.852 Corn. Oats. 1 A B A B 3.242 10,792 26,203 14, H54 9.746 15.873 6,622 14,148 273 76. 9.59 261.732 777,296 386.861 298. 204 497,307 143,338 318,781 7.749 31,574 42.584 57,9tt2 47,609 13,489 49. 138 36, 626 93.163 1,308 1.145,025 1.742,0.-)8 1,953.278 1,688,520 499.215 1,973,673 1.391,0501 3,270,522 46,573 Rye. 1,245 1.913 4,805 5,427 2,198 4.789 1.235 5,465 51 22,706 28.114 57,111 66,942 24, 257 85.035 19.787 93, 3-56 896 Wheat. 51,542 33.542 59,636 64,106 27,627 80,538 58,914 .51,591 1,560 The most important grain crop in the area, in acreage and bushels is the oat crop. From one to three million bushels were grown in each of the counties except Pepin and Rusk. St. Croix is one of the leading counties in the state in the production of oats, usually ranking among the first two or three counties.- The acreage and production of oats in 1904 was approximately double that of 10 years earlier. The next crop in importance is corn. Dunn county leads in the production of corn with Pierce second and Eau Claire third. The increase in the production of corn has not been important in the past 10 years. Barley is next in importance in the area though wheat \^ more important than barley in many of the counties. Pierce county leads in barley, producing over one million bushels in 1904, almost as much as the entire remainder of the area. Pierce is one of the leading counties of ■ the state in barley. There has been a considerable increase in production of barley AGRICULTURE. 93 in the past 10 or 11 years. St. Croix is second in barley and Pepin third in the area. The wheat crop is relatively unimportant in the area at pres- ent though from 20 to 40 years ago it was the leading grain. At present Pierce leads in wheat, with Eau Claire second anrl Dunn third. At an earlier period St. Croix was the leading wheat county and was very important in wheat raising. There has been a steady decline in wheat raising in all the counties of the area since 1885. In 1885 St. Croix raised 1,807,985 bushels of wheat and in 1905 only 51,591. Rye and buckwheat are relatively unimportant crops. The production of rye like that of barley has greatly increased in the area. The potato is an important crop in Chippewa, Barron and Dunn counties'. In these three counties the production has nearly doubled in the past 10 or 15 years. On the other hand the production in the other counties except in Eau Claire, shows a decrease. The potato is grown mainly on the sandy loam soils of the area. Table XXIII. — Acreage and production of potatoes 1885-1905 . 1885. 1895. 1905. County. Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels. Barron 760 1,298 1.344 1.108 440 1.098 875 1,581 86,443 153.409 144,373 133 630 42.773 137.726 103.772 180,022 3,164 3,810 3,898 2,495 592 2.266 3.092 3,643 151,002 161,782 159, 486 124,040 21,631 115,327 107,818 142,303 5.962 6,179 5,474 2. 538 351 1.369 23.30 1,701 501 61 4,. 336 Chippewa 779,509 602,678 Eau Claire.. Pepin 367,465 43, 276 162. 154 Polk 192, 679 St. Croix Rusk. 164,632 55. 995 Among the special crops, sugar beets, tobacco, pease and corn ['or canning are groA^n in various parts of the area. Tobacco is grown on the sandy loam soil in the vicinity of Chippewa Falls and Colfax and in various other localities in Chippewa, Barron and Dunn counties. Sugar beets are grown in Chippewa county, and to some extent in Eau Claire and Barron, the crop being worked up in the large sugar factory at Chippewa Falls. Pea canning factories are located at Chippewa Falls, Barron 94 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. and Eice Lake and a considerable acreage in pease for canning has been developed in these localities. Hay. The hay crop is an important one and has more than doubled in acreage and tons in the last 10 year period. The table shows the statistics for the census years of 1895, 1900 and 1905. St. Croix has the largest acreage in hay with Barron county second and Chippewa third. Barron county, however, raised the largest number of tons. Table XXIV — Acreage and production of hay. 1895. U. S. Census 1900 (1899). 