As to detailed methods of making surveys, little 

 need be said in an address of this kind. The success 

 of the work will turn on the personality and training 

 of the man who undertakes it. It must be done in 

 person: that is, the information must be secured by 

 personal visits and investigation. The questions 

 should be few and significant. The particular survey 

 should cover a definite subject, and every effort 

 should be made to keep it from scattering. The ten- 

 dency is to cover too much ground. It requires time, 

 patience and the studious temper to make a good 

 survey. At least one experienced person should be 

 actually in the field: it should not be left to novices 

 and mere explorers. The person should be a real 

 student of the subject that he proposes to survey. 



To ensure the best results, the region should have 

 good topographical and geological maps. The next 

 step is a soil survey. The soil surveys now issue from 

 the federal government (United States Department 

 of Agriculture; and in New York they are prop- 

 erly cooperative with the State College of Agricul- 

 ture. The general soil survey is rightly a national 

 undertaking, for there should be a uniform charting 

 of the national domain as to soil types as well as to 

 geological types; and classifications do not follow 

 state lines. The states, however, may well follow 

 with more detailed soil surveys, based on the gen- 



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