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

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE AREAGeneral InformationThe location of Elgin County in south-westernOntario is shown in Figure 2. Townshipboundaries, locations of cities and towns, mainroads and highways, and major water courses areshown in Figure 3.The . total area of Elgin County isapproximately 185,000 ha. Of this total,approximately 152,000 ha consists of farmlandwhich includes both improved and unimprovedland (6). Agriculture is the predominant land usein the County, with approximately 117,000 ha or63% of the total land area of the County devotedto crop production (6) . The crops that are themost extensively grown in the County includegrain corn, soybeans, winter wheat, hay, andtobacco.A summary of some of the most importantclimatic data for the County is given in Table 1 .Some of the more important geologic andphysiographic features of Elgin County thatinfluence the nature and location of the soils areshown in Figures 4 and 5. This information hasbeen generalized from detailed descriptionspublished by Chapman and Putnam (7).Information on the geology of the area is availablein publications of the Ontario Geological Survey,Ontario Ministry of Northern Development andMines. The correlation between the generalizedgeologic and physiographic information shown inFigures 4 and 5, and the soils described in thisreport, is given in Table2 The areal extents of thesoils and miscellaneous land units mapped in thecounty are given in Table 3.Schematic cross-section diagrams of sometypical landscapes in the County are provided inFigures 6 to 9 . These diagrams present conceptualrelationships of many of the soils in the Countywith surficial geology and physiographic features .times of the year, average temperatures increaseabout 1-2° C from north to south across theCounty. This change would be larger, if it werenot for the close proximity of lake Huron, whichhelps to moderate temperatures and increasesnowfall because the cold air masses pass over thisLake as they move over the region from thenorthwest.As a result of these moderating influences,some of the less hardy horticultural crops such asgrapes and tobacco are grown in the County.Areas used for such crops are often found on thewarmer south facing slopes of elevated ridges,with the ridge known as the Sparta Morainehaving the largest area of horticultural crop landin the County. Local areas that are best suited forsuch crops are most likely to occur near theshoreline of Lake Erie, unless a rapid springwarm-up of the soil is a necessity.In a study carried out by Duff et al . (9) tolocate the most profitable soils for growing grapesin the areas bordering Lake Erie, it was concludedthat there is limited potential for growing grapeson a large scale. The authors of the studyrecognized, however, that there may be somepotential for growing grapes in localized areas offavourable climate on the south facing slopes ofsome elevated ridges. Two other importantfindings of the study were: 1) that lake breezesalong the western portion of the Lake Erieshoreline have a minor effect on climatic capabilityfor areas which are more than 1 kilometre inlandfrom the Lake, and 2) that killing spring frosts arelikely to occur in inland areas adjacent to thewestern portion of the Lake Erie shoreline duringthe three weeks after blooming in most years .The most important climate elements aresummarized in Table 1 . These were derived frommaps in Brown et al . (8) and Brown and Bootsma(10) .ClimateElgin County is situated in the centre of thenorth shore of Lake Erie . This Lake has thegreatest moderating influence on the climate intheCounty . The influence is largest in spring whenwarm air coming from the southwest is cooled bythe lake . For example, April daytime hightemperatures average more than 12° C in thenorthern two-thirds of the County and averageless than 10° C along the lakeshore (8) . At other
Table 1 .Climate data for Elgin County'ElementsMean daily temperature for the yearMean daily temperaturesminimum for Januarymaximum for Aprilmaximum for Julymaximum for OctoberFrost free seasonRange of average conditionsfrom north to south8 to 9° C-7 to -9 ° C
Page 1 and 2: The Soils ofElgin CountyVolume 1Min
Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe completion of t
Page 5 and 6: Southwold Soils (SO) . . . . . . .
Page 7 and 8: LIST OF FIGURES1 . Soil map index f
Page 9: 5. More detailed information for a
Page 13 and 14: Figure 4.Generalized geologic map o
Page 15 and 16: Table 2.Correlation of major soils
Page 17 and 18: Figure 6.Schematic landscape cross-
Page 19 and 20: HOW THE SOILS WERE MAPPED AND CLASS
Page 21 and 22: of soil profiles and horizons which
Page 23 and 24: GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SOILSSo
Page 25 and 26: Table 3.Soils and land units mapped
Page 27 and 28: Figure 11 .Soil textural groups and
Page 29 and 30: phase (BN.T) soils were mapped in c
Page 31 and 32: underlying fine textured materials
Page 33 and 34: atings for selected special crops a
Page 35 and 36: Conservation tillage practices, par
Page 37 and 38: clay. The Ap horizons commonly have
Page 39 and 40: Gobles soils were frequently mapped
Page 41 and 42: Kelvin soils are susceptible to com
Page 43 and 44: Soil Moisture CharacteristicsMiddle
Page 46 and 47: soils which occur in the eastern po
Page 48 and 49: Bluish gray or gray gley colours ar
Page 50 and 51: Stanley till, Tavistock till phase
Page 52 and 53: to neutral in the Ap horizons, to m
Page 54 and 55: tillage practices, particularly no-
Page 56 and 57: Organic (OR)Organic land units usua
Page 58 and 59: eference and also Publication No .
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Procedure :1) Locate the symbols 'B
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Table 4.Agricultural alnd capabilit
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Soil Suitability ClassesDescription
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Procedure:1) Locate the symbols 'BV
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Table 6.Agricultural land suitabili
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Table 6 .Agricultural land suitabil
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Table 6. Agricultural land suitabil
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erosion losses will occur . Potenti
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the average annual soil loss using
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Table 9 . Mean K values, K ranges a
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Table 10.LS values for different co
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Table 13.C values for common field
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Table 14 . C values for some field
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Table 16.C values for some common c
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GLOSSARYAlluvium materialBlanketCal
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ProminentmottlesRaised shorelineSoi
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4. Schut, L.W. and W.G. Stevens . 1
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APPENDIX 1Generalized Soil Informat
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BERRIEN SOIL TILL PHASE (BE.T)GENER
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BURFORD SOIL (BU)GENERALIZED PROFIL
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CAMILLA SOIL (CM)GENERALIZED PROFIL
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GOBLES SOIL (GO)GENERALIZED PROFILE
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KELVIN SOIL (KE)GENERALIZED PROFILE
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MAPLEWOOD SOIL - TILL PHASE (MA.T)G
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NORMANDALE SOIL (NO)GENERALIZED PRO
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STRATHBURN SOIL (ST)GENERALIZED PRO
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TOLEDO SOIL - COARSE PHASE (TO.C)GE
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WATTFORD SOIL (WF)GENERALIZED PROFI
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APPENDIX 2Field Identification of S
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5. Proceed to Figure 13 and determi
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Figure 13 : Field Site Key To Ident
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Figure 14 :Field Site Key To Identi
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A iFigure 15 :Field Site Key To Ide
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Figure 16 : Field Site Key To Ident
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The Soils of Elgin County - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

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