.MICHTCiAX ACADEMY OF SCIENCK. 81 



needs of the individual area must dictate in each case the best manner 

 of treatment. The purpose of a survey of tliis kind is to be of greatest 

 use to those who are most interested, and is not the publication seriatim, 

 by units, of a uniformly executed reference work on soils or even agri- 

 culture for a state or for the country at large. 



1). The least significant thing about a location is to give its exact 

 position. The most important thing in the location of a rural area is 

 its distance to markets and their accessibility. A sketch map, accom- 

 panied by a few words of explanation can show readily the major 

 markets to which the district ships, the transportation lines involved, 

 and, in some cases, potential markets with which commercial relations 

 may be established. 



2). Topography and drainage should be described, usually as one 

 topic, but the enumeration of topographic features and of streams is not 

 worth while. The map supplies all this information better than the 

 text possibly can do. Geographic place names, unrelated to other facts, 

 are of no more value in soil reports, where they still persist, than they 

 are in grade school geography, where they have been long since 

 abandoned. It is pretty well demonstrated that for layman and scientist 

 alike the best presentation of surface features is by means of casual 

 description, that is, describing them in terms of their origin. A belt of 

 low, short hills acquires a new significance when it is stated that it is a 

 terminal moraine. This method not only gives a more accurate sketch 

 than the purely descriptive method, but in the long run it is an economy 

 of space as well. That topography and drainage may be portrayed 

 simply in physiographic terms, has been demonstrated amply by the 

 educational bulletins that have been published by several state 

 geological surveys. That this may be done effectively is indicated by 

 the large demand for these bulletins on the part of the residents of the 

 areas concerned. 



3). The classification of soil types has been a most fruitful source of dispute 

 and cause of the division of soil students into opposing camps. No single basis of 

 classification can in general be carried through consistently without defeating the 

 practical purposes of a soil survey. In all soil studies Hilgard's principle is 

 applicable: "The many different points of view from which the subject may be 

 approached precludes the adoption of a strictly uniform plan. We may approach 

 the matter from the geological, physical, chemical, or botanical standpoint, as 

 well as from that of the practical agriculturist; but neither of these, alone, will 

 be found satisfactory; for soil-classification must always depend more or less 

 upon the numberless and infinitely varied local conditions that influence vegeta- 

 tion, and must be correlated with these."* Contrasts in kind and amount of 

 growth must be the ultimate criteria by which soil types are differentiated. 

 Hilgard had this in mind in classifying soil tyi)cs i)y n.itnral vegetation, wherever 



'Overlanrl Monthly. Dec. isoi, p. :i. 



