GUELPH, ONTARIO - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Agriculture
Most of the mlick soils have not been cleared of their natural vegetation
and at present are used for forest and recreational purposes. Muck soils have
been cultivated only in such places where narrow strips extend into cultivated
fields. Such muck areas are best suited for hay, as grain crops usually lodge
and fail to fill out and mature properly. A limIted area of muck soils could
probably be used for the production of certain garden crops, but drainage and
irrigation are required for high yields and these improvements are costly. The
muck soils have an abundant supply of organic matter and nitrogen, but they
are lacking in mineral plant nutrients, especially potash. This deficiency must
be corrected for successful crop production on these soils.
Marsh (1,500 acres)
The few marshy areas consist of a thin layer of black organic material
similar to that of the muck only not so well decomposed over marl, sand or clay.
The upper dark layer is usually thin, being less than a foot thick, and the
underlying material is usually sand in Bruce County. Marsh land is very wet
during all seasons and is not, suited to farming purposes.
K. MISCELLANEOUS SOILS
Eastport Sand (3,100 acres)
The Eastport sand is a land type of variable drainage occurring along the
shore of Lake Huron, usually in the form of dunes. Vegetative cover is scanty
and there is practically no profile development. Where the sand has been
stabilized by a vegetative cover, a shallow organic layer may develop underlain
by a brownish yellow (10 YR 6/6) h orizon which grades into the grey (10 YR
6,’ 1) sandy materials below. Often the organic layer becomes buried by sandy
materials blown in from adjoining areas.
The land is usually bare and subject to blowing. Where vegetation has been
established it consists of poplar, pine, some white birch and grasses.
The Eastport sand is of no agricultural value and is used for recreational
purposes and as building sites for cottages.
Eastport Gravel (3,100 acres)
The Eastport gravel consists almost wholly of well sorted cobbles and
stones and is of variable drainage. Since the stony materials are too large to
be blown from one area to another this type is stabilized, and has a vegetative
cover consisting of pine, cedar, poplar and some white birch. There is little
profile development. The profile consists of a shallow organic layer underlain
by gravel, cobbles and stones.
The type is of no agricultural value and is used for recreational purposes.
Bridgman Sand (1,500 acres)
Bridgman sand may be found in areas of the Plainfield, Waterloo or Tioga
series \vhere the dark surface soil has been entirely removed by wind and water
erosion. It is not unusual to find the sand drifting. Bridgman sand includes
the eroded areas and t’he places where t$he eroded materials are accumulating.
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