434 CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 



definition ; many of the geographers in charge of the University Schools 

 of Geography have in hand regional surveys which show better than any 

 description what they are. One can mention only a few : Prof. Fleure of 

 Aberystwyth, Prof. L. P. Abercrombie of Liverpool, G. L. Pepler of the 

 Ministry of Health, W. S. Lewis of Exeter, C. B. Fawcett of Leeds, 

 Prof. Roxby and Miss Winchester of Liverpool, Dr. Rudmore Brown 

 of Sheffield, Messrs. Barker and Fitzgerald of j\Ianchester, W. W. Jervis 

 of Bristol, Mrs. Ormsby of the London School of Economics, Harold 

 Peake, John Jones and others are actually doing the work. Fortunately, 

 also, several surveys have been published which serve as models of what 

 societies can do. The South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies, 

 following up the pioneering work of the Croydon Natural History Society, 

 have published no less than seven surveys, the two latest being of Folke- 

 stone and Essex. Under the enthusiastic guidance of Messrs. C. C. Fagg 

 and G. E. Hutchings one may hope for more.^ Miss McLean at the 

 Wyggeston School and Mr. G. T. MacKay at Reigate have shown what 

 schools can do. 



Surveys fell into two groups : those dealing with the areas in or near 

 towns studied finally in relation to town planning, of which some admirable 

 examples have been published ; Prof. Abercrombie's Sheffield and East 

 Kent ; Adams and Thompson's West Middlesex and Thames Valley ; and 

 the town planning surveys of Manchester, Doncaster, Deeside and others. 

 Fortunately the importance of this work is now recognised. I shall deal 

 only with surveys in country districts. 



The best beginning is to construct a model of the region, as this shows, 

 in a way no map can do, the features of chief importance in the survey. 

 The records have to be carried on to maps ; the 6-in. makes a good basis 

 for records, but the 1-in. is often best for displaying the results. The 

 topographical details of the Ordnance Survey maps ^ are correlated with 

 the data given by the Geological Survey maps and supplemented with 

 the fuller explanations of the Memoirs. The hills and the valleys have 

 not come by chance ; reasons for their formation should be clearly set 

 out in the regional survey in a way that people without geological training 

 can easily follow. Of the climatic data, the ten-year average rainfall 

 should be mapped and the annual rainfall studied to ascertain the degree 

 and nature of the variability. Temperature data are less easy to utilise ; 

 but the observations on vegetation — the so-called phenological observa- 

 tions—help in their interpretation. Perhaps the two chief factors are 

 1 ateness and liability to late frosts ; these affect the native vegetation, 

 the farmer and the gardener, and they may profoundly affect the utilisation 

 of the land. 



The second part of the survey is to show how this natural material 

 has influenced and has been influenced and utilised by mankind. The 

 region is mapped out into four main divisions : inhabited land (houses 

 and their gardens) ; arable land, including fruit and market gardens ; 

 permanent grass land ; and uncultivated land, including woodland, 



" See the excellent record of work done, ' Report of Regional Survey Section,' 

 Trans. S.E.U.8.S., 1925-6. 



* The Ordnance Survey Department makes special arrangements for supplying 

 scientific societies with maps for purposes of survey work. 



