DEPARTMENT OF SOILS. 



Teaching Work. 

 During the college year covered by this report there were i66 

 registrations for instruction, representing 141 persons, some individ- 

 uals having registered in more than one course. The department 

 offers seven distinct courses of instruction, two of which are ele- 

 mentary and are intended, the one for the regular four-year students 

 who have had full preparation in the natural sciences, the other for 

 one- or two-year specials who, because of lack of time or other reasons, 

 prefer a less advanced treatment of the subject. Of the total regis- 

 tration, 103 were in these courses, which are prerequisite to admis- 

 sion to the more advanced courses which deal with particular phases 

 of the subject in its various practical and scientific relations. These 

 courses may be grouped in two divisions, the one designed for those 

 persons who are interested in the purely practical application and 

 desire to secure definite informational facts, the other for those 

 students who contemplate specialization along soils lines and desire 

 to prepare for research work or advanced teaching work. In this 

 latter case the courses are designed to lead up to and give some 

 practice in independent investigation. Of the remaining 63 regis- 

 trations in the department, 34 were in the first division and 29 in 

 the latter division. This embraced 10 students pursuing graduate 

 work. 



Research Work. 



The department is conducting investigation into several problems 

 of fundamental importance in soil management, notable of which 

 are (i) the principles of soil granulation and (2) some phases in the 

 movement of soil moisture. Considerable data have been accumu- 

 lated along these lines. 



Extension Work. 



The extension work has been the most prominent form of ac- 

 tivity of the department outside of University teaching. This has 

 been in four parts, viz.: (i) Teaching and correspondence, (2) 

 surveys, (3) experimentation, and (4) publication. 



(i) Teaching. About a dozen addresses were given before audiences 



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