James E. Miller 01438255 LRES 201 My Favorite Soil – Plains, MT Sept. 27, 2005

My Favorite Soil – Plains, MT
Location: The target real property is 68 acres in, Plains, Sanders County, MT, and located four miles northeast of Plains just off Highway 28 on Deemer Creek Road. TRS: 20 N, 25 W, 30 DBA; Lat: 47.4610; Longitude (dd) -114.8263; Geomethod: TRS-SEC; Datum: NAD27. 2400’ above sea level. The local map source information: http://www.city-data.com/city/Plains-Montana.html



Water: The property will be supplied with well water. Water rights: DNRC 53656. Well information: Well log on 10 acres next door: Date: 1981, depth: 279 feet; static water level: 82 feet; Pumping water level: 235 feet. Source: Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology: http://mbmggwic.mtech.edu/oldata/opSite.asp?gwic_id=74994$agency=mbmg&session= Examination of this and other logs indicated that water flow of 10 GMP was easily obtainable. Some log reports indicated flow of between 30 and 40 GPM.
Solar aspect. The major face of the property is mostly south facing (about one-half,) about a quarter is east facing and about a quarter is northeast facing. It is in the low foothills northeast of Plains. This type of location and orientation was recommended by Cato, 2,200 years ago. http://www.kal69.dial.pipex.com/shop/system/index.html
Pictures: A portfolio of color photographs accompanies this report. I need the back after they have been examined.
Soil forming factors: The parent soil material is the ancient lake bed when what is now Flathead Lake covered much of Sanders County. Alluvium washed down into the lake bed deposited fine clays, silts and some sands which were consolidated and form shale-like layers.
The main soil forming factors were the upheaval of the lake bed, forming mountains and foothills, which, over time were exposed to the rain, ice and snow and the effect of plants. Residuum, colluvium and some loess created three major horizons. Most of the exposed shale was in highly fractured condition, notwithstanding some rather large outcroppings were observed at the top of the hill.
Precipitation:

Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Plains-Montana.html
Temperature:
Plains has one of the more temperate climates in Montana as shown by the temperature map.
The chart for temperature in Plains is:

Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Plains-Montana.html
Plains is in the yellow area and has over 100 days of frost free temperatures. Peaches and melons are grown in the Plains area.


River influence: The “good weather” is positively influenced by the presence of the Clark Fork River. The valley is also sheltered by a ring of 7000 foot or so mountains.

Source: http://www.city-data.com/city/Plains-Montana.html
The soil profile descriptions are:
Horizon O: At late summer, the O horizon contained weeds, consisting of vetch, spurge, mustard and other weeds. The maximum height was five feet and the average height was about two feet. See Biological content, below.
Horizon A: The A horizon was between six and twelve inches thick when viewed at cuts made by a bulldozer in preparation for putting in a road from the bottom of the property to the top. It consisted of clay and silty clay, was very dark gray. Attached is a biological soils report for the A horizon on the subject property conducted by Mid-west Bio-Systems.
Horizon B: The B horizon consisted of light calcareous material, broken and in lumps plus some fines. It ran from about eight inches from the surface to as far down as the cuts went; the deepest was about three feet.
Horizon C: The many outcroppings of shale indicated that the bedrock is shale having a reddish-brown color. Driving along Highway 200, many shear cliff faces indicates considerable shale/rock deposits over a wide area which are mined as exterior facing for buildings.
Expected Soil Order: The closest view of the soil profile is Plate 12, Vertisol, after page 114, Brady & Weil, Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils.
The rather abrupt horizon line between the A (dark gray) and B (light tan) on plate 12 is representative of My Favorite Soil. However the C Horizon soil looked more like the C horizon in Plate 7, Inceptisol, consisting of hard lumps of light tan calcareous soil in a bed of finer materials of the same type. Root galleys could be seen in the bulldozer cut extending down about two feet from the surface and down to the B horizon.
The O horizon was evidenced by very rank plant growth, including grasses and many deep rooted plants such as mustard, spurge, some which reached a height of five feet. A shovel cut was made to about nine inches and samples taken and sent to a biological laboratory. In early summer, the soil still had a good moisture content. Samples were taken of the A and B horizons, but have not as yet been tested for mineral content. The color of the soil taken from the shoveled hole was dark, similar to the A horizon in Plate 2, whereas the same soil in the dozer cut was dry and had a color closer to the A horizon of Plate 1. There was no evidence of swelling or cracking. Some slate could be seen exposed on the surface of the hill. This information was given to me orally by the old-time real estate broker through whom I made an offer to buy the property and by examining the drilling logs of water well drillers on nearby properties.
There were juniper trees and pine trees on adjoining property, but no trees on the subject property and very few permanent bushes. Horse droppings indicated that horses had been pastured on the subject property a few years earlier.
Using the key on page 67 of Brady, I would exclude all of the listed soil orders as none seem to fit the profile, and nominate My Favorite Soil in the “Other soils” category. The “best fit” is a Mollisol, although there appear to be no “impermeable layer at 1.8 meters from the soil surface.” Because of the fragmentation of the B horizon and the rather loose A horizon, and the lack of any evidence of soil erosion, it appears that the two horizons were rather open and able to absorb moisture.
The National Hydric Soils List was consulted. Source: http://soils.usda.gov/use/hydric/
The closest fit was: Area Symbol: MT 651 Area Name: Sanders and Parts of Lincoln and Flathead Counties, Montana Map unit sequence: 331 Map Unit symbol: 792D Map Unit Name: Redlock-Fernline-Iffgulch complex, 0 to 15 percent slopes Component name and phrase: Iffgulch Component percent: 10 Land forms: Swale Hydric rating: yes Hydric criteria: 2B3
Note: This was the best match for slope: 0-15%. The average slope was about six percent.
Alternate sources: USDA: http://soils.usda.gov/technical/soil_orders/ University of Idaho: http://soils.ag.uidaho.edu/soilorders/ Of all of the plates shown at the above website, example 2, Inceptisol, is the closest to My Favorite soil, although there was virtually no AB, Bw1, Bw2 and very little BC.

