XLIV REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



find, studying the methods and conditions, meeting the people and 

 learning of their successes and failures, and thus they can not help 

 acquiring a fund of information relative to the soils, crops, and 

 methods of the districts visited which should be a basis for the intro- 

 duction of new crops or improved methods. The field men have at 

 all times the cordial support and all the resources of the laboratories 

 of the Bureau of Soils and of the other scientific divisions and bureaus 

 of the Department. 



Demands have been made on the Bureau for the extension of the 

 soil survey to Alaska, Porto Rico, Hawaii, and more recently from 

 the War Department for trained men for similar lines of work in the 

 Philippine Islands. The lack of a sufficient number of trained men 

 has prevented an extension of the work to any of these areas hereto- 

 fore, but these demands should be met in as short a time as possible. 



DETAILS OF THE FIELD WORK. 



WESTERN DIVISION. 



Results in California. — Field work was carried on during almost 

 the entire fiscal year in California. The soil survey of 640 square 

 miles around Fresno, mentioned in my last report, was completed dur- 

 ing the first part of the year. 



An area of about 300 square miles was surveyed around Santa Ana, 

 extending from the foothills to the Pacific Ocean, the main part being 

 formed b} r the vast delta plain of the Santa Ana River. In that por- 

 tion of the region above the 70-foot contour there is little or no alkali, 

 and the lands are well adapted to citrus fruits and nut trees. Below 

 this elevation the lowlands are devoted either to alfalfa or natural 

 pasturage and to important special industries of celery and truck grow- 

 ing. The fruit industry is hardly known in this portion of the area. 



Nine different types of soil were recognized, each with distinctive 

 agricultural values and best adapted to different kinds of crops. The 

 soils of the high-lying portions of the area are, as a rule, well drained, 

 and, owing to the small amount of water available for irrigation and 

 the care which has to be exercised in the use of it, very little alkali 

 has been found. The cementing of the canals and ditches to conserve 

 the water gives an object lesson of the practical value of care and 

 economy in the use of water on soils of this character in preventing 

 the rise of alkali, which in the low-lying portion is a serious menace, 

 but which can be controlled by underdrainage. 



About 200 square miles were surveyed in the San Gabriel Valley. 

 The problems encountered were purely soil problems, as there was no 

 land injured by alkali or seepage waters, except a few small spots at 

 the narrows where the San Gabriel River leaves the valley. The 

 depth to standing water is great and the difficulties of obtaining 1 water 

 enough to keep the crops alive during the past dry years have been 



