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~ 222 REPORT OF SECRETARY heavy textured brown to brownish drab; subsoil layer from 18 to 24 inches thick. This grades at varying depth of 30 to 42 inches, into. drab colored, friable, floury, parent soil material. The Holdrege series ditYers from the Grundy in that it. has a deeper surface layer, less conspicuous subsurface, and a less perfectly defined heavy textured horizon. The topography is flat to slightly rolling. Drainage is not so well established as in .the Grundy, and depressional areas are ll\rger and more numerous. . v' The' Holdrtige series covers approximately' 70 per cent of the irrigable land of the proposed irrigati'on area. It extends from ~he vicihlty of Naiman on the east to Bertrand oil. the-ire:st, southward to the Canyon Land, and northward to its transition' into the Colby. series ata distance 'of about two miles from the Platte River breaks. It is comparatively. uniform thruout, no wide variations in texture being found ~ither in surface or subsoil.. The types represented in this area are the very fine sandy loam, loam and clay loam, tho the: textural differences between these are too little .to require distinc- tion. Table 6 shows the mechanical analysis of typical samples from Norman, Minden and Bertrand. The clay content of the surface foot runs from 17 to 21 per cent and increases to a maximum of 31.9 in the third foot at Norman, 37.8 in the third foot at Minden, and 26.1 per cent in the second foot at Bertrand. The clay content of the sixth foot runs from 13.8 to 17.0 per cent. Colby. The Colby series is characterized by a brown to' light brown surface layer 6 to 8 'inches deep, underlain by a light brown. to drab subsoil passing into floury light drab or buff colored parent soil material at about 36 'inches without any distinct occurrence of a heavier textured stratum as in the Grundy and Holdrege series. The topography may be hilly, a dissected plain, or flat, but an undulating or hummocky topography is more characteristic of this section. This soil seems to be of more recent aeolian origin than other loessial soils, as is indicated by its lighter colored and. shallower surface, and its freedom froin a heavy textured horizon. :<~n many places the soil classified. as Colby series seems to be a comparatively recent material drifted over a soil already more or less completely formed. In the ..,-icinity of Kenesaw such a situation exists. . A mantle of very fine sandy loam of a thickness of 2 to 5 feet overlies an old soil profile probably continuous with the Hbldrege loam to the south and west. At Kenesaw !the profile shows a very fine sandy loam subsoil down to 36 inches. At 36 inches a second profile is struck having the same black la)'ler, subsurface and subsoil as is found at Norman and Minden. Table No. 6 shows the mechanical analysis of. Colby very fine sandy loam at Hartwell. The clay' content decreases and the sand content increases down to the top of the fourth foot where the clay begins to increase and the sand to decrease. The clay .1 "J -. !