Using these resources, the Soil Order could be Inceptisol.
World Wide Distribution: The world wide distribution map on the inner back cover of Brady would suggest that My Favorite Soil is likely to be an Alfisol, a Mollisol or an Inceptisol. Given the probable age of the terrain, as evidenced by the worn down hills, we can probably rule out Inceptisol.
The USDA map was also consulted but was such a poor representation, it could not be read. http://soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/mapindex/order.html
Classification of the sub-order will have to await a lab test of the soil samples taken from the subject property.
Management implications:
The subject property was sold for use as a single family residence. My intended use was to cut terraces into the hillside, provide retaining walls about two to three fee high, then use the top soil as fill on the outward side, thus creating a three to five foot depth of the A horizon in which to plant hazelnut bushes (on the steeper slopes) and use as truck gardening on the lower slopes. This would expose about five feet width of the B horizon, which would be sloped back toward the retaining wall and thus each flat area would act as a rain and snow melt retention and ground water charge system. The well would be positioned at the lowest corner of the property. By capturing the rain and snow melt, it would likely feed the aquifer, thus providing an extra reserve of water for irrigation.
Biological content: Contact was made with Midwest Bio-Systems and its protocol for gathering samples and shipping was observed. In summary, the protocol was to select six representative locations and, using a clean shovel, dig a hole about 8 to 10 inches deep. I then used a clean, metal ladle to scrap soil from the sides of the hole, placing the sample in a clean bucket. I then mixed the samples, placed the dirt in several bags, then enclosed them in a Styrofoam container containing blue ice. I shipped the samples to the laboratory by next day air UPS so that the samples would be received within 48 hours of being taken.
The resulting analysis is attached and indicates that the soil biota population is about one-half of the ideal population for maximum plant yields. I attribute that deficiency to the lack of irrigation.
One might note in the picture, the billy goat eating. There were two, very large male goats on the property, contentedly eating the leafy spurge and other plants. They appeared to be fat and healthy. The history of the land use appears to have been the pasturing of horses, judging by the horse droppings. The A horizon appears to be very suitable for vegetables, where as the B horizon appears to be suitable for hazelnut bushes and other agroforestry applications, due to the broken nature of the C horizon and its permeability. Nut trees need good drainage. The presence of trees on the neighboring lands, serve as testaments to the value of the land for crop use.
Land use and management:
In anticipation of purchasing the 68 acres or other suitable land in Plains, I prepared “Home Grown Organics Farmstead Business Plan”, a copy of which is attached. The primary crops to be planted were hazelnut bushes, vegetables and berries. A copy of the plan is attached.
These studies were as a result of research and papers previously written, namely a soil foodweb study supervised by Dr. Bruce Maxwell and the selection of hazelnut cultivars supervised by Dr. Nancy Callan.
Respectfully submitted,


James E. Miller
LRES 201 My Soil.doc