168 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



the work justify tlie Department in pushing the surveys and giving 

 the people the information they seem to need, and which they appear 

 ready to benefit by in tlie practical extension of their agricultural 

 interests and in developing the prosperity of the State. 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



No work has been done in this State since 1899, and the establish 

 ment of the profitable Sumatra tobacco culture has aroused a decided 

 demand for the extension of the survey of 1899 in the Connecticut 

 Valley northward to the State line and on either side of the area which 

 has already been surveyed. It is proposed to spend three months 

 during the next field season in the extension of this work in the inter- 

 est particularly of the tobacco growers. 



MICHIGAN. 



During the past fiscal year Allegan County, covering an area of 828 

 square miles, has been surveyed under the direction of Mr. E. O. Fippin. 

 This work was undertaken particularly in the interest of the fruit 

 growers along the lake shore and of the sugar-beet and general agri- 

 cultural interests. This appears to be one of the most valuable pieces 

 of work the Bureau has done, and it is believed that the results, which 

 form a part of the report of the field operations for 1901, will be of 

 very great value to the people in the extension of their present indus- 

 tries, the improvement of methods of cultivation, and the development 

 of new crops, which it is believed can successfully be introduced. 

 The experience of the people of this section will also prove of value 

 to other communities, and the lessons taught by the soil survey will, 

 it is believed, have value outside of the area. 



No work is contemplated for this State during the next field season, 

 but strong demands have come for an extension of the survey, and it 

 is believed that it should be resumed at the earliest practicable time, 

 particularly in the interest of the sugar-beet and fruit growers. 



MINNESOTA. 



No work has been done in the State, but strong demands have come 

 for the extension of the soil survey, and it seems desirable to assign 

 a party there for six months during the coming field season, the first 

 area to be surveyed being probably Lj'on County. 



MISSISSIPPI. 



During the past fiscal year the Bureau has mapped an area of 656 

 square miles around Yazoo City, the work being in charge of Mr. 

 Jay A. Bonstefil. 



About one-third of the area is in the uplands and two-thirds in the 

 Yazoo and Mississippi Delta. The upland soil is a tj^pical loess, and 

 it has been suggested, as a result of the survey, that alfalfa can be 

 produced on it as a basis for stock raising. In its present condition 

 it is little esteemed as a cotton soil. 



It was supposed that the delta would present a very uniform soil 

 condition, but four soil types were recognized, each with very distinct 

 agricultural values. The Yazoo clay is the most productive cotton 

 soil, yielding from 1^ to If bales per acre, and even more under the 

 best methods of cultivation. This, however, only covers about 17 