1905. Hay. Wild. Clover. Other tame grasses. Hay. County. - 0) o 'J) 5 o 73 C O 9 o < tn C O CD O a) C O en O H 21,349 28,826 35,709 30, 628 9,304 32,561 24,lii4 34,182 2.513 2,798 3.390 5,752 2,7*^1 3,445 3,902 7 327 861 3,791 3,639 4,079 1,656 3,514 1,074 1,960 1.175' 5,149 5.028 5,927 2, 462 5,811 1,697 2,646 42,847 44,913 39, 570 26.033 7,737 30, 226 32,065 53,924 51,096 52,561 47.009 31.149 10,218 42, 204 .39,438 58,538 53,808 51,391 49,bS7 39,178 10,083 34,763 47,854 59, 274 7,756 80, 930 77,865 7ri,045 58, 126 1 740 931 16,351 1,293 4,645 2,680 1,376 5,350 3,026 58,747 Polk 69, 501 8t Croix .-•• 77,347 12,447 216,663 1 23,811 28,138 20,574 29,995 277,315 332,213 353,694 527,359 The table shows that the production of hay increased nearly 4 times in the past decade in Barron county; nearly three times in Polk and Chippewia, and about two times in the other counties. The increase in the production of hay follow close- ly the increased development of the dairy industry in the several counties of the area. In the statistics compiled from the U. S. Census of 1900 it is interesting to note the tonnage of wild hay and of clover. Clover is an especially valuable crop grown in rotation with grains, in order to supply nitrogen to the soil. Eau Claire leads in the acreage of clover, with, Chippewa sec- ond and Dunn third. The grain raising counties, especially St- Croix and Pepin do not make a good showing with regard to clover. In all the counties an increase in the acreage of clover ought to be made. Dairying. Dairying is an important industry in all the coun- ties of the area. The value of dairy products exceeds that of AGRICULTURE. 95 total grain in Barron, Rusk and Polk. In Chippewa the total value of grain is slightly greater than that of dairy products, and in the remaining counties grain considerably exceeds the value of dairy products. The value of the oat crop alone great- ly exceeds the value of dairy products in St. Croix, and the oat crop or barley crop alone are almost equal to the dairy products in Polk, Pierce and Pepin counties. In all the counties, however, there has been a great increase in dairying in recent years. The number of milch cows, and also the product and value has more than doubled in the last ten year period. The greatest increase is shown by Barron, with Polk, second, Chippewa third and Dunn fourth, as shown in the ajccompauying table. Table XXV. — Table of dairy statistics. County. 1895. Milch cows. Barron. .. . Chippewa. . Dunn Eau Claire. Pepin Pierce Polk St. Oroix... Eusk 5,795 7.143 9,758 8,115 3,275 9,421 7,988 10, 540 Value of dair.v products. $74,584 122,958 142,600 139, 776 44,963 177,657 108,495 138,579 1905. Milch cows. 17,767 17,417 20.944 14.270 5,371 16. ,383 19,693 18,977 2.329 Value of dairy products. $549,476 552,192 624,435 449,987 165,664 516,508 585,2.V2 695. 008 143,136 The statistics in regard to amount and value of dairy products for 1895 are sufficiently complete for purposes of comparison with 1905. The increase in dairying, however, is best shown by the increase in number of milch cows between 1895 and 1905 in the various counties. While dairying will steadily increase in importance over the entire area in the future, it is quite likely that the greatest increase will take place in the northern and eastern counties where the soil conditions for grain raising are not so favorable as in the southwestern part of the area. Dairy- ing, however, should be encouraged and developed as rapidly as possible in the southwestern counties as an important means of maintaining the fertility of the soil in connection with the extensive grain raising. 