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

Kelvin soils are susceptible to compaction, andcare should be taken not to use heavy machinerywhen they are too wet. Conventional fall tillagemay be best on Kelvin -and Kelvin loamy phasesoils to improve soil structure and enhancedrainage . Acrop rotation which includes a foragecrop will also aid in improving soil structure .Conservation tillage practices should beconsidered for Kelvin coarse phase soils.Kintyre Soils (KT)Landform and TopographyKintyre soils have developed on 40 to 100 cmthick veneers of coarse textured lacustrinematerials which are underlain by gravelly coarsetextured lacustrine beach materials . The uppersandy materials are often wind modified. Theyusually occur on upper and crest slope positionsof beach ridges which are located near the flanksof terminal moraines. Slopes generally range from2 to 9%.Soil Moisture CharacteristicsKintyre soils are rapidly drained and rapidlypermeable. They have low water holdingcapacities and slow surface runoff, but surfacerunoff increases on slopes which are greater than5% .General Soil CharacteristicsThe Ap and Bm horizons usually have sandyloam, fine sandy loam, 'or loamy fine sandtextures . Clay enriched Bt horizons, which usuallyhave sandy loam or fine sandy loam textures,commonly occur above the calcareous IICkhorizons. The IICk horizons are coarser texturedand usually have gravelly coarse sand or gravellyloamy coarse sand textures .Soil reaction ranges from strongly acid toneutral in the Ap horizons, to mildly alkaline inthe IICk horizons. Soil classification is typicallyBrunisolic Gray Brown Luvisol .Soil VariabilityOccasionally the IICk materials consist ofalternating layers of sand and gravel . In transitionareas between the beach ridges and till moraines,shallow Kintyre soils may occur where less than100 cm of sand and gravel materials overly theclayey till materials . Kintyre soils were most oftenmapped in combination with Highgate (HI),Gobles (GO), and Gobles washed phase (GO.W)soils.Land Use/Management CommentsKintyre soils are rated Class 2FM for commonfield crops when topography is not a limitation .They are highly suitable for many special crops ifthe surface slopes are not too steep, andsupplemental irrigation is carried out . Suitabilityratings for selected special crops are given inTables 6, 7, and 8.Kintyre soils are susceptible to wind erosion.Management practices which maintain organicmatter levels, planting cover crops, andestablishing windbreaks, will aid in reducing therisk of erosion by wind. Conservation tillagepractices, particularly no-till practices, should beconsidered for these soils .Maplewood Soils (MA)Landform and TopographyMaplewood soils have developed on 40 to 100cm thick veneers of medium textured lacustrinematerials which are underlain by fine to very finetextured lacustrine materials . They usually occuron lower slopes or in depressions in landscapeswhich have nearly level or very gently undulatingtopography. Slopes are less than 2%.Soil Moisture CharacteristicsMaplewood soils are poorly drained andusually slowly permeable . High water table levelsoften are present in these soils in the winter andearly spring, and at times may also be presentduring the growing season . Maplewood soilshave high water holding capacities and moderateto slow surface runoff.General Soil CharacteristicsThe Ap and Bg horizons, which usually havesilt loam or loam textures, generally occur in theupper medium textured materials . The calcareousIICkg horizons occur in the lower fine texturedmaterials and usually have silty clay loam or siltyclay textures .Grayish gley colours are dominant in theprofile, and prominent strong brown to darkyellowish brown mottles are also present. Soilreaction ranges from slightly acid to neutral in theAp horizons, to mildly alkaline in the IICkghorizons . Soil classification is typically OrthicHumic Gleysol.Soil VariabilityMaplewood till phase (MAJ) soils weremapped where 40 to 100 cm of medium texturedlacustrine materials were underlain by fine to very39