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

Tuscola Soils (TU)Landform and TopographyTuscola soils have developed on blankets ofmedium textured lacustrine materials. Theyusually occur on upper and crest slope positionsin landscapes which have nearly level to verygently undulating topography. Occasionally theyoccur in landscapes which have gently undulatingtopography. Slopes generally range from 2 to 9%,with slopes of 2 to 5% being most common .Soil Moisture CharacteristicsTuscola soils are imperfectly drained . Theyare usually moderately permeable, butpermeability decreases in horizons that are clayeyor compacted . Tuscola soils have high waterholding capacities if permeability is not restricted .Surface runoff is moderate to rapid, depending onthe steepness of the surface slope .General Soil CharacteristicsThe Ap, Bmgj, Btgj, and calcareous Ckgjhorizons which usually occur commonly have siltloam, loam, or very fine sandy loam textures . Theclay enriched Bt horizons, which occasionally alsohave silty clay loam textures, are usually welldeveloped and occur above the Ckgj horizons.Distinct to prominent, yellowish brown tostrong brown mottles occur within the profile .Soil reaction ranges from medium acid to neutralin the Ap horizons, to mildly alkaline in the Ckgjhorizons. Soil classification is typically GleyedBrunisolic Gray Brown Luvisol.Soil VariabilityTuscola soils frequently contain layers of fineor very fine textured materials . The layers arevariable in thickness and usually have silty clayloam or silty clay textures . Occasionally, layers ofcoarse textured materials are also present whichoften have fine sandy loam textures.Tuscola soils occur in landscapes where thincaps of coarse textured materials overly themedium textured materials . Tuscola coarse phase(TU.C) soils were mapped where 15 to 40 cm ofcoarse textured materials were present at thesurface.Tuscola soils frequently were mapped incombination with Beverly loamy phase (BVI),Tavistock (TA), and Colwood (CW) soils . Severelyeroded Tuscola soils occur in portions of somelandscapes .Land Use/Management CommentsWhen topography is not a limitation, Tuscolasoils are rated Class 1 for common field crops .They are suitable for a wide range of specialcrops, and their suitability for many special cropsincreases if they are tile drained. Suitabilityratings for selected special crops are given inTables 6, 7, and 8 .Tuscola soils are susceptible to water erosion .A crop rotation which includes a forage crop,planting cover crops, and maintaining high cropresidue levels will aid in reducing the risk oferosion by water. Conservation tillage practices,particularly no-till practices for fall crops, shouldbe considered for these soils.Vittoria Soils (VI)Landform and TopographyVittoria soils have developed on 40 to 100 cmthick veneers of coarse textured lacustrinematerials whichare underlain by mediumtexturedlacustrine materials . They usually occur on upperand crest slope positions in landscapes which havenearly level or very gently undulating topography.Slopes usually range from 1 to 5%.Soil Moisture CharacteristicsVittoria soils are imperfectly drained. Theyareusually rapidly permeable in the upper coarsetextured materials, and slowly permeable in thelower medium textured materials . Water tablelevels often temporarily occur in the zoneimmediately above the underlying mediumtextured materials . Vittoria soils have moderate tohigh water holding capacities . Surface runoff isslow to moderate, depending on the steepness ofthe surface slope .General Soil CharacteristicsThe Ap and Bmgj horizons most often havefine sand or loamy fine sand textures, but finesandy loam or sandy loam textures are alsocommon . Clay enriched Btgj or IlBtgj horizons,which often are weakly developed, usually havevery fine sandy loam or loam textures and occurjust above the calcareous IICkgj horizons . TheIICkgj horizons have higher silt contents andusually silt loam or very fine sandy loam textures .Distinct or prominent, dark yellowish browntodark brown mottles occur within the profile . Azone of intensive mottling often occurs in thelower part of the sandy materials above the loamymaterials. Soil reaction ranges from strongly acid49