96 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. Live StocJc. Live j^loek such as hogs, cattle and sheep is an important source of farm revenue. The value of live stock sold in 1904 is shown by the following table: Table XX' V. — Value of lire stock sold and consumed, and value of wool, in 1904 State Census, 1905. Counties. Cattle anrl calves. Hog-s. Sheep. Wool. Barron «149. 574 127.633 158.599 84,685 37,616 211.541 170.964 213.946 22,261 SS^963 128 288 278,385 149,622 124.299 194.837 104,923 159,301 9,880 SI 9. 700 8,496 20,425 6.016 5.583 47.505 8,993 21,145 1,617 S13.803 9,937 Dunn Eau Claire Pepin 22,272 5.989 7.650 49 570 Polk 8.548 St. Croix 21 . 783 Rusk 1,176,822 1,222.538 139,570 140,907 From the table it may be seen that the annual revenue from the sale of hogs only slightly exceeds that of cattle in the area. The most important eountv for hogs is Dunn, and for cattle is Pierce. Pepin county ranks highest in hogs in proportion to the size of the county. Sheep and wool is not important as compared ^^ni\\ other live stock. Pierce is the leading county in sheep, the value of sheep and wool sold in 1904 being $97,075 more than double that of any other county, and amounting to more than one third of the entire area. Pierce also usually ranks among the first two or three counties in the state in sheep and wool. In addition to the crops already mentioned all kinds of garden truck are grown, and also an abundance of the common small fruits such as the strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, currant and gooseberry. Of the tree fruits the hardy varieties of the apple and the plum are grown succe sfully. Transportation and Com.mnnicafioii. Each of the counties of the area is well supplied with railroads, and telephone lines, and rural mail routes. In the mcU settled parts of the area good roads prevail, and in the thinly settled parts graded roads are built to new settlers as needed. In the vicinity of Eau Claire, some of the sandy roads have been greatly improved by the use of shale. Markets. The leading cities with their population in 1910 are ^ follows: AGRICULTURE. 97 TABLE XXVI.— POPULATION OF CITIES OP THE AREA. 18.310 8.8y3 5.03(3 3.9(58 2.810 2.(575 2.352 1.991 New Richmond Durand 1 988 1 503 1,449 Cumbei'land . 1 445 1 204 Ellsworth 1.005 Spring: V^alley 972 River Falls Pres( 'ott 936 Smaller cities and villages are distributed over the entire area and afford ample means for trade. Forest Conditions. — The valuable standing timber at the pres- ent time is in the northern and northeastern part of the area. ]\Iost of the pine forest was removed from 20 to 40 years ago, and very little or no pine is now left. Hardwood and hemlock for- ests of merchantable lumber, however, are abundant in Rusk, northeastern Chippewa and in the northern parts of Barron and Polk. There are some small tracts of good hardwood timber still remaining also in the eastern part of Pierce, southwestern part of Dunn and in the northeastern part of St. Croix. The hardwoods consist mainly of oak, maple, birch, basswood and ash. 7 98 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. APPENDIX. CORRELATION OF SOILS OF NORTH WESTERN "WIS- CONSIN AND OF NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN. The area of North Central Wisconsin, a preliminary soil sur- vey of which was completed in 1903, lies immediately east of North W^estern Wisconsin along the eastern boundary of Eau Claire, Chippewa and Rusk counties. In each of the areas, 14 soil types are distinguished and shown on the maps of the respective areas. While the number of soils mapped in the two areas is the same, the soils in the two areas differ in many respects. The soils in the two areas are unlike on account of certain differences in the geological formations. The North Central area is very largely a region of granitic rock, with no lime- stone formations and no Icess deposits. The North Western area on Ihe other hand contains considerable areas of limestone and loess and while it also contains some areas of granitic rock, no typical residual soils on granitic rock are