Land Classification in Wisconsin

The oxtensive work In revaluation of land by the Federal appraisers, the setting aside of extensive areas for forestry and the zoning of land to prevent settlement In areas unsuitable for agricultural use has created a demand for a practical classification of land to serve these purposes. In any such classification the economic productiveness of the soil determined by Its water holding capacity, fertility, suitability for tillage operations and climate are the fundamental factors to be considered. In Wisconsin, as In most states, owing to the complexity of the geology and topography, the detailed mapping of the soils has required the recognition of a large number of soil types and these form an Intricate pattern over most of the state. Moreover, the description of these types In the text of the reports Is not readily Interpreted In terms of practical land value by those not experienced in soil mapping. A simplified scheme of classification was needed to express the fundamental facts In such a way that the mass of data of the detailed reports and maps could be readily used for the purposes mentioned. A four-fold grouping or grading was made of the approximately 200 types and phases which have been mapped In the detailed soil survey. This grading was made chiefly to express the relative value for the production of staple feed crops, the use to which over 91$ of the cultivated land of the state is put. It was based on the estimates made by the field men of the Soil Survey, the yields on our substations and demonstrational plots and on reports from 2,000 experienced farmers to whom a carefully worded questionnaire was sent. In this connection it should be pointed out that on the dairy farm on which corn, legume hay, grain and pasture are needed, lt Is not possible to adapt the crop to the soil as fully as in the growing of cash crops. In grading Wisconsin types, therefore, their suitability to all three types of crops was taken as the basis.