SOIL RESOURCES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE 301 



SOIL RESOURCES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 



Report of Committee appointed to co-operate with the Staff of the Imperial 

 Soil Bureau to examine the soil resources of the Empire (Sir John 

 Russell, O.B.E., F.R.S., Chairman ; Mr. G. V. Jacks, Secretary ; 

 Dr. E. M. Crowther, Dr. W. G. Ogg, Prof. G. W. Robinson, 

 Prof. C. B. Fawcett, Mr. H. King, Mr. C. G. T. Morison, Dr. 

 L. D. Stamp, Mr. A. Stevens, Dr. S. W. Wooldridge) 



No meeting of the Committee has been held since September 7, 193 3, during 

 the Leicester Meeting of the British Association. At that meeting the 

 climatic and ecological maps already prepared were exhibited, and it was 

 agreed that they (and others to follow) should be transferred to the Imperial 

 Bureau of Soil Science, where they could be consulted by, and if necessary 

 forwarded to the authorities responsible for soil survey in the different 

 countries of the British Empire. Subsequently the Bureau received rainfall 

 maps of East Africa (Prof. L. Rodwell Jones) and of India (Mr. Williamson), 

 and rainfall and vegetation maps of New Zealand (Mr. R. O. Buchanan). 

 At the request of Mr. G. Milne, the soil chemist at Amani, Tanganyika, 

 Prof. Rodwell Jones's map was sent out to him and utilised in preparing the 

 provisional Soil Map of East Africa, a copy of which has been now deposited 

 with the Soil Bureau. During the latter part of 1934 and 1935 the Soil 

 Bureau was not in a position to undertake work on behalf of the Committee 

 as it was fully engaged in preparing for the Third International Congress 

 of Soil Science. This Congress, however, which took place at Oxford in 

 July and August, 1935, brought together the chief soil surveyors of the 

 British Empire and afforded an opportunity to learn their views on the 

 Committee's project. 



It was apparent that a considerable amount of soil survey work was in 

 progress and provisional soil maps had already been published in several 

 countries. Among the earlier maps were those of the soils and vegetation 

 of Australia prepared by Prof. J. A. Prescott under the auspices of the 

 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and the soil map of Sierra 

 Leone by F. Martin and H. Doyne. A very tentative (geological) soil map 

 of South Africa had been published by the South African Government, at 

 least two tentative soil maps of India had been prepared by independent 

 workers, and the sub-committee on Asiatic soils of the International Society 

 of Soil Science is also correlating Indian soil data with a view to incorpora- 

 ting them in a map. Work on these maps was already completed, or far 

 advanced, before the Committee was constituted. Since then, considerable 

 progress has been made with other soil maps of British countries, and 

 several are approaching completion. The most extensive is probably the 

 genetic soil map of Canada prepared under the direction of Prof. A. H. Joel 

 and later of Prof. J. H. Ellis. Mr. G. Milne's soil map of East Africa, 

 already mentioned, introduces a new principle of cartography, and is perhaps 

 the most extensive piece of soil mapping yet attempted in the Tropics. In 

 New Zealand, steady progress has been made with soil survey by Mr. L. I. 

 Grange of the Geological Department, and several detailed maps of small 

 areas have been published. The survey, which is based primarily on 

 geology but incorporates many features of modern American and European 

 practice, is intended ultimately to cover the whole country. In Nigeria, 

 the Geological and Agricultural Departments are collaborating in soil 

 survey, but under present conditions work can only proceed slowly and 



