eral charts, and relate the work directly to local 

 practice. Undoubtedly we need to develop more uni- 

 form and comparable methods for this work ; and this 

 could be brought about by conferences or committees 

 of those persons specially interested in the soil sur- 

 vey program. 



A study of the local climate ought to be a part of 

 these preliminary surveys. We are neglecting the 

 climate factor. Climate is distinctl}^ local. With soil, 

 it determines the farming condition. The best agri- 

 culture is a careful adjustment to the climate of the 

 district; but the collecting of meteorological data is 

 so much a governmental function that we forget the 

 detail climates of small localities. 



It is not so clear what the next step should be in 

 the stock-taking of a region. Sooner or later, all the 

 natural resources of the area should be carefully 

 known. Perhaps these resources of minerals and 

 metals and timber and streams and the like, will be 

 clearly determined in the geological and soil and farm 

 surveys themselves; but they should all be found and 

 recorded. There should also be a natural-history sur- 

 vey of the entire wild life of the region, culminating 

 in the publication of good local floras and faunas ; but 

 perhaps this may wait for later development. It is 

 probable that a thorough farm-management survey 

 would best follow immediately on the soil survey, 



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