116 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



larger number of field parties, it will be feasible to make such assign- 

 ments as shall keep most of them in the field for much longer periods 

 than heretofore. Parties can be transferred from Northern States in 

 the summer to Southern States in the winter, and in this way the 

 average length of the field season per party may be extended. This 

 will reduce somewhat the total cost of the work per square mile. 



ORGANIZATION AND TRAINING OF FIELD FORCE. 



For administrative purposes the soil survey has been divided 

 broadly into an Eastern division and a Western division. It was at 

 first intended to put all the work east of the Mississippi River into 

 the Eastern division, and all west of that river into the Western 

 division, and this may yet be done, but the real separation is now 

 based upon the character of the work, as the Western work has been 

 confined almost exclusively to the irrigated areas, where the use of 

 irrigation water and the frequent occurrence of alkali give problems 

 of a distinct character seldom met with in the East, which require 

 special training and special apparatus. 



During the summer of 1900 five parties were in the field as long as 

 the conditions were favorable for field work, or until the middle or last 

 of November. Two of these parties were in the irrigated districts of 

 the West, and three were in the Eastern States. The parties consisted 

 of two men each, with a team and suitable instruments, but without 

 a camping outfit, as the work was generally confined to well-settled 

 districts. 



By the 1st of December the parties had all returned to Washington, 

 and the examination of the specimens and the preparation of their 

 reports were well under way. The maps had been prepared in the 

 field as the work progressed, but these were given some necessary 

 Tevision and put in shape for the lithographer. 



Foreseeing the probable extension of the soil-survey work, as recom- 

 mended in my last report, anfl the necessity of training the younger 

 men for principal field assistants, much care and attention were given 

 to their laboratory training and their reading, and during the winter 

 a seminar was regularly held once a week at least, and a systematic 

 course of instruction given by the experienced men in the Division of 

 Soils, with occasional talks by men from other Divisions in the Depart- 

 ment on related lines of work. This method of instruction proved to 

 be exceedingly profitable and instructive to all who attended. Unfor- 

 tunately, there is no course of instruction in any of the colleges and 

 universities which gives the knowledge or experience that will fit men 

 for this line of soil work, and such training in the Division was con- 

 sidered essential in the organization of an efficient force. 



When it became certain that an extension of the soil survey would 

 be provided for, a number of men with the best possible education 

 were selected, and two large parties were organized on April 1 for the 

 thorough training of the men in the field methods. One of these was 

 located in Prince George County, Md. , and the other in Iredell County, 

 N. C. With the concentration of all the Eastern men at these two 

 points, a considerable area was surveyed in each, and the men were 

 well trained in the field methods by July 1, when the reorganization 

 went into effect. At that time eleven parties were organized, three in 

 the West and eight in the Eastern States, provision being made for 

 frequent and careful inspection of the field work. The results have 

 proved a most gratifying success, and the organization of the field 

 force is considered particularly strong. 



