66 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



Maryland exiioriinent station for work on the soils of Maryland), took 

 together 17 per cent of the appropriation, including all salaries and 

 laboratory supplies. 



The soil survey of the Western division, under Mr. Thomas II. 

 Means, with an assistant in Arizona and California, and with Mr. 

 Frank D. Gardner and an assistant in Utah, together with the soil 

 survey of the Eastern division, under Mr. Clarence W. Dorsey, with 

 Messrs. Bonsteel, Smith, and one assistant in various States, absorbed 

 34 per cent of the appropriation. This includes the annual salaries 

 of the men, traveling and subsistence expenses in the field, and sup- 

 plies for the field parties, but not the cost of publishing the results of 

 this work. 



The tobacco work, under the charge of Mr. Marcus L. Floyd, and 

 the physiological investigations, under Dr. Oscar Loew, took 15 -pev 

 cent of the appropriation, including the salaries, traveling, and field 

 expenses, but not the cost of the survey of tobacco lands nor the 

 chemical work done in connection with the survey. 



PROGRESS OF THE SOIL SURVEY. 

 AREA SURVEYED DURING THE YEAR, AND COST. 



Soil surveys have been carried on during the year in seven States and 

 one Territory — Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, 

 Louisiana, Utah, California, and Arizona. The total area surveyed 

 and mapped amounted to 3,380 square miles, or 2,160,000 acres. The 

 actual cost of the field work connected with the survey, the salaries 

 of the men while actually employed in the field, and transi)ortation 

 (including team hire) and subsistence expenses in the field, amounted 

 to |<3,383. This was at the rate of about $2 per square mile, or three- 

 tenths of a cent per acre. Part of this expense was paid by the States, 

 so that the actual cost of the field work to the Department was con- 

 siderably less than the amount stated. The total cost of the field 

 work, including the salaries of the men while preparing the reports, 

 together Avith the cost of inspecting the field work, amounted to $8,721. 



The work has all been mapped on the scale of 1 inch to the mile. 

 This scale is the one adopted by the United States Geological Survey 

 in most of its recent topographic maps, so that wherever available 

 these topographic maps are used as base maps for the soil work. On 

 such a scale a square tract of 10 acres would be represented by an 

 area on the map about one-eighth of an inch square, which is a very 

 satisfactory unit, allowing considerable detail in a comparatively 

 large area covered by a season's work. 



The average rate of the soil mapping per field partj' for all the 

 States has been about 3.5 square miles per day, or 100 square miles 

 per month. The average length of the full field season for each party 

 has been about eight months. Tlie maps are kept fully up in the 

 field, and in most cases when the parties come in from the field 

 the maps can be turned over immediately to the engraver. There 

 remain of course the examination of the specimens and the typical 

 soil samples and the preparation of the reports, which require at 

 least three or four months. 



The rate at which the field work has been done has varied naturally 

 with conditions of the weather, the character of the soil (whether the 

 soil types are very distinct and cleai-ly marked by color, vegetation, 

 texture, topography, or other in-ominent features), and b}^ the accu- 



