610 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



classification of the soils becomes increasingly important and increas- 

 ingly complex. The whole subject is a new one. No organization, 

 except the Bureau of Soils, has ever undertaken to classify, in detail, 

 the soils of any country, however small or however simple. There are 

 no traditions, therefore, to guide the bureau in this work. It is 

 breaking new ground. It is inevitable, therefore, that mistakes have 

 been and will continue to be made. In order to correct the past ones 

 and avoid the future ones, an increasing amount of attention has to 

 be paid to this })art of the work. During the last year more time 

 has been spent in this work than in any previous j^ear. More atten- 

 tion has been paid to inspection, also, making this important branch 

 of the work somewhat more expensive. 



RECONNOISSANCE SOIL SURVEYS IN STATES. 



Heretofore the reconnoissance soil-snrvey work of the bureau has 

 been carried on exclusively in the Great Plains region, except the 

 work in the State of Pennsylvania and in the western part of the 

 State of Washington. There is an increasing demand, however, for 

 reconnoissance soil-survey work in the States. It comes mainly from 

 the officials of the agricultural experiment stations. The increasing 

 demand made on these officials for experimental work makes some 

 knowledge of the soils of their States increasingly important. On 

 account of the necessarily slow rate of progress in the detailed work 

 of the bureau, the experiment station officials are willing to accept, 

 for the time being, the general knowledge furnished by a reconnois- 

 sance survey. This knowdedge will give them a basis for work pend- 

 ing the completion of the detailed survey of their States. It seems 

 probable that this demand will increase and that it will be necessary 

 for the bureau to expend a considerable part of its appropriation in 

 this work in the near future. None of the States desires, however, 

 to discontinue or decrease the rate of the detailed work. The demand 

 for reconnoissance work is a demand for additional work to meet 

 temporarily urgent and pressing needs. 



SOIL SURVEYS OF THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 



In the latter part of the fiscal year 1912 Congress passed a law 

 providing for the classification of the lands included within the 

 national forests. This w^ork will involve several factors, an im- 

 portant one being the soil. As soon as the bill became a law the 

 Forester asked for the cooperation of the Bureau of Soils in this 

 work. With the limited resources of the bureau, only four men 

 could be detailed to this work for the present. These men will begin 

 work before the close of the field season of the summer of 1912. The 

 importance of this Avork will demand additional men and additional 

 resources in the summer of 1913. It will require the most experienced 

 men on the bureau's staff, men of great skill and of mature and sound 

 judgment, and I have submitted a separate estimate to cover the sala- 

 ries of such men as it is thought will be needed, the Forest Service 

 to pay their field expenses, and the money saved by their transfer to 

 the new field to be used to secure additional men for the soil survey. 



