WATEE SOILS. 27 



144)- — A review of investigations on methods and apparatus which have been used 

 in isolating and measuring the energy of solar rays. 



The movement of temperature and the precession of the equinoxes, J. 

 Peroche (Rev. Sci. [Paris], 5. ser., 1 {1904), No. 19, pp. .:, v .''-.7.s'.;). — A discussion of 

 the relation of the alleged change of seasons to the precession of the equinoxes. 



The floods of the spring of 1903 in the Mississippi watershed, II. C. Frank- 

 enfield ( U. S. Dept. Ayr., Weather Bureau Bui. M, pp. 63, pis. 16, figs. 3, charts 15). — 

 This is a detailed account of the causes and history of these floods fully illustrated 

 with maps, charts, reproductions of photographs, etc. 



Instructions governing- the corn, wheat, cotton, sugar, and rice region 

 service ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Weather Bureau Doc. 304, pp- 8). — The second edition. 



WATER SOILS. 



Underground waters of New Jersey. Wells drilled in 1903, G. N. Knapp 

 (Rpt. state Geol. New Jersey, 1903, pp. 73-93, map 1, dgm. 1). — A brief discussion is 

 given of the physiographic features of the Appalachian, Crystalline Highlands, Pied- 

 mont, and Coastal areas of the State and their relation to the artesian water supply. 

 A record is also given of the wells bored during the year. 



The water and soil conditions of Grado and the neighboring coast region, 

 A. X. Papez (Ztschr. Landw. Versuchsw. Oesterr., 7 (1904), No. 3, pp. 77-110).— A 

 number of analyses of waters and soils are reported and diseussed with reference to 

 the utilization of the coast sands for agricultural purposes. 



Preliminary report on the soils and agricultural conditions of north-cen- 

 tral "Wisconsin, S. Weidman ( Wisconsin Geol. and Xat. Hist. Surrey Bid. 11, 1903 

 i Economic Ser. 7), pp. VIII-r68. pis. 10). — The area reported on includes Portage, 

 Wood, Clark, Marathon, Taylor, and Lincoln counties, and adjoining portions of 

 Langlade, Price, and Gates, and covers 7,200 square miles. The topics treated are 

 (1 ) location and general topographic and geologic features, (2) general character and 

 origin of soil and descriptions of the soil formations, and (3) climate and precipita- 

 tion, history, and agricultural conditions. 



"The area is an undulating slope rising gradually from the south and southwest. 

 Its southern border has an elevation of 900 to 1,100 ft. above sea level, and its north- 

 ern border an elevation of 1,350 to 1,650 ft. The surface is generally plain-like in 

 southern Clark County, in the southern half of Wood, over a large part of southern 

 and central Portage, and throughout a strip of variable width in Marathon along the 

 Wisconsin River as far north as Wausau. A part of central and southwestern Lan- 

 glade is also a plain. Outside the area of these plains the surface is a rolling country, 

 with gentle slopes along the valleys and broad slopes over the uplands." 



The region is well watered. The soils, which are to a large extent the result of 

 glacial action, are classed on the basis of texture in 14 types, which are mapped and 

 described with reference to area, surface features, general character and origin, ground 

 water, forest growth, and crops. They include Wisconsin River sandy soil, Bancroft 

 gravelly sandy loam, Antigo gravelly loam, Amherst sandy loam, Chelsea clay loam, 

 Cary sandy loam, Mentor loamy sand, Kennan clay loam, Harrison sandy gravelly 

 soil, Colby loamy clay, Marathon loam, Mosinee gravelly soil, Ackley gravelly clay, 

 and swamp and marsh soil. "It is believed that the soils of this area contain all the 

 chemical elements necessary for the growth of crops, and that the varying degree of 

 fertility of the different soils is probably due to their texture and the physical condi- 

 tions surrounding them." 



The summary of meteorological observations by the United States Weather Bureau 

 at several places in the area for 1892-190:! shows that the weather conditions are 

 modified appreciably by Lakes Superior and Michigan both as regards temperature 

 and moisture. The temperature is shown to have varied during the period referred 



