AUMlxMSTKATlVE REPORT. II 



THE PURPOSE AND DUTIES OF THE STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



Among the specific objects for which the Survey exists, as 

 stated in the enactment, is that of making known information 

 regarding the minerals, water supply and other natural resources 

 of the State, including the occurrence and location of minerals 

 and other deposits of value, surface and subterranean water supply 

 and power and mineral waters and the best and most economic 

 methods of development, together with analysis of soils, minerals 

 and mineral waters, with maps, charts, and drawings of the same. 



A distinctly educational function of the Survey is indicated 

 by Section 4 of the law, which miakes it the duty of the State 

 Geologist to make collections of specimens, illustrating the geo- 

 logical and mineral features of the State, duplicate sets of which 

 shall be deposited with each of the State colleges. The publica- 

 tion of annual reports is provided for as a means of disseminating 

 the information obtained in the progress of the Survey. The Sur- 

 vey is thus intended to serve on the one hand an economic, and 

 on the other an educational purpose. In its economic relations 

 a State Survey touches on very varied interests of the State's devel- 

 opment. In its results it miay be expected to contribute to an 

 intelligent development of the State's natural resources. Its edu- 

 cational value is of no less immediate concern to the State, both 

 to the citizens within the State and to prospective citizens without. 



A knowledge of the soil and of the available water supply is 

 very necessary to successful agriculture, and the Survey's investi- 

 gations along these lines are of value to all land owners. A knowl- 

 edge of the mineral deposits which may lie beneath the surface, 

 is likewise necessary to a correct valuation of land. 



RELATION OF THE STATE SLTRVEY TO THE OWNERSHIP OF MINERAL 



LANDS. 



The relation of the State Geological Survey to the ownership 

 of mineral lands is specifically defined. The Survey law provides 

 that it shall be the duty of the State Geologist and his assistants, 

 when they discover any mineral deposits or substances of value, 

 to notify the owners of the land upon which such deposits occur 

 before disclosing their location to any other person or persons 

 Failure to do so is punishable by fine and imprisonment. It is 

 not intended by the law, however, that the State Geologist's time 



