The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-04-15
SOILS COMPOSITION
A Deep Argillaceous Mold Over q
Clay SubsOil.

Clay Subsoil.
The Characteristic soil of Manitoba,
covering at least Is, 100000 acres, is deep
black argillaceous mold, resting on a deep
clay subsoil. Till, also called boulder
clay, constitutes the greater part of the
entire sheet Of superficial deposit, both
within the area of Lake 4Agassiz and upon
1.-THE adjoining country. It usually lies
on the striated. bedrock, and upon large
areas it reaches thence upward to the
surface, but elsewhere this unmodifed
glacial drift is covered by modified drift.
the stratifed gravel, sand and clay de-
posted by streams which flowed down
| from the ice sheet during its melting, or
| by lacustrine and fuoral sediments. When
the bed of Lake Aggassiz was gradually
uncovered from the water of the receding
! lake fine clayey alluvium was spread over
large areas of rocks of the lake bed. but
more extensive portions had surface Of
till with no such lacustrine deposit. The
thickness of the superficial deposits
OVERLAPPING the bedrock upon the fiat
plains of the Red River valley averages
about 100 feet; along the central part Of
this area south OF the Assiniboine the
depth is from $50 to 200 feet. but does not
| average more than so in the lower part
| of the valley between Winnipeg and Lake
Winnipeg, where the higher portions of
| extensive districts east of Lake Winni-
peg the superficial deposits do not aver
age more than thirty to fifty feet in
! thickness
| West of Lake Agassiz many portions Of
| the plateau bordered by the Pembina
| mountain and the Tiger hills have only
small depth of drift, ranging from a
some places the drift appears to extend
deeper, as shown by streams and valleys,
! and it's average thickness may be forty
/ feet or more.
| The till is the direct deposit of the ice
| sheet, as is shown by its consisting OF
clay, sand, gravel and boulders, mingled
Unfortunately in an unstratif1ed mass,
without assortment or transportation by
water. Very finely pulverized rock.
| forming a stiff, compact, unctuous clay,
is It's principal ingredient, whether at
great depth or near the surface. 1t has
a dark bluish-gray color, except in it's
| upper portion, which is yeilowish to a
depth that varies from five to fifty feet,
but is most commonly between. fifteen
and thirty feet This difference in color
is due to the influence of air and water
upon the iron contained in the deposit,
changing it in the upper part of the, till
| from peroxide combination to hydrous
| sesquoxide. Another important difference
! in the soil is that its upper portion is
commonly softer and easier dug, while
below there is a sudden change to hard
| and compact deposit. se~.
| Sandy Clay.o
Over nearly the. entire prairie portion
of Manitoba both in the lacustrine area
of Lake Agassiz and upon the higher and
| more undulating or rolling country that
stretches thence westward, sandy clay,
| often with some admixture of gravel and
occasional boulders, forms the soil, which
| has been colored black to depth of one
or two feet below the surface by decaying
| vegetation. The alluviaI and lacustrine
| beds, or the glacial drift, the same as
the soil excepting that they are not en-
| riched and blackened by organic decay,
continue below, being usually yellowish-
! gray to depth of ten or fifteen feet, but
darker and blush Beyond, as seen in
! wells. The glacial drift contains many
| fragments OF cretaceous shale, magnetism
! limestone, GRANTEES and crystalline
schists. and its fine detrius and the silky
deposits carried into Lake Agassiz by it's
| tributaries, are mixtures Of these rocks
| pulverized, presenting in the most ad-
vantageous proportions the mineral ele-
! ment needed by growing plants.
The soil of Manitoba is thus seen to
be admirably adapted to,athes profitable
cultivation Of a large variety Of crops.
lncluQlng wheat, -OdlS, SdTQRn 1TultS ana
vegetables. potatoes and hay. The most
experienced agricultural chemists and
analysts declare that it, has qualities
suited to wheat raising that are not ex-s
celled by the soil of any other territory,
and hardly equaled by any, except it be
that Of the territories on the west The
crops that have been raised during the
past thirty years fully justify the opinion
of these eminent men, and are sufficient
to satisfy the most suspicious mind with
out any scientific demonstration. The
yield is large--in some localities not less
than from thirty to fifty bushels to the
acre, and the extraordinary depth and
richness of the soil permits more con-
tinuous cropping without manure than any
other surface known to agriculturists. In
some places wheat has been grown for
thirty years in succession without pro-
ducing any apparent exhaustion of the
soil, and there are vast areas of land OF
this character within the province that
have never seen a plow.
|. Drainage.
The land has a natural drainage from
north to south and from east to west
~ 81 q saaea5S.e
- IN