WEBSTER
TYPIC ENDOAQUOLL Location: Cottonwood county
Soil Association Map Unit 13
The Webster series consists of poorly drained soils. Permeability is moderate or moderately slow. These soils formed in calcareous, loamy glacial till under a tall grass prairie. They are on flats and in swales on glacial moraines and glacial till plains. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. Thickness of the solum and depth to free carbonates are 24 to 50 inches. The mollic epipedon is 14 to 24 inches thick.
This nearly level, poorly drained soil is on slightly concave, broad flats. Individual areas are irregular and range from 5 to several hundred acres in size.
Water and air move through this soil at a moderate or moderately slow rate. Surface runoff is slow. Available water capacity is high. A seasonal high water table is at a depth of 1 to 3 feet. Reaction is neutral in the surface soil. The content of organic matter is high, of phosphorus is low, and of potassium is medium to high.
Most areas of this soil are farmed. This soil has good potential for cultivated crops, hay, pasture, and small grain and poor potential for trees. It has poor potential for most engineering uses.
This soil is mostly used for corn, soybeans, small grain, and forage grasses and legumes. Drainage and maintenance of fertility and tilth are needed to make and keep this soil suitable for these crops. Adequate drainage is usually provided by tile drainage. Deep tillage helps aerate this soil. Fall plowing helps to reduce the drying and warming time in spring. Organic matter content can be maintained by returning crop residue to the soil. Tilth can be maintained by proper timing of cultivation and by crop rotations that include forage grasses and legumes.
The choice of trees and shrubs used for windbreaks is limited to species or varieties that are tolerant of wetness. Surface water and competing vegetation needs to be controlled in order to obtain the best survival and growth rate of trees and shrubs.
This soil is poorly suited to building sites, roads, and sanitary facilities. Buildings need to be protected from damage by wetness and need to be constructed without basements. Protection can be provided by draining this soil and covering it with several feet of fill. Septic tank absorption fields function poorly in this soil because of the seasonal high water table. Roads need to be constructed with more suitable base material and protected from wetness by drainage. This soil is in capability subclass IIw.