126 ' DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



Plans were made for such a demonstration during the latter part of 

 the fiscal year, with the cooperation of the Utah experiment station 

 and some of the public-spirited people of that State. It was proposed 

 to underdrain a small tract, of 10 or 20 acres and cultivate the land 

 in a proper way for two or three years, to note the improvements in 

 condition until agricultural crops could safely be grown. The expense 

 of underdrainage when undertaken on a considerable scale should not 

 exceed $15 or $20 per acre, so that the cost of a demonstration of this 

 kind would not be great. Unfortunately, the plans were interfered 

 with, and the work has had to be temporarily abandoned. It should, 

 however, be taken up at the earliest practicable time. 



A great interest has been taken in this line of investigation in Mon- 

 tana, Utah, Arizona, and California, the places where the soil survey 

 has been carried on. A great deal of interest has been expressed in 

 this enterprise, particularly in the Yellowstone Valley, at Salt Lake 

 City, and at Fresno, and plans are now under consideration for a 

 demonstration of this kind at these places. 



The actual field expenses of such an experiment would hardly 

 amount to more than the cost of publication of a bulletin containing 

 recommendations, which might receive but little notice. The demon- 

 stration itself, however, if definitely carried out, would be of infinitely 

 more value, as it would be an object lesson for the people, and could 

 not fail to arouse an interest which would spread throughout the com- 

 munity. While the Department is spending thousands of dollars for 

 the investigation of these problems it does not seem as if the matter 

 of expense of such demonstrations should be considered, provided, as 

 in this case, it seems necessary to use this means to inaugurate better 

 methods which will be of immense benefit to the localities. 



SOIL CLIMATOLOGY. 



The Division of Soils was originally organized in the Weather 

 Bureau under a clause to " investigate the relation of soils to climate 

 and organic life." When for administrative purposes it was reorgan- 

 ized as an independent division of the Department this work was 

 still recognized as of paramount importance, and is still authorized 

 under the first clause of the annual appropriation bill. It was pointed 

 out that the soil, being the receptacle of the rainfall and maintaining 

 the only immediate water supply for crops, is a factor in climatology, 

 and as different types of soil maintain different quantities of water it 

 may be assumed for all practical purposes that crops growing on these 

 different types of soil, even with the same rainfall and temperature, 

 are really under different climatic conditions. This is the basis of 

 much of the specialization of agriculture and a principal cause of the 

 local importance of certain districts for special crops, such as truck, 

 tobacco, and fruit, as well as for the distribution of such farm crops 

 as corn, wheat, and grass. The recognition of this fact is largely the 

 basis of the soil survey and for the highest prosperity of agricultural 

 communities. Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that the degree 

 and character of cultivation have a marked effect upon the moisture 

 supply of the soil and thus control in no little degree the climatic 

 conditions under which the crop is grown. 



In certain sections of the country and on certain soils, notably in 

 California and the Northwestern States, the condition of the soil for 

 various crops and the probable yield can be fairly estimated from 

 the water supply in the soil some weeks or even months before the 

 harvest. 



