REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 



Bureau of Soils, 

 WasMngton, D. C, Sept. 15, 1915. 



Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a report covering the 

 operations of the Bureau of Soils for the fiscal year ended June 30, 

 1915. 



Respectfully, IMilton Whitney, 



CJiief of Bureau. 

 Hon. D. F. Houston, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



SOIL SURVEY. 



PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 



Within the fiscal year ended June 30, 1915, detailed soil surveys 

 were completed or begun in 97 areas located in 32 States, and a total 

 area of 40,389.5 square miles, or 25,849,280 acres, was mapped. 

 Reconnoissance surveys were carried on in two States and a total 

 area of 10,161 square miles, or 6,503,040 acres, was mapped. Re- 

 ports covering the detailed areas have been pubHshed or are in course 

 of preparation for publication, each report accompanied by a map, on 

 the scale of an inch to the mile, showmg the distribution and location 

 of the various types of soil, the roads, houses, railways, and streams. 

 The detail surveys usually cover a county. These 97 surveys were 

 not all begun and completed in the year 1915, as in some work was 

 begim the previous year and in others work was still in progress at 

 the close of the year. Reports on the areas covered by the reconnois- 

 sance surveys include soil maps on a scale of about 4 niiles to the inch, 

 and the area surveyed usually covers se"veral counties. 



Tlie total area covered by detailed soil surveys in the United States 

 from the beginning of the work in 1899 to June 30, 1915, amounts 

 to 369,928.5 square miles, or 236,754,240 acres, and by reconnois- 

 sance surveys 444,210 square miles, or 284,294,400 acres. 



COOPERATION. 



A great deal of the work of the survey is carried on in cooperation 

 with State organizations, such as agricultural colleges, experiment 

 stations, departments of agriculture, and geological surveys. The 



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