RUSSIAN SOIL INVESTIGATIONS/ 



In the previous article the system of soil classification adopted by 

 Dokouchaj^ev and his collaborators was explained. This classification 

 was in brief as follows: (1) Zonal soils, including lateritic soils, eolian 

 or loess soils, soils of the dry steppes, chernozem, gray forest soils, sod 

 and podzol soils, and tundra soils; (2) intrazonal soils, including alkali, 

 humus-calcareous and marsh or swamp soils; (8) incomplete or 

 azonal soils, including crude and skeleton soils, and alluvial soils. The 

 following article discusses the characteristics of these various types of 

 soils as they occur in Russia. 



BRIEF SURVEY OF THE CHIEF SOIL TYPES OF RUSSIA. 



ZONAL SOILS. 



Russia, being a country of temperate and cold climates, has no 

 lateritic soils. 



Loess soils. — Loess or eolian soils occur in the hot, windy, dry 

 climates of Turkestan and the trans-Caspian region, alternating with 

 sandy and alkali soils. The loess soils are yellowish, bright orange, 

 or straw colored. The percentage of humus does not exceed 2.5, and is 

 usually less than 1. About one-half of the soil particles are less than 

 0.01 mm. in diameter. The other half is usually a mixture in which 

 particles ranging in diameter from 0.01 to 0.05 mm. predominate. In 

 a grayish loess soil from the vicinity of Tashkend there was found 

 tine sand 65 per cent, ferric oxid 3.6, alumina 10, calcium carbonate 

 7 to 15, potash 2.8, and phosphoric acid 0.28 per cent. The amount 

 of zeolites present ranged from 15 to 20 per cent and more. Loess or 

 eolian dust soils are widely distributed, e. g. , not only in the Aral- 

 Caspian basin, but in China, northwestern India, Arabia, Africa, and 

 the drier portions of North America. 



Soils of the dry steppes. — In European and Asiatic Russia, between 

 the loess and chernozem, are found the brown and chestnut soils of the 

 dry steppes. The area occupied by these soils in European Russia 

 includes the vast regions between the Ural River and the lower Volga 

 (with the exception of the sand}' soils) and between the lower Volga 

 and the district of Manitch, extending also into the steppes of Crimea 



^ Concluded from p. 712. 



807 



