DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 61 



REPORT OF THE DKFWRTJMENT OF SOILS. 



Prosident J. L. Snyder : 



Dciir Sir — Tho onlloo*' voai' jiisf cldscd lias l»r()n<»lil no unusual ox- 

 ].('i-i<'n(('s to the Soils dojiarinionl (o roporl. Tho cnrollinonls in classes 

 were larj^er ilian in any ])revio\is year, as would he expected from the 

 healthy ^rowlh of the institution. Inslnidiou has been j^iven io over 

 seven luuidi-cd and twenly-five shnh'iils. 



I re)>orl(Ml a year aj^o Ihat the instalhncnl of equipment for the 

 teachini»- of soils is a mailer of dev(do]»mcnt and hence rather slow. 

 1 am i;lad Io r(']>orl Ihat il has been ])ossible during the year to in- 

 crease our e(|uipmeni very malerially, and hence to do more for our 

 students in the way of laboratory instruction. At tlie same time we 

 have been cnlaruiiii;' and impi'o\ine; our courses and our methods of 

 instruction. 



The most serious difficulty in giving instruction has resulted from a 

 lack of help. It has Ix'cn necessary at times for one teacher to at- 

 tempt t(» direct as many as forty-five men in the laboratory. TJudcr 

 such a condition it is very dilllicult indeed, to get desirable results. 

 During the winter term ]Mr. E. I. Holmes was employed to assist in 

 laboratory work. INIr. Holmes' services were very acceptable and made 

 it ])ossib!e to materially increase the efliciency of our laboratory work. 

 The additional help provided for by recent action of the Board should 

 further improve conditions in this direction. 



On June 5, 6 and 7 thirty-one members of the class in Farm INIanage- 

 ment (Soils 3a) visited a number of typical Michigan farms to make a 

 study of methods. This proved the most profitable trip yet made by 

 members of the Fann ^Management class. Thanks are due the man- 

 agers and owners of these farms, not only for the time given in de- 

 scribing the operation and equipment of their farms, but also for the 

 hospitality extended. The information obtained on this trip and the 

 opportunities given for comparison and criticism were greatly appre- 

 ciated by the students making the trip. 



The amount of extension work done this year by the department is 

 perhaps under that of previous years, chiefly because of the increasing 

 amount of Avork of the department. Numerous requests for help have 

 been "turned down" because it was impossible to meet them. The head 

 of the department has given something over thirty days actual time 

 to extension work, while Mr. Spurway has given more than half that 

 amount of time to such work. 



Yerv res])ectfullv, 



JOS. A. JEFFERY, 

 Professor of Soils and Soil Phvsics. 



East Lansing, Mich.. June 30, 1913. 



