The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-04-19
GuMBo SOILS IN IOWA.

: SILL, Oull OH VERY lSNS
areas, either river bottoms or fiat up
land Usually it is inky black. 1t is
!, more adhesive and bakes more read
lily than any other type of soil in this
state. 1t is very difficult to work when
wet. Undrained gumbo sol is of lit
tie value for crop production. The
same soil properly drained Is as pro-
Guctive as any in the state Anyone
who has had experience with gumbo
will testify that it can at times be
put into excellent filth. having fine
mealy appearance, which is quite
i deceptive of its real nature.
In the summer of 1909 Messrs w
HI. Stevenson and j. F Barker. the lat
ter assistant professor of soils at the
Iowa State College at Ames, made a
1 preliminary survey of Muscatine,
Washington, Louisa, Jefferson. Henry.
Des Moines, Van Buren, and Lee
counties; also of Pottawattamie. Ha~-
rlson, Monona and Woodbury. counties
in the western part of the state. 1t
had previously been determined that
whatever there was of gumbo in Iowa
was confined mainly to these counties.
/ The purpose of the investigation was
! TO lind out how much of this land
there actually IS. where it is located,
how it lies. what difficulties the
farmers encounter in farming it and
what experience has taught them to
be the best methods to employ in its
management. The results of the in
curry are embodied in a bulletin lust
issued by the Experiment Station at
Ames 1t was found, among other
/ things, that the greater percentage of
| the gumbo in this section occupies
\ the very level land on the tops of the
! divides between the drainage sys-
/ TENS. Thus we have it in Lee and
Van Buren, counties between the
Skunk and Des Moines rivers and in
Des Moines, Henry and Washington
counties between the Skunk and Iowa
/ rivers.
Analysis of gumbo shows it to CON
tain so to 81 per cent of silt and CLAY.
The remainder being very fine sand.
he clay content runs from % TO so
per cent. Because of its composition.
wagon roads passing through tract
of gumbo are often impossible for
short period after a rain. At times
! light buggies drawn by two horses
have been completely swamped The
soil sticks in great masses to the
wheels of the vehicle, and rolls up
after the fashion of q SNOWFALL.
In plowing the ground when slight
y TOO wet this waxy material balls
up before the plow point in such a
way that often the best implement
/ can not be made to stay in the ground.
while at the same time the draft is
4 excessive. On the other hand, if the
i soil becomes too dry it will turn up
in clods which can not be worked
down during the whole season. Freez-
ing and thawing is about the only
+ process that will restore the loose
mealy structure.
4 Gumbo can be made water tight by
pressing it together when wet. Work
men sometimes make dam by pack
ing gumoo between two plank walls
Old buffalo wallows hold water like
a bucket. The print of horses hoof
will sometimes contain water until II
< eFaporates as in a cup. Near Nichols
4 IN Muscatine county, the railroad com
pany number of wears ago burned
gumho and distributed it along the
road for ballast It lasted like brick
bats. The same thing is said TO have
been done al other places in south
ern Iowa and also in other states
Near Stockport, Van Buren, county. a
plant manufactures drain tile from
gumbo and they are being used large
" in that neighborhood TO drain the
type of soil from which they are made
Other interesting facts developed
by the investigation are briefly sum.
married. below
Gunbo can be easily drained nro.
vided that there is good outlet:
When tiled ont this land is not infer.
Tor for general farming purposes TO
r any other in the state and conse.
r quently demands the highest prices
] In addition to tile draining. gumbn
1 soil is improved by fall blowing and
( the use of clover, or some ether green.
e manure crop. The use OF lime. even
2 in large amounts. does not seem Il
2 improve its physical properties.
) Chemical analyses of gumbo show
: that this soil does not contain large
: amounts Of the essential elements ~
plant food, nitrogen and phosphorus
and even organic matter is present in
smaller amounts than the appearance
{ of the soil would indicate.
It is very probable that the clay
which forms these gumbo soils is =
water deposit of recent origin. The
!, rock flour which gave rise to these
deposits was undoubtedly carried