REPORT OF THE SECRETAEY. 71 



Studies of forest products, centered mainly at the Forest Products 

 Laboratory at Madison, Wis., yielded important results. These, by 

 increasing our knowledge of the saving which can be effected by the 

 prtservation of wood against decay, by indicating the possibility of 

 utilizing for different purposes supposedly inferior but abundant 

 species in the place of more valuable ones now becoming scarce, and 

 by showing how greater efficiency can be had in methods of manufac- 

 ture, promote forest conservation in a very important field. Studies 

 in wood preservation have dealt with the efficiency of various pre- 

 servatives, the penetrability and resistance to decay of different 

 woods, and the best methods of injection. Wood, turpentines have 

 been studied and analyzed to arrive at the best methods of distilla- 

 tion and refining and to determine how their composition is influ- 

 enced by different methods of production. Woods heretofore utilized 

 little or not at all in the manufacture of paper have been tried and 

 found suitable for certain grades. Strength tests have been made on 

 many species of American woods. Different methods of kiln-drying 

 lumber have been studied, and a new and more efficient type of kiln 

 designed. 



BUREAU OF SOILS. 

 PROGRESS OF THE SOIL SURVEY. 



The work of this bureau has been vigorously prosecuted during 

 the last year. The soil-survey work has been carried on in 80 areas, 

 distributed through 28 States. 



There have been surveyed during the year 31,304 square miles, or 

 20,034,560 acres, on the detail scale of 1 mile to the inch, and 149,810 

 square miles, or 95,878,400 acres, on the reconnoissance scale of 4 

 miles to the inch. The reconnoissance work has been mainly in the 

 Great Plains region. 



More and more active interest is being taken in the soil survey, 

 and a number of the States, in addition to those which were reported 

 last year, have started active cooperation work with the bureau, in 

 order that the progress of the survey within their borders may be 

 hastened for the benefit of their people. 



The soil-survey work as a whole has progressed to such an extent 

 that a very fair idea can now be drawn of the soil resources of the 

 country, and the results are being used extensively as the basis for 

 other lines of agricultural investigation and for the development of 

 agricultural possibilities and resources. 



During the year a revision of all the work completed to January 

 1, 1912, has been made. The material is at hand for a compre- 

 hensive bulletin on the soils of the United States, showing the meth- 



