REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. XLIX 



varieties, and it is believed that the work will be of great value to 

 horticulturists. 



Results in Maryland. — The cooperation with the Maryland geo- 

 logical survey and Experiment Station, looking to the development of 

 the agricultural industries of the State, has been continued. Soil sur- 

 veys of St. Mary, Calvert, Kent, and Prince George counties were 

 completed during the fiscal year. In St. Mary and Calvert counties 

 there are eight types of soil, which differ greatly in character and agri- 

 cultural value. They are suited to different crops and agricultural 

 conditions; but this fact has never been fully realized, and it is only 

 by realization of this and the proper adaptation of the soils to the 

 crops that the greatest development of the country can be brought 

 about. There are soils there ranging in value from $3 to $10 an acre 

 which are in every way equal to the soMs in other localities worth ten 

 times as much, and which are profitably worked at this valuation. In 

 Prince George County a greater number of soil types was encountered 

 and a greater variety of interests can be subserved. The proximity 

 to the Washington and Baltimore markets should make it possible to 

 introduce intensive methods, which would greatly change the agricul- 

 tural conditions of the region. It is understood that the Maryland 

 Experiment Station will actively push the further investigation of the* 

 possibilities of developments in the crop interests and of new methods 

 adapted to different soils. 



DRAINAGE INVESTIGATIONS. 



Attention has frequently been called in the reports of the Division 

 of Soils to the possibility and feasibility of reclaiming alkali lands and 

 preventing the deterioration of lands from alkali by efficient under- 

 drainage. This has been dwelt upon by other writers and presented 

 in the strongest possible terms as the most rational and only safe 

 method of solving the alkali problem. Unfortunately, on account of 

 the conservatism of growers, these recommendations have received 

 little or no attention, and there is no general recognition of the possi- 

 bilities of controlling the problem in this way. Owners who are not 

 at present troubled with alkali do not appreciate the necessity of pro- 

 tecting themselves, and it is a curious fact that just before the alkali 

 becomes so strong as to prevent profitable cultivation the crop yields 

 are the largest. After that the land deteriorates so rapidly that the 

 owner is disheartened and is not inclined to invest money where ordi- 

 nary means of cultivation have failed to secure profitable returns. 

 It was necessary to make a practical demonstration of the possibilities 

 of growing Sumatra tobacco in Connecticut to get the industry started. 

 The recommendations of the Department in this regard were unheeded 

 until the correctness of its predictions were thus demonstrated. 



Attention has heretofore been called to the possibility of reclaiming 



AGR 1901 IV 



