of 



A(ini( II.TIKAL AI'I'HOPICIATIO.V HILI,, Hr_>4. 283 



tlu'V arc Wjisli'tl. I Imvi' alrrady stated llmt ihrsr iiin|)> mij^ht bi- 

 of tis(> t(i sci(Mitilic iiH'ti uiui rxpcriiiiciil stutiotis, hiuI it may l>i' tluit 

 tlu' maps will t)ulv Ix' iisrful in lutor yours if they an* nrcsiTvi'd. 



Doctor Hai.i,. You have Im'ch makiiij; a just criti«'ism, l>craiisc I 

 l)clicvc those maps are not sent when' they should he. They are 

 !*cientific maps to he used for «jen»>rati(>ns to ronie, hut instead thoy 

 are sent out widely and distrihuted amonj; farmers, politieians, and 

 >torekee|)ers who do n<»t know their value. 



Mr. lii(iiA\A\. Then n<»u reco^ni/e mv criticism f 



Doctor Ball. Your criticism as to their distribution, ves; but 

 that distribution is somethin«j over which we have no control. That 

 distribution is made by reason of a law passed by Contjress and we 

 have no contfol over it. We would like to have it chanired. 



Doctor WniTNKY. That is the point I was trying to nnike. that 

 they «;o out by law; we do not send them. Let me say that these 

 soil-survey maps siTve a v«>rv useful [)urpose in the way of stabiliz- 

 ing; the values of land. A <j;reat many real estate deah'rs throu<;h- 

 out the country are exhibit injj these maps as a basis for sellinjj land 

 and they have brought about the salt* of lands at somewhat their 

 real value. These maps havt* cut out a «ijood many of the fraudulent 

 sales and misrepresjMitations. Then in some of the States they are 

 beinj; used for taxinor purposes. 



Mr. Bi'CHANAN. It is stranjje that scientific and practical minds 

 always come in conflict. You say these maps aid in stabilizing the 

 values of land. There is no way on the face of the earth ()f stabilizin 

 the value of land or the products of land, because as the products 

 land go up the value of the land goes up, and if they go down, then 

 the value of the land ^ijoes down. You can not stabilize land. 



Doctor Whitney. Well, relatively you can. If there is a swampy 

 section in here [indicating] that is shown on the map; the map would 

 show that there was this swamp there and that much of tne land 

 was nonproductive, so that now it is very dillicult for a real estate 

 agent to sell that as productive land. 



FOR EXAMI.NATIOX OK SOILS TO AID CL.VSSIFICATIOX OF AGRICULTURAL 



LANDS. 



Mr. Andf.rson. We will take up the next item on page 19S. for 

 examination of soils to aid in the classification of agricultural laiuls. 



Doctor Whitney. That is for the classification of agricultural lands 

 and that has been going on just as heretofore. We have been work- 

 ing T^ith many of the departments, the Reclamation Service, the 

 Geological Survey, the Pt)st Oflice Department, and the Department 

 of Justice. 



Mr. Anderson. What does the Post Office Department have to do 

 with the classification of lands ^ 



Doctor Whitney. Well, they have very important functions in land 

 fraiul cases. They are calling on us constantly for help in the classi- 

 fication and examination of lands to see wh(>ther the laws of the United 

 States hav(> been broken. We havi' had several verv large cases of 

 that kind that have come up in the last few years. ^^ e have one that 

 has been dragging for over six or eight years, and the Post Office 

 Department is still after the alleged fraudulent us(«rs of the mail. 



Doctor Mahbut. May I state that that appropriation this year has 

 been spent largely in reconnaissance work ? For example, in northern 



