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<br />SOIL SURVEY
<br />Small areas of Wages soils were included in mapping.
<br />They are generally on side slopes.
<br />The acreage of these soils is about equally divided
<br />between grassland and cropland. Although cultivated
<br />crops are not suited, many small areas within fields of
<br />better soils are cultivated because they are easier to farm
<br />through than to farm around. Because these soils are
<br />shallow and sloping to strongly sloping, they are suscep-
<br />tible to severe erosion.
<br />tiVhere these soils are still in grass, the erosion hazard
<br />is slight and only proper grazing management is needed.
<br />Capability trait VIIs-1 (dryland) ; Limestone Breaks
<br />range site; windbreak suitability group 3.
<br />Chappell Series
<br />The Chappell series consists of nearly level to gently
<br />sloping sandy foams that are on terraces along intermit-
<br />tent streams. These soils are moderately deep over sand
<br />and gravel. They are well drained or somewhat excessively
<br />drained.
<br />In a typical profile the surface layer is grayish-brown
<br />sandy loam. It is soft, easily worked, and about 5 inches
<br />thick. Ili most places gravel is scattered on the surface.
<br />The subsoil, about 14 inches thick, is sandy loam that
<br />is grayish brown in the upper part and dark grayish-
<br />brown mthe lower part. About 10 to 15 percent of this
<br />layer is fine gravel.
<br />Below the subsoil, at a depth of about 10 inches, is dark
<br />grayish-brown sandy loam. This is.nnderlain 'by brown
<br />gravelly coarse sand. About 40 to 50 percent of the ma-
<br />terial is fine gravel that restricts the growth of plant
<br />roots.
<br />Chappell soils are well drained or somewhat excessively
<br />drained. Thep have moderate to rapid permeability and
<br />slow runoff. These soils have moderately low available
<br />water holding capacity and are moderate to low in
<br />fertility. Chappell soils are susceptible to both soil blow-
<br />ing and .eater erosion and are flooded periodically.
<br />The native vegetation consists of western wheatgrass,
<br />blue grams, little bhiestem,~ sandreed, side-oats grams,
<br />needle-and-thread, and similar grasses. Almost all of the
<br />acreage is cultivated, mainly to sorghums, winter wheat,
<br />and barley.
<br />Typical profile of a Chappell sandy loam in a cultivated
<br />wheatfield (530 feet east, 75 feet south of the northwest
<br />corner of section 1, T. 7 \T., R. 47 tiV.)
<br />i
<br />Al-0 to 5 inches, grayish-brown (lOYR 5/2) sandy loam, very
<br />dnrk grayish brown (lOYR 3/2) when moist; weak,
<br />Sne, grnnulnr structure; soft when dry, very friable
<br />when moist; noncalcareous; clear, smooth boundnry~
<br />B2-5 to 11 inches, grayish-brown (lOYR 5/2) sandy loam,
<br />' very dark grayish brown (lOYR 3/2) when moist;
<br />weak, coarse, prismntic strneture that breaks to weak,
<br />medium, subangulnr blocky; slightly hard when dry,
<br />friable when moist; noncalcareous; very thin clay
<br />bridges between sand grains; clear, smooth boundary.
<br />83-11 to 13 inches, dark grayish-brown (lOYR 4/2) sandy
<br />loam, very dark grayish brown (SOYA 3/2) when
<br />moist: weak, coarse, prismntic structure that breaks
<br />to weak, coarse, subangalar blocky; slightly hard
<br />when dry, friable when moist; noncalcareous; clear,
<br />smooth bonndary.
<br />C1-19 to 36 inches, dark grayish-brown (lOYR 6/2) sandy
<br />loam, dark brown (lOFR 4/3) when moist; streaks oY
<br />material from B3 horizon, very dark grayish brown
<br />(lOTR 3/2) when moist; weak, very coarse, pris-
<br />matic structure that breaks to weak, coarse, Pris-
<br />matic; soft when dry, very friable when moist;
<br />' noncalcareous; clear, smooth boundary.
<br />I1C2-36 to 60 inches, brown (lOYR 5/3) gravelly coarse sand;
<br />single grain (structureless) ;loose when dry or moist;
<br />noncalcareous.
<br />In thickmesa, the d horizon ranges from 4 to 8 inches and the
<br />B horizon from 5 to 10 inches. Depth to the coarse-textured IIC
<br />horizon ranges from 20 to 40 inches.
<br />Chappell soils are deeper to sand and gravel than the Dix
<br />soils.
<br />Chappell and Dix sandy loamy, 0 to 3 percent slopes
<br />(CdB) are moderately deep and shallow soils along inter-
<br />mittent streams. These soils are on terraces in areas of
<br />oxbows. The areas are generally crescent shaped and range
<br />from about 8 to 30 acres in size.
<br />About 65 percent of the acreage is Chappell sandy loam,
<br />and about 30 percent is Dis gravelly loam. Each kind of
<br />soil has a profile similar to the one described as typical for
<br />its series.
<br />Included in mapping were small areas of Rago and
<br />I~uma soils that are in old, depressional, loam-filled
<br />channels.
<br />Chappell and Dix sandy foams take in water rapidly and
<br />release it readily to plants, but available water holding
<br />capacity is low and the soils are droughty. Runoff is slow.
<br />These soils are suited to grass or limited cultivation of
<br />close-growing harvested crops, but they are susceptible to
<br />blowing. The Dix soil is frequently flooded. In dryfarmed
<br />fields, stubble-mulch tillage and wind stripcroppmg are
<br />helpful in reducing erosion. In the irrigated fields, the size
<br />of the irrigating stream should be small enough to prevent
<br />the soil from washing. Leveling is needed in irrigated
<br />fields so that water spreads uniformly.
<br />Grasses grow well on these sandy soils. Reseeding the
<br />range is a good ~lractice if the soil is moist and well covered
<br />with litter and if grazing is deferred until the grass is well
<br />established. After the grass is established, fences, water,
<br />and salt should be located so that livestock ggraze the entire
<br />range. Overgrazing should be avoided. Ca ability traits
<br />IVe-4 (dryland) and IIIe-7 (irrigated); Sandy Plains
<br />range site; windbreak suitability group 2.
<br />Dawes Series
<br />The Dawes series consists of moderately cell drained,
<br />loamy soils. These soils formed in a windblown deposit on
<br />the uplands and are mostly in the southwestern part of the
<br />county, Slopes range from 0 to 3 percent.
<br />In a typical profile the plow layer is grayish-brown
<br />'loam about 5 inches thick. It is underlain by a leached
<br />layer, about 2 inches thick, that consists of light brownish-
<br />gray very fine sandy loam.
<br />The subsoil, about 8 inches thick, is dark grayish-bro.vn
<br />clay and is very hard when dry and firm when moist.
<br />The lower 3 inches of this layer contains some calcium
<br />carbonate.
<br />The underlying material, to a depth of 27 inches, is very
<br />pale brown loam and sandy loam that contains fine frag-
<br />ments of caliche in the lower part. This layer rests on hard,
<br />eobbly and gravelly limestone material.
<br />These soils absorb water slowly and have medium runoff.
<br />They are easily worked and normally have high available
<br />water holding capacity.
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