DIVISION OF SOILS. 117 



PURPOSE OF A SOIL SURVEY. 



It seems hardly necessary to touch upon the purpose of a soil sur- 

 vey, as this has been dwelt upon at length in previous reports and 

 publications, and is clearly shown in the results that have been 

 attained. That these results have been of value to the communities 

 and to the country at large has been attested in many gratifying 

 ways. Requests for the extension of the work have come from promi- 

 nent and thoughtful men in nearly all the States and Territories, and 

 from those interested in many of the large agricultural interests, such 

 as sugar beets, tobacco, wheat, truck, rice, fruit, and especially from 

 many areas where peculiar conditions of soil, climate, transportation, 

 or labor make it necessary to introduce new crops or new methods for 

 successful competition in the markets of the country. 



Our parties of trained soil experts, remaining as they do from three 

 to nine months in a district, visiting almost every foot of the area and 

 mapping what they find, studying the methods and conditions, meet- 

 ing the people and learning of their successes and failures, can not 

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

 methods, which should be a basis for the introduction of new crops or 

 of 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 Bureaus and Divisions of the Department. 



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

 soil-survey work 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 

 heretofore, but it is believed that these demands may be met in a 

 short time. 



DETAILS OF THE FIELD WORK. 



WESTERN DIVISION. 



The Means party. — Work was continued in the Fresno area until 

 August 10, when about 640 square miles had been surveyed. Mention 

 was made of the results attained in this work in my last report. In 

 September the party moved to Santa Ana, Orange County, Cal., and 

 surveyed about 300 square miles. Mr. Means met with an accident 

 soon after his arrival there and his assistant, Mr. Holmes, was put in 

 charge of the work. The area surveyed there extends from the foot- 

 hills to the Pacific Ocean, the main part being formed by the vast 

 delta plain of the Santa Ana River. In that portion of the area 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 low 

 lands are devoted either to alfalfa or natural pasturage and to impor- 

 tant special industries of celery and truck growing. The fruit indus- 

 try 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 areas 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. 



