REPOKT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. XLYII 



what ib to be done on entering a given area and can proceed with 

 their work with the minimum of time for preliminary investigations 

 or reconnoissances. The}" are required to report to the central office 

 at least once each week, noting the area surveyed, the new soil types 

 established, and the character of their work, and to send in from 

 time to time sections of their map for criticism and suggestion as 

 the work proceeds. It is required that each party shall complete 

 the map in all details and write up the report in final shape before 

 leaving the area. These reports are then typewritten, and a copy 

 returned to the field party for correction or for additions or changes. 

 The work of each party is thoroughly inspected, so far as this has been 

 possible, in order to correlate the new soil types with those already 

 established, and to confer with the men as to suggestions which can 

 be safely made of new methods of cultivation or of new industries 

 which may be established. As the work of the soil survey assumes 

 greater proportions this inspection work becomes more and more 

 necessar}^ and more valuable, and it is advisable that a regular 

 inspection force should be established for the several districts into 

 which the country may be divided. 



The scale upon which the soil maps are published enables tracts as 

 small as -10 acres to be represented, and while there must always be 

 some variation allowed in each tj-pe, as it would be confusing to 

 show too much detail on the maps, still, where a type is represented 

 by even a small tract of 8 or 10 acres, it is shown upon the soil map, 

 so that landowners may rely upon an accurate classification of their 

 soils according to the types established. 



The reports describe in all necessary detail the characteristics of 

 the soils and their important variations; the histor}' of the settlement 

 and agricultural development of the area; the climate, ph^^siography, 

 and geology; the agricultural methods in use and the agricultural 

 conditions in the area, such as the tenure and size of the farms, the 

 efiiciency of labor, the principal products, and transportation and 

 market facilities, together with such special problems as may be 

 encountered, such as hardpan, acidity, irrigation, seepage waters and 

 drainage, alkali, and the reclamation of swamp or worn-out lands or 

 alkali soils, as these all have their bearing upon the commercial use 

 and value of the soils. 



EELATIOX OF THE SOIL SURVEY W'ORK TO THE EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



With the increasing interest in the soil investigations and the eco- 

 nomic value which the results have shown in a number of cases, the 

 experiment stations are taking a lively interest in this work, and it 

 seems proper to mention the true relation which should be established 

 between them and the Department in the further prosecution of the 

 work. It seems advisable that the management of the soil survey 



