Untitled - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

BROOKSTON SERIES
The Brookston soils have developed from clay loam till similar to that of the
Huron and Perth soils but under poor drainage in level to depressional areas.
The Brookston soils have a dark loam or silt loam surface layer high in
organic matter content, of friable granular structure and neutral reaction. Underlying
the surface layer is a gray mottled horizon which may be subdivided into two
layers on the basis of slight differences in color and structure and rests on the
calcareous parent material which, in Dufferin County, usually occurs at depths of
1S to 24 inches.
The surface soil varies from loam to silt loam, in contrast to the Brookston
soils mapped in some other counties, particularly Essex and Lambton, where surface
soil is dominantly clay and clay loam. The reaction is neutral on the surface
and becomes more alkaline with depth.
Because Brookston soil areas in Dufferin County are mainly small, scattered and
wet, many of them are not cleared. If cleared, the Brookston soils are used chiefly
for pasture. In southwestern counties where Brookston soils occur in larger blocks
drainage has been improved; they are used for grain, corn, soybeans, burley tobacco
and canning crops.
In Dufferin County drainage improvement on the Brookston soils is difficult
to implement since the areas in which they occur are catch basins for runoff water
from adjacent slopes; few outlets are available.
DUNEDIN SERIES
The soils of the Dunedin series occur around the Niargara Escarpment in
Mulmur Township. Only 7,200 acres of these soils could be shown on the soil map.
The remaining acreage is included m the Osprey-Dunedin complex, which is
discussed later in this report.
The face of the escarpment in Nottawasaga and Mulmur Townships where
the Dunedin soils occur is comparatively steep, rising in some places 400 feet in
less than half a mile. Because of many deep gullies and stream beds, the topography
is rugged and the slopes are short and steep. The Dunedin soils have developed
from dark reddish brown till materials containing over 60 per cent of
clay. They are very slowly permeable to water, and therefore internal drainage is
very slow. External drainage over the steep slopes is, of course, very rapid.
The profile of the Dunedin soil has features of both Grey-Brown Podzolic and
Erown Forest soils. The solum is thin as in Brown Forest soils but the Bt horizon
common to the Grey-Brown Podzolic soils always occurs. The soil has a dark
brown clay Ah horizon about four inches thick which may rest on a reddish brown
Ae horizon or a B horizon. The B horizon, underlying the Ae (if present) is slightly
darker but has the same blocky structure as the Ae. The B horizon contains more
clay than the Ae. The calcareous parent material occurs at an average depth of
about 14 inches.
Because of the steep slopes and the clay texture most of these soils should be
considered non-agricultural. However, there are a few areas, especially northwest of
Mansfield, where the topography is moderately rolling; hence land can be used for
crops, usually grasses and clovers.
FOX SERIES
The Fox soils occur in only a few small areas widely scattered throughout the
county, a typical area of Fox sandy loam being located around Peepabun.
The soil parent material is calcareous sand, deposited as glacial outwash, and
in most cases is found beside present-day streams. Although the deposits are dominantly
medium sand, fine sands and course sands and even gravel sometimes
occur as strata with the medium sands. In general the Fox soils have a gently
undulating topography with smooth slopes. Steep slopes may also occur near the
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