UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE S O UTHER N SAS KATC H E WA N FROM TOWNSHIP 1 TO 48 INCLUSIVE 6ï J. MITCHECL UNIVERSITY OF SISKATCHEWAN IN0 H. C. MOSS AND J. S. CLAYTON DOMINION OEPARTMENT OF IORICULTURE EXCERIMENTAL FARMS SERVICE WlTH A SECTION ON GEOLDQY,BY F. H. EDMUNDS UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN SOlL SURVEY REPORT No. 12 SASKATOON. SASKATCHEWAN JUNE. 1944 REPRINTED NOVEMBER. 1947 THllü PRlHllNO. HARCH. 1962 Ac knowledgment HE authors wish to acknowledge financial assistance towards the completion of this project from the following sources: Yhe Dominion Department of Agriculture through the Experimental Farms Service and Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act. The Provincial Department of Agriculture. The Saskatchewan Research Foundation. The Department of Mines and Resources, Hydrographic and Map Service supplied the necessary base maps. Publication of the soi1 maps was arranged by the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, where final copies of the maps were drafted. Much useful information dealing with the subject matter of this report was contributed by personnel of the Dominion and Provincial Departments of Agriculture, officials of the rural municipalities, by many farmers within the area, and by colleagues at the University of Saskatchewan. ii A SPECIAL NOTE TO THE READER (Preface to Third Printing ) Advances in soil science, changes in agricultural conditions, and the need for more detailed information on Saskatchewan soils make it desirable to revise or replace Soil Survey Report No. 12. More detailed soil surveys are now in progress, but these will not be completed for the whole area for some years. It will therefore be necessary to retain the present report until new maps and reports are available for the whole of the No. 12 map area. In planning a third printing of this report, consideration was given to preparing a revised edition. This plan was finally discarded in view of the costs involved and the more important fact that information necessary to a complete revision is not yet available. Hence the present report is unchanged from the original edition, except that it was not possible to reproduce the photographic plates, which consequently appear as blank pages. To those Who make specific use of Saskatchewan Soil Survey publications, the following suggestions are offered : 1. The new soil surveys will be published in a series of indi. vidual map areas, each covering about four million acres. This means that the No. 12 Survey will be gradually re. placed over a period of years. Hence those interested should watch for public announcement of new soil survey publi- cations covering their own districts. 2. The new publications will contain changes in soil classifica- tion, map units, and soil names, and the maps will provide more detailed soil information than is presently available. Hence, whenever a new soil report is published it should be used in place of the present report for the particular area covered. DEPARTMENTOF SOIL SCIENCE, 1962. Preface HIS publication is the twelfth in a series of Soil Survey Reports issued T by the Department of Soils, University of Saskatchewan. The present report replaces Soii Survey Report No. 10, now out of print. In 1920 a Better Farming Conference was held at Swift Current at which a resolution was passed requesting the Provincial Government to appoint a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Farming Conditions. The Commission w8s appointed in the same year, and one of its major recommendations was that a soil survey of Saskatchewan should be undertaken. As a result the Department of Soils commenced soil survey work in 1921, and since 1929, the Dominion Department of Agriculture, through the Central Experimental Farm, has given assistance to this project. The Saskatchewan Soil Survey is conducted by the Department of Soils, University of Saskatchewan, with the active co-operation of the Dominion and Provincial Departments of Agriculture. This Co-operative arrangement has speeded the course of the work and has tended to broaden the scope of the survey. For example, the Dominion Departnient of Agriculture through P.F.R.A. requires detailed soil surveys of projected irrigation areas as basic information in determining the advisability of proceeding with their development. The Provincial Government has on occasions requested a preliminary reconnaissance survey of areas within Forest Reserves, when there has arisen a question as to the advisability of transferring such lands to other uses. The findings of the soil survey in such cases are of immediate practical importance. On the other hand the soil is a natural body, and during the course of any investigation of its nature for whatever practical purpose, it is necessary to maintain the viewpoint and methods of pure science. It is only in this way that Our knowledge of the soil can be increased, and a solid body of facts accumulated, to serve sts weapons in attacking the many and diverse problems of the land. The first purpose of the soil survey is to classify and map the soils of an area and to supplement this activity by examining their physical and chemical nature in an effort to meet the problems of agricultural production, or proper utilization of the various soil types encountered. The assembled information provides a convenient inventory of the soil resources in an area, and makes possible the ready correlation of the problems and queries of the farmer with the chief factor affecting his enterprise-that is, the soil. There are many important uses to be made of the material incorporated in the report and shown on the soil maps. In the first place it is basic information required in many soil and agronomic investigations. The relationship of the nature of the soil to cropping and cultural practices, control of weeds, insects, diseases, and erosion, and to questions relating to fertility may be cited in illustration of the above statement. Moreover, the soil survey information serves 8s a basis for considering the problems of land utilization and as a guide to administrative departments concerned with land and agricultural policies. The information has been extensively used in land appraisaï and assessment. To the land seeker the information provides a valuable guide to the nature of the land in any particular are8 he may have under consideration. To the farmer the soil maps and report provide the basis for obtaining the best available information on problems of production as related to his particular soil conditions. It enables him to correlate his own conditions with those of neighbouring or distant areas and makes possible a more rational planning of adjustments in farm organization to meet new circumstances as they arise. iii Table of CoGtents Page Acknowledgment .......... ............................................................................ ii Preface ................................................................................................. ........................................... 1 Soil and Plant Fbhtionships .................................................................................. 3 The Nature of Soil Minera1 Matter ..... Organic Matter ..... Pore Space and Soii Structure ...................................................................... 5 Soil Air ................. Soii Reaction &neraï Description of the Ara . ............................................................ 8 Location and Extent . ......................... ................................ .................. Surface Geological Deposits a t Material ............................ 13 Climate ................................... ................................................ 17 Native Vegetation . .................................. 21 Natural Resources-Agricultural ........................... Transportation and Marketing Facilities .................................................... 31 History and Development .................... ........................................ 32 Soii Classification .......................................... .......................................... 36 Soil Forming Factors ...................................................................................... 36 36 37 ..................... 39 40 42 45 51 ................................................. 51 Soil Phase ........ ................................................. 51 53 54 59 62 65 67 Fox Valley .................................................................... 71 Sceptre .................................................................................................................. 73 Wood Mountain .. ........................................................... 76 ...................................... 79 ........................................................... ................................................ 91 The Bïack SOU Associations .... Naicam ........ ........................................ V Yorkton .......................................................... .............................. 113 Waseca ....................................................... ...................... 116 Whitesan .................................................................. Meota .................................... ....................................................... Blaine Lake ........................................ ...................................................... 124 Cudworth ......................................................... ............................ 128 ...................................... .......................................................