72 ADDRESSES 



growth of leguminous plants usually indicates that the soil is not in need of lime. 

 While the origin, texture, structure, color, amount and condition of organic 

 matter, native vegetation and crop yields are the most important factors to be 

 considered in making a survey of the soils, any other- differences which have any 

 apparent influence upon the growth of plants must not be overlooked. 



How 'THE SOIL SURVEY WORK is PERFORMED. 



Having in mind these various factors the soil surveyor goes over an area, 

 examines the soil, determines the different types or kinds and indicates as far as 

 practicable on his map the location of areas of similar soils. He studies the 

 peculiarities of each and every type, makes full notes of his observations, so that 

 when his work is completed we will have a careful description of th'e various 

 soils found in the area which he has covered. We hope in the course of a few 

 years to have such a survey of the entire state of Ohio. 



A KNOWLEDGE OF SOILS FUNDAMENTAL TO INTELLIGENT 

 AGRICULTURAL INVESTIGATION. 



This leads us to a consideration of our second question, "What are you 

 doing it for?" What will be the value of this work? 



It has already been stated that the primary object of a soil survey is to 

 furnish information in regard to the character of the soil. Is not a knowl- 

 edge of the soil as fundamentally important to the agriculturist, as a knowl- 

 edge of drugs is to a physician or a knowledge of rocks to a geologist? 

 One great need in agricultural work today is a more general recognition of 

 the individuality of soils, a fuller realization of the true meaning of soil dif- 

 ferences. Much valuable time and money have been wasted trying to draw 

 conclusions from experiments conducted upon entirely dissimilar soils. Many 

 of the contradictory and seemingly inexplicable results obtained by different 

 investigators, or even by the same investigator, are undoubtedly due to funda- 

 mental soil differences which would have been evident from a comparative 

 field examination. It is really amusing sometimes to read the heated dis- 

 cussions in which scientific men allow themselves to indulge because they do 

 not .secure the same results from similar experiments. If they would only 

 stop and determine the nature of the soils upon which their experiments 

 were made they might understand the cause of the difference and be less sur- 

 prised at the results. Hilgard, than whom this country has never produced 

 a greater soil investigator, has said, "The history of plat experiments shows 

 so common and unpardonable neglect on the part of experimenters to ascer- 

 tain definitely the fundamental, physical and chemical conditions that their 

 general unsatisfactoriness is easily accounted for on that score alone."* The 

 failure to recognize that the results secured upon one type of soil do not 

 necessarily hold true for another, is responsible, .in some measure at least, 

 for the distrust which farmers have often shown toward the work of scien- 

 tific investigators. You are told that a certain method of cultivation, cer- 

 tain varieties of crops, certain kinds of fertilizers, etc., will give the best 

 results. You go home and try these but the yields are not what you expect- 

 ed. Why? Because the soil, or other conditions, on your farm are entirely 

 different from that upon which your adviser's experiments were conducted. 



EACH SOIL TYPE SHOULD BE STUDIED SEPARATELY. 



It is often possible to learn something of a man's opinion about a ques- 

 tion by consulting his friends, but it is not safe to depend upon them entire- 



* Agricultural Science, Vol. 6, p. 327. 



