The Soils of Elgin County - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

horizons usually have gravelly coarse sandy loam,gravelly loamy coarse sand, or gravelly coarsesand textures .Distinct to prominent, strong brown to darkyellowish brown mottles occur within the profile .Soil reaction ranges from medium acid to neutralin the Ap horizons, to mildly alkaline in the IICkgjhorizons. Soil classification is typically GleyedBrunisolic Gray Brown Luvisol .Soil VariabilityOccasionallyHighgate soils contain alternatinglayers of sand and gravel materials which rangefrom 10 to 30 cm in thickness . In transition areasbetween the beach ridges and till moraines,shallow Highgate soils may occur where less than100 an of sand and gravel materials overly theclayey till materials. Highgate soils were mostoften mapped in combination with Kintyre (KT)soils .Land Use/Management CommentsHighgate soils are rated Class 2F for commonfield crops when topography is not a limitation .If they are tile drained, or if supplementalirrigation is carried out, they are highly suitablefor a fairly wide range of special crops. Suitabilityratings for selected special crops are given inTables 6, 7, and 8.Highgate soils are susceptible to wind erosion .Plantingcover crops, establishing windbreaks, andcarrying out management practices whichmaintain organic matter levels will aid in reducingthe risk of erosion by wind. Conservation tillagepractices, particularly no-till practices, should beconsidered for these soils .Kelvin Soils (KE)Landform and TopographyKelvin soils have developed on fine to veryfine textured morainal materials which arecommonly referred to as Port Stanley till. Theyoccur on ground or terminal moraines which mostoften have nearly level or very gently undulatingopography. They occur less frequently in lowlyingor depressional areas in landscapes whichare hummocky or rolling. Slopes are usually lessthan 2% .Soil Moisture CharacteristicsKelvin soils are poorly drained and moderatelyto slowly permeable. Saturated conditions occurin the upper horizons for prolonged periods oftime each year. Kelvin soils have high waterholding capacities and slow surface runoff.General Soil CharacteristicsKelvin soil materials contain 27% or more clay.The Ap horizons most often have silty clay loamor clay loam textures, but silty clay and claytextures are also common . The Bg and calcareousCkg horizons usually have silty clay loam or siltyclay textures . Occasionally the texture of thesubsoil horizons may be clay loam or clay .Grayish brown gley colours are dominantwithin the profile, and prominent dark yellowishbrown to dark brown mottles are also present.Soil reaction ranges from slightly acid to neutral inthe Ap horizons, to mildly alkaline in the Ckghorizons . Soil classification is typically OrthicHumic Gleysol.Soil VariabilityKelvin soils frequently occur where thinsurface caps of medium or coarse texturedmaterials overly the finer textured till material .Kelvin loamy phase (KEI) soils were mappedwhere 15 to 40 cm of silt loam or loam texturedmaterials were present at the surface . Kelvincoarse phase (KE.C) soils were mapped where 15to 40 cm of fine sandy loam or sandy loamtextured materials were present at the surface .Kelvin washed phase (KE.W) soils were mappedwhere 40 to 100 cm of silt loam or loam textured,lacustrine modified till materials were underlainby clayey till materials.Kelvin soils were frequently mapped incombination with Gobles (GO) soils . In somelandscapes where Kelvin soils were mapped,calcareous materials occur at the surface whichwere deposited by runoff from surrounding soils.Land Use/Management CommentsKelvin soils require tile drainage in order toreach their potential capability for common fieldcrop production. They are rated Class 3W.Occasionally surface stones may occur which arelarge enough to affect tillage or harvestingoperations. Due to structure and wetnesslimitations, Kelvin soils with fine to very finetextured surface materials have limited suitabilityfor special crops . Kevin loamy phase and Kelvincoarse phase soils, however, have highersuitability for a fairly wide range of special crops .Suitability increases for many special crops if thesesoils are the drained. Suitability ratings forselected special crops are given in Tables 6, 7, and8 .38