excii Proceedings of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal. [N.S., XVII, 
logy is likely therefore to remain in the position of obscurity in 
which we find it to-day with respect to the generality of the 
people, until conspicuous developments take place in the econo- 
mic applications of this science to the industries and agricultur 
of the country. From this point of view the inattention that is 
very general towards any application of geological knowledge 
in aid of agriculture and the development of the 300,000,000 
acres of its surface forms a striking feature. This is a regret- 
table fact, for it can be asserted without 
exaggeration that the cultivation of agricul: 
tural geology in India on the lines adopted 
by some of the States of the United States of America would 
be likely to bring as rich a harvest of results as the more popu- 
lar and better-esteemed pursuit of mining geology. For the 
wide alluvial plains of the Indus and Ganges, which cover more 
th 000 sq. miles, and which doubtless comprise many 
minor variations in soil both in respect of physical structur 
as s of chemical and mineralogical characters, a well- 
Agricultural 
Geology. 
ed 
above heads would be sure to improve agricultural practice and 
economics. A systematic Soil and Subsoil survey ; the investi- 
gation into the condition of the water-table in different districts 
and a survey of Artesian water supply in the dry alluvial tracts 
and along the desert-borders; experiments on the extent o 
usefulness of mineral fertilisers in combating the increasing 
impoverishment of the soil of Madras and the Central Provinces ; 
are some of the measures in which the co-operation of the geo- 
logist with officers of the Agricultural Department is necessary. 
Irrigation by canals in the Punjab has already materially affect- 
ed, and is likely to do so in still greater degree in future, the 
under-ground drainage and water-level, and has thus introduced 
a problem of serious import to agriculturalists. In battling with 
this menace, for a study of subsoil geology and experiments 
relating to subsoil permeability and rate of water percola- 
tion, the co-operation of the geologist may be sought with 
profit. 
After nearly a century of struggle with adverse conditions, 
Miiainn tadeat mining activity in India seems to be nearing 
in Toda te tend the dawn ofa new and more prosperous epoch. 
ing prospects. There are signs that it is soon going to emerge 
