1586 Report of Farmers' Institutes 



with the convenience and comfort of the men doing the work, the 

 livery and hotel charges. Wealthy city men with estates in the 

 country should pay the entire charges. 



SOIL SURVEYS 



The main value of the soil survey as conducted at present is 

 to secure a classification of soils by the soil investigator for future 

 study. The survey itself will not be of immediate value to the 

 individual land owner. The farmer may get some benefit from, 

 the soil maps, depending upon his knowledge of the soil. The 

 man who makes the survey may be able tO' give a farmer some 

 valuable information because of his observations of farm practices 

 on farms having similar soil conditions. 



The volusia soils form a group or series occurring in the glacial 

 regions which are much alike in practically all particulars ex- 

 cept their texture. The notable feature is that they are derived 

 from sandstone and shales. They are most frequent on rolling 

 and hilly land and they are usually deficient in lime. About 

 one-third of the soils of the state are known as volusia, but they 

 occur in the southern tier of counties and half of the second tier 

 until the mountainous regions of the East are reached. They vary 

 in their character. The volusia silt is about as poor as any land. 



The soil survey does not determine available potash and phos- 

 phoric acid. Farm practices when successful are a better gauge 

 of proper methods than analyses. Available nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid and potash can not, to any extent, be determined by soil 



analyses. 



DRAINAGE AND DEEP TILLAGE 



Fifty per cent, of the tilled land in New York State is in need 

 of drainage and it is being demonstrated that drainage can be 

 done with much profit. The slope of the land does not necessarily 

 eliminate the need of drainage. Those who need most teaching 

 regarding drainage are those living on hill lands. 



The extent of drains must be gauged by the type of farming 

 — the crops produced. Tn draining land for crops where the unit 

 of value is $230 per acre instead of $30, use 20 or 30-foot distances 

 and not 40 or 50. 



A good arrangement of drains on hill lands would be to have 



