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

80% of the area represented by the map symbolconsists of that soil type or slope class . Significantmeans that 20 to less than 40% of the arearepresented by the map symbol consists of thatsoil type or slope class .Suitability ratings for the soils identified in thesymbols shown on the soil maps are given inTables 6, 7, and 8. Ratings are not given in thetables for miscellaneous land units . The followingexamples of typical map symbols will demonstratethe procedures that should be followed whenusing the tables to determine the appropriate soilsuitability rating or ratings for symbols shown onthe soil maps. For the purpose of these examples,the suitability rating for cucumbers will bedetermined .Example 1. BVCIn this example, 80% or more of the arearepresented by the symbol consists of Beverly (BV)soils which occur on simple C slopes of 2 to 5% .Procedure:1) Locate the symbol "BV" in the first column ofTable 6 titled 'Map Symbol".2) Now move horizontally across the line for BVsoils and locate slope class "C" in the columntitled "Slope classes/Management factors" .The soil suitability rating for BV soils whichoccur on C slopes will be found on this line .3) Now move horizontally across the C slopeclass line to Crop Group column #4(Cucumbers), where the suitability rating ofClass S3 is given.4) After determining the suitability rating, movedown vertically in the same column in thetable to the lines which indicate whether theratings should change if management factors,such as drainage or irrigation, are carried out.In the line titled 'Drainage" a +1 is shown, andin the line titled 'Irrigation' a dash is shown.These indicate that drainage would improvethe rating by one class, and irrigation does notaffect the rating.5) Therefore, the suitability rating for the mapsymbol is Class S2 for cucumbers if the soilsare tile drained. If the soils are not tiledrained, however, the rating for the mapsymbol is Class S3.Example 2.BVC>bIn this example, 40 to 80% of the area representedby the symbol consists of Beverly (BV) soils whichoccur on simple C slopes of 2 to 5% (dominantslope), and 20% to less than 40% of the areaconsists of Beverly (BV) soils which occur oncomplex b slopes of 0.5 to 2% (significant slope) .Two suitability ratings must therefore bedetermined.Procedure :1) Locate the symbol "BV" in the first column ofTable 6 tided "Map Symbol".2) Now move horizontally across the line for BVsoils and locate slope class "C" and slope class"b" in the column titled "Slope classes/Management factors" . The soil suitabilityratings for BV soils which occur on theseslopes will be found on these lines.3) Now move horizontally across the C slopeclass line to Crop Group column #4(Cucumbers), where the suitability rating ofClass S3 is given . After determining thatrating, now move up Column #4 to theb slopeclass line where the suitability rating of ClassS3 is given .4) After determining both suitability ratings,move down vertically in the same column inthe table to the lines which indicate whetherthe ratings should change if managementfactors, such as drainage or irrigation, arecarried out. In the line titled "Drainage" a +1is shown, and in the line titled "Irrigation" adash is shown . These indicate that drainagewould improve both ratings by one class, andirrigation does not affect either rating.5) Since the ratings are the same for both slopes,the suitability rating for the map symbolfor cucumbers is Class S2 if the soils are filedrained. If the soils are not the drained, therating is Class 53 .Example 3.BV>TObIn this example, 40 to 80% of the area representedby the symbol consists of Beverly (BV) soils whichare the dominant soils. They occur on complex bslopes of 0.5 to 2% . In addition, 20% to less than40% of the area consists of Toledo (TO) soilswhich are the significant soils . They also occur onb slopes .