developed. Both areas, however, are alike in being covered with glacial drift and alluvial deposits. Three soil types developed on the glacial drift, the Colby silt loam, the Chelsea loam, and the Kennan silt loam, are com- mon types in both areas. The Marathon loam and the Mosinee gravelly soil, residual soils on the crystalline and granitic rocks, occur only in the North Central area. The Hartland silt loam, loess soil, and the Cushing loam and Baldwin silt loam, devel- oped on limestone or limestone drift, occur only in the North West area. Three phases of alluvial or bottom land soils are mapped in each area. Of tbe alluvial soils, the Rice Lake loam corresponds closely to the Antigo loam, the Chetek sandy loam corresponds closely to the Bancroft sandy loam, and the sterling sand cor- APPENDIX. 99 responds closely to the "Wisconsin River sand. The Meridean sandy loam, the iypQ on the lowest terrace of the alluvial bot- tom, IS not mapped separately in the North Central area. The Auburn loam, residual soil developed on the sandstone, is an important soil in the North West area and corresponds only in a general way to the IMentor sand and Gary sandy loam of Clark and Wood counties. The Mentor sand and Cary sandy loam consists of both upland and bottom land soils while the Auburn loam is a type of upland soil, on sandstone and shale associated with loess deposits. The Milltown silt loam of Polk county has no closely corres- ponding type in the North Central area. The Thornapple sandy loam in Chippewa County, and the Harrison sandy soil in Lincoln county, and Amherst sandy loam in Portage and Marathon are phases of drift soils. Three of the soil types on the glacial drift, the Kennan silt loam, the Chelsea loam, and the Colby silt loam extend across, as mapped, from the North Central area into the North West- ern area. Owing to the fact that eastern Chippewa county is fairly well opened up to farming at present while the western part of Taylor county was wholly unsettled at the time of the survey of the latter, tlie separation of the Kennan silt loam from the Chelsea loam in eastern Chippewa county has been made with greater detail than it was in Taylor county. The Kennan loam in Taylor county extends farther south, includ- ing a considerable larger portion of the region about Gilman than is shown on the soil map of North Central Wisconsin. In the next edition of the soil map it will be possible to make a more detailed survey of the soils in western Taylor county. Owing to the fact that loess is of general occurrence over the sandstone of Eau Claire county, as well as to the fact that the sandstone itself contains much shale or clay, the soils of Eau Claire county differ considerably from those on the sandstone of western Clark county where these deposits are not developed. Both the sandstone upland soils and the bottom land soils in Eau Claire county as well as other parts of the North Western area are mapped with much greater detail and on a somewhat different basis than the soils of western Clark county. In gen- eral the Mentor sand of western Clark county corresponds 100 SOIL SURVEY OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. closely with the Sterling sand, the former, however, contains sandy uplands as well as sandy bottoms, whereas the latter type includes only the sandy bottom soil. The Carey sandy loam of Clarlv county corresponds closely to the Auburn loam of Eau Claire in character of soil, though the former includes bottom lands as well as uplands, Avhereas the Auburn loam in- cludes only the upland soils. . The Auburn loam type associated wath occasional deposits of loess soil extends over a small area about Humbird on the western border of Clark county. In the next edition of the £oil map of North Central "Wisconsin a more detailed classification of the soil in western Clark should be made. The various names of the soils in both the North Central and the North