BUREAU OF SOILS. l7l 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



During the past fiscal year a survey has been made of the Ala- 

 mance County, Gary, and Craven areas under the direction of Mr. 

 Coffey, and of the area around Hickory under the chai'ge of Mr. Caine. 



Alamance County is in the Piedmont Plateau, and the work was 

 undertaken in the interest of the cotton growers and general farming. 

 Formerly this was an important bright-tobacco section, but the growth 

 of this industry in the eastern part of the State has been the cause 

 of a decline in tobacco production in the area, and the soils formerly 

 adapted to this special industrj^ have depreciated considerably in 

 value. Various suggestions of a practical nature in the line of 

 improved methods of cultivation and the introduction of new crops 

 and new industries have been made as a result of the soil survey. 



The work in the Craven area "oas carried on particularly in the 

 interest of the truck growers and in order to outline the truck soils in 

 this area, which is not as yet very thickly settled. 



The work in the Hickory area was in the interest of general farm- 

 ing and, in the mountainous portion, of fruit growing. It is proposed 

 to extend this work during the present field season to the Mount 

 Mitchell area in the interest of the fruit growers. 



There is no more interesting development at the present time in the 

 Atlantic coast States than that of the fruit interests in the mountains of 

 Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. From the work so 

 far done in these States it is clearly apparent that the soil has an imj^or- 

 tant bearing on the different fruit crops, and the apple and peach soils 

 can be identified and outlined as a basis for the intelligent develop- 

 ment of these industries. Not only are certain soils adapted to apples, 

 but certain varieties of apples do better on some soils than on others, 

 and the same is probably true of other fruits. 



The North Carolina department of agriculture has cooperated very 

 cordially and very helpfully in this work, and it appears desirable to 

 continue this cooperation, assigning a party there for nine months 

 during the coming field season to extend the soil survey. 



NORTH DAKOTA. 



Very strong demands have come from this State for the extension 

 of the soil survej" to include most of the arable portion of the State. 

 It has been impossible until recently to start the work there, but a 

 party has just been assigned to the Grand Forks area, in the Red River 

 Valley, under the direction of Mr. Jensen, who has had wide experi- 

 ence in similar areas in Utah and Montana. 



Considerable quantities of alkali are encountered, but generally at 

 a sufficient depth below the surface to enable the annual crops to be 

 produced. The surface foot is usually free from alkali, and as 

 there is no irrigation, and little chance for irrigation, it is believed that 

 there is little danger of the alkali coming to the surface and spread- 

 ing. It seems a risky thing, however^ to have the valuable crops of 

 the locality growing over and so close to these alkali salts, and the 

 possibility of the rise of this alkali should be fully investigated. If 

 it were in an area where water was available for irrigation, it could 

 safely be predicted that the land would quicklj^ be injured by the rise 

 of alkali, but with no opportunity for irrigation the chances are that 

 conditions may not become more serious than at present. This is a 

 question, however, that these investigations will have to solve. The 

 work is being carried on in cooperation with the State geologist. 



