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THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



.-\ri::L 3, 1909. 



most importiint questions ever dealt with by investiga- 

 tors. 



The growth of the jioyiulation of the United States 

 demands that new land shall lie available fov agri- 

 cultural development-, and one of the most important 

 duties of this Bureau, thei-efire. has been the organiza- 

 tion of a soil siiivey which shall indicate the character 

 and potentialities of large areas, includinir both land 

 already occuriied and that yet awaiting development. 

 In this way up to June 1007, there had been surveyed 

 189,247 square miles or 89,118,080 acres. This has 

 resulted in a knowledge of the soil resoui'ces of the 

 country far beyond what was ever conceived of befire. 



.Soil ma])s and reports are pre))ared for each section 

 of country e.vamined and these are finibng application 

 ill the ni'i.st v.-u-ied manner: the War Department, the 

 Po.-.t Utiice Uepartment, Life Insurance companies, as 

 well as farmers. nui'ser\ men, seeds-men, and agricultural 

 implement makc:s hud in them valuable stoi'L-s of 

 information. 



The knowledge thus acquire(i has been of 

 immediate and direct benefit to many agricultural 

 industries. The production of fine-te.Ktured tobacco 

 wrapper leaf in the Connecticut Valley has been 

 rendered an assured possibility. In Texas and Alabama, 

 it is now found that fine cigar tobacco of the Cuban 

 type can be grown, while the tobacco industry of the 

 States of New York, Ohio, and Virginia has been 

 markedly improved by the knowledge rendered 

 available. 



The development of the dry lands of the West, 

 the possibilities of irrigation schemes, the introduction 

 of new crops, all depend largely on the work of the 

 Bureau of Soils, and, proceeding with .assurance as to 

 the knowledge supplied, are adding rapidly to the 

 wealth of the country. 



Special investigations relating to viticidture, to 

 rice growing, to apple growing, to fruit and truck farm- 

 ing, to the reclamation of swamp land, to timber rais- 

 ing,.are all resulting in striking additions to knowledge — 

 additions which mean development and increase of 

 wealth, and an avoidance of waste which must — and 

 indeed is — exerting a most important influence on the 

 country at large. 



In order that the knowledge so acquired m.ay be 

 brought home to the people interested, ofiiccrs of the 

 Department have organized a system of educational 

 tours: over 100 meetings have been held in the 

 different States, so that these tours with their 

 mee ings ha\e made immediately available much 



information which might have taken a considerable 

 time to diffuse by means of publications ahme. In 

 addition to this, special otficers are detailed to advise 

 firmers wiih regard to iheir crops and the best 

 methods of ilealing with their lands. 



In ceitain disuricts, areas which were formerly 

 under arable crops are reverting to less valuable 

 pasture, or are being abandoned. The reasons for these 

 changes, the capabilities of the land, and the possibilities 

 of using land to good .advantage are being carefully 

 studied so that much waste will be avoided. 



Jluch time and work have been expended ir» 

 investigating problems relating to soil fertility, and 

 some striking theories have been put forward. It is 

 claimed that the infertility of soils is very frequently 

 line to the presence of bodies deleterious to plant 

 grov.th, and that these bodies may arise as excreta 

 from the roots of growing plants, or from the decay of 

 organic matter in the soil. It is claimed th.-it these 

 deleterious bodies may be removed or rendered harm- 

 loss by such operations as tillage, draining, and 

 manuring, and that in a large measure the beneficiaF 

 effects of these operations are dependent upon their 

 relation to these deleterious bodies. Only passing 

 reference can be made here to the interesting line of 

 investigations thus opened up, the ultimate outcome 

 of which it is not yet possible to forecast. 



In new countries, one of the greatest dangers con- 

 fronting the farmer is the loss of his land by erosion. 

 Wlien the forest is cleared, or the suiface condition* 

 altered in a manner necessary to bring the land under 

 cultivation, it not uncommonly happens that storm 

 water, or even the water of moderate rains forms 

 channels and gullies wdiereby the soil is carried away 

 to an alarming and dangerous extent. It may indeed 

 be claimed that practically all arable land is under- 

 going more or less erosion, but in new countries this 

 erosion often takes on imexpected forms and threatens 

 to ruin otherwise promising areas. Problems incident 

 to this phase of agriculture are receiving the careful 

 attention of the Bureau of Soils, and as a result, sound 

 advice and explicit instructions are given to the farmers 

 throughout the country, while special attention and 

 help are afibrded in aggravated cases. Here again is 

 the possibility of avoiding enormous waste. 



Few problems in Agriculture escape the .activi- 

 ties of the Bureau of Soils, which stands — with the 

 other similar organizations of the Department of 

 Agriculture — as a striking example of the applicatiork 

 of scientific methods of research to industrial needs. 



