1116 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



" In the final system of nnmbering and classifying individnal soil types the 

 Dewey library system of numl»ers is used, whole numbers being assigned to 

 important and definite soil types and decimals employed for related types pos- 

 sessing some distinct variations. In all cases the name is designed to carry 

 with it as complete a description as practicable of the soil type, so as to avoid 

 any unnecessary tax on the memory of the student or farmer." 



Some 90 soil types have thus far been recognized in the detailed soil survey 

 of the State. These soil types are shown to vary widely not only in physical 

 characteristics but in chemical composition. Analyses of a large number of 

 samples of surface and subsurface soil and subsoil from the typical areas are 

 reported, the results being calculated to the acre basis. 



" Each soil area may contain sevei-al or many different soil types. One s<,il 

 type may contain twenty times as much of some necessary element of plant 

 food as is found in another type, and the total supply of one element in a given 

 type of soil may be one hundred times as great as the supply of another equally 

 essential element in the same soil, when measured by crop requirements." 



The experiments that have been made on the various types of soils show that 

 they may be improved by proper soil treatment, including the use of rotations 

 containing leguminous plants and the application of lime in the form of car- 

 bonate and pliosplioric acid in the form of fine-ground insoluble phosphates. 

 The use of potash salts has been found profitable in case of peaty swamp soils 

 but nf)t generally beneficial on other soils. 



Report of work at Holly Springs branch experim^ent station, 1906, C. T. 

 Ames {Missisxiinn l^ia. Bill. lOS, piK J 6, fiijM. JO). — This report is devoted mainly 

 to a descri]ition of the 200-acre farm secui'ed for the use of this substation 

 and to the methods employed for reclaiming and improving it, particularly 

 the efforts which have been directed toward the filling of washes and gullies, 

 terracing, fencing, and fertilizing. 



Three common methods of terracing the land are described. The system 

 employed at the substation consists of embankments and rows having a small 

 fall to conduct surplus water slowly. "The embankment is essentially a very 

 much enlarged hillside ditch, the bottom of which being 4 to G feet wide and 

 the bank from 4 to G feet wide and about 18 in. high. This broad shallow ditch 

 and broad embankment can be crossed with rows and implements and 

 so cultivated as to lose very little land and can be kept as free from weeds 

 and grass as other parts of the field." The methods of constructing such ter- 

 races are (lescril)ed. In the experience of the substation such terraces can be 

 constructed at a labor cost of 7 cts. per rod. It is stated to be " entirely feasi- 

 ble to fill the small gullies and washes and to 'deaden' the larger ones. A 

 ' dead ' gully does not increase in size, does not get wider or longer. To 

 'deaden' a gully, slope the sides by digging off and plowing the upper edges 

 and start something growing such as Lespedeza, Bermuda, and black locust. 

 Filling the smaller gullies is a quick and simple operation and is essentially 

 a team job. First, prepare for the team by digging off tlie upper edges with a 

 mattock, then use good plows (to include a good ditch bank plow) and good 

 teams. The cost of filling gullies is not much — less than $1 per acre for the 

 largest and most desirable areas. All the gullies, large and small, were filled 

 on a badly washed hillside for $.^>.G2 per acre." 



Comparative tests on cotton and corn of various combinations of cotton-seed 

 meal, acid ])hosphate, and kainit are rejtorted and indicate in general that the 

 most beneficial fertilizer combination for both cotton and corn on the brown 

 loam soils of this region is made up of equal parts of cotton-seed meal and acid 

 phosiihate. an application of 200 lbs. i)er acre of such mixture being recom- 

 mended. 



