234 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 475. 



vei-sities are doiiag nothing for the promotion 

 of agricultural science; and that at the time 

 he came to Washington, and until the Bureau 

 of Soils was established, nothing was known 

 about soils — meaning, presumably, the soils of 

 the United States. 



In the light afforded by Bulletin No. 22 of 

 the Bureau of Soils, which I have recently 

 discussed in the columns of Science, the 

 source of the Secretary's information is not 

 far to seek. Having departed from all pre- 

 cedent in the matter of soil work, whether in 

 the field or in the laboratory, in the old world 

 or in the new, the Bureau of Soils simply de- 

 clares all former soil work to be ' nul et non 

 avenu' — ^void and of no effect; and so informs 

 the Secretary. 



In view of the existing _records, this seems 

 an extreme liberty to take with the facts of 

 the ease. It is true that in some of the states, 

 the public surveys and even some stations 

 have talien the soil features but very little 

 into account. But in many others, the soil 

 features have been quite elaborately observed, 

 elaborated and discussed. Beginning more 

 than half a century ago, David Dale Owen 

 conducted the work of the geological surveys 

 of Kentucky and Arkansas; and we find in 

 the reports of these surveys not only the chem- 

 ical analyses of several hundred soils from 

 these two states, but, accompanying them, de- 

 scriptions of their physical and agricultural 

 characters, as well as of their native vegeta- 

 tion. Following the lead of Owen, the present 

 writer undertook similar worl^ in connection 

 with the geological and agricultural survey of 

 Mississippi, and from 1857 to 1873 continued 

 these studies from the physical, chemical 

 and botanical standpoint. In 1880, being in 

 charge of the report on cotton production of 

 the . Tenth Census of the United States, he 

 unc^ertook to compile detailed agricultural 

 descriptions of the cotton-producing states 

 (then including California), which were elab- 

 orated largely by the respective state geolo- 

 gists, and form parts of Vols. V. and VI. of 

 the Census report of 1880. There are em- 

 braced within these volumes extended descrip- 

 tions and maps of the several soil areas in 

 these states, with 612 chemical and 12 physical 



analyses of soils, fully discussed in their bear- 

 ings on agriculture. In 1892, the Department 

 of Agriculture published, as Bulletin No. 3 

 of the Weather Bureau, a paper prepared by 

 myself ' On the Relations of Soils to Climate,' 

 in which among other things there is given a 

 discussion of 779 analyses of soils of the 

 United States, and of the nature, occurrence 

 and reclamation of aEsali lands. 



Since that time many other states have en- 

 tered upon similar lines of work; among them 

 especially Minnesota, Texas, South Carolina, 

 North Dakota, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, 

 Michigan and Ehode Island, in some cases 

 with very elaborate cultural data and discus- 

 sion. The entire number of soil analyses 

 made in the United States thus far is prob- 

 ably in excess of 1,500. 



In the face of all these facts, of which the 

 records are easily accessible, especially at 

 Washington, the Secretary of Agriculture has 

 evidently been informed that practically no 

 soil work worthy of the name had been done 

 in this country until the present Bureau of 

 Soils was organized by him ; and has thus been 

 induced to thinly it a matter of first necessity 

 to send over two hundred scientists (sic) into 

 the various states to fill these glaring defi- 

 ciencies. Evidently it has been possible for the 

 Bureau of Soils to find within the United 

 States so large a body of qualified soil experts. 

 The phenomenal rapidity with which these ob- 

 servers map the soil areas laid down in the 

 reports of the bureau, seems to show that this 

 feat has been accomplished. How well the 

 work so done will stand the test of criticism 

 from the scientific and practical standpoint 

 remains to be seen. E. W. Hilgard. 



University of California, 

 January 8, 1904. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES. 

 preliminary report on the classification op 

 the rocks of the watkins glen (30') 

 quadrangi,e (u. s. geological 

 survey).* 

 During the summer of 1903 Henry S. Will- 

 iams assisted by Edward M. Kindle made the 



* By permission of the Director of the U. S. 

 C4eological Survey. 