Western areas are of local derivation and are applied only provisionally with the plan in mind that probably other names will be used for these soils at some future time when 3, detailed survey of the soils of the entire state is completed. The soil names used in the TJ. S. Bureau of toils classification in the detailed surveys of the southern counties of the state will probably supercede' many of the names used in the recon- noissance surveys of the northern parts of the state. INDEX. ^cid soil. 60, 64, 71, 81, 86. Agricultural development, 90. Alluvial deposits, 6, 98. Alluvial terraces, 6. Altitude of area, 1. of railroad stations, 21. of rivers, 22. Archean hills, 8. Areas of soils, 36. Artesian wells, 16. systems, 17. Auburn loam, SI. Baldwin loams, 37. Baraboo Ridge, 8. Barron, table of precipitation, 27. Brick, 12, 13, 91. Chelsea loams, 48. Chemical composition of soil, 36. Chetek sandy loam, 62. Chippewa river, 9, 22. Cisterns, 20. Clays, 12, 70. Classification of soil, 35. Climate, 23. ■Contamination of wells and springs, 19, 20. Correlation of soils, 98. ■Creameries, 81. Crops, 92. rotation of, 41, 42, 76. Crystalline rocks, 3, 8, 12, 44. Cushing loams, 55. Dairying, 41, 44, 50, 52, 54, 56, 64, 71, 94. Dairy products, 76, 81. Dairy statistics, table of, 95. Ditches, 83, 84, £5. Downing, table of precipitation, 27. Drainage, 37, 38, 39, 40, 83, 84. Drain tile, 13. Drift, see glacial drift. Eau Claire, table of precipitation, 30. Eau Claire river, 9. Eau Galle river, 10. Elk Mound, 8. Erosion, 34, 75. , Falls, 11. Farm buildings, 91. Fertilizers for special crops, 62. Flambeau Ridge, 3, 8. Flambeau River, 22. Flowing wells, 16. Forests, 38, 43, 45, 49, 51, 54, 55, 58, 63, 65, 68, 74, 79, 97. Fossils, 4, 5. Frosts, 31, 32, 3.3. Fruit, 81, 96. Glacial drift, 2, 5, 15, 44, 49, 51, 98. Granite, 13, 98. Grantsburg, table of precipitation, 26. Groundwater, 13, 68. changes in level, 14. Gullying, 75. Hartland silt loam, 73. Hay, 94. Hills, S. Kennan silt loam, 45. Lakes, 11. origin of, 12. Lake Pepin, 12. Land values, 43, 45, 48, 51, 53, 55, 57, 62, 64, 67, 71, 78, 91. Latitude of area, 1. Lime, 12. Limestone, 2, 4, 8, 12, 15, 37, 38, 41, 72. ground limestone, 41. origin of, 5. Live stock, 64, 77, 96. 102 INDEX. Loess, 2, 7, 73, 75, 99. Longitude of area, 1. Lower Magnesian, 4, 39. Markets, 96. Meridean sandy loam, 65. Milltown loam, 51. Mineral supplies, 12. Mineral water, 14. Mississippi river, 10. Muck, 81. Nativity of population, 90. Osceola, table of precipitation, 26, 30. Peat, 37, 81. Phosphate fertilizer, 41, 60, 66, 72, 81, 86. Pollution of water, 18. Population of area, 89. of cities, 97. Potash fertilizer, 86. Potatoes, 93. Potsdam sandstone, 4, 8. Prairie, 39, 42, 76. Prairie soil, 39. Precipitation, 26, 29. tables of, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. Price of farm lands, 91. Quartzite, 1, 3, 48. Railroads, 88, 96. table of altitudes of, 21. Rainfall, 29, 32. Rapids, 11. Red Cedar river, 9, 22. Rice lake loam, 58. Rivers, 9. origin of, 10. Road material, 13. Rotation of crops, 41, 42, 76. Sandstone, 4, 12, 15, 79, 99. origin of, 4. Sandy soils, management of, 71, 73'. Settlements, 88. Sheep, 41. Silos, 91. Soils, area of, 36. character of, 34. chemical composition of, 36. classification of, 35. correlation of, 98. erosion of, 80. origin of, 34. Special crops, 61, 64, 66, 70, 78:. Springs, 17, 18. polution of, 18. St. Croix river, 10, 22. Sterling sand, 67. Stock raising, 53, 56. St. Peter sandstone, 4. Temperature of seasons, 23, 24, 25, 30t Terminal moraine, 8. origin of, 9. Terraces, 3, 7. Thornapple sandy loam, 53. Tile drainage, 40, 47, 59, 76. Transportation, 89, 96. Trap rock, 13, 49. Trenton limestone, 4, 39. Valleys, 9. origin of, 10. Water powers, 10. Water supplies, 13. character of, 14. pollution of, 18, 19, 20. Weather Bureau stations, 23.. Wells, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20. artesian, 16. Wood ashes, 86. W4- W4-