IX, A, 1 Cox and Argiielles: Soils of Luzon 27 



for root growth. These are two essential factors for proper rice culture. 

 The soils of this class are remarkably uniform in character (see map). 

 From data obtained during the high flood of July last, it is evident that 

 a large percentage of fine silt is deposited on this land annually from 

 the Agno River. The silt is beneficial as it improves the texture and 

 supplies a certain percentage of plant food. The following analysis shows 

 the percentage of fertilizing elements in river sediment. (See Appendix 

 "I.") 



Class II. — This class includes all the land within the municipality of 

 Asingan. This soil has been classified as second class for rice, on account 

 of its texture being open, which allows the escape of a certain percentage 

 of free water. This land is similar to that of class I, but, on account of 

 the sand in varying quantities, its water requirements will be greater. 



Class III. — Here we find a type of soil which closely resembles that 

 of class II, but differing essentially by the presence of a large percentage 

 of gravel instead of sand. The topography of the land together with the 

 openness of the soil admits of a large amount of seepage. 



Class IV. — This class of soil includes all of the land in the northern 

 part of the system and that adjacent to the river. The soil is very open, 

 and allows the free water to percolate through it very readily. On account 

 of this condition it is recommended that all of this type of soil north 

 of the San Manuel-San Nicolas road, approximately 800 hectares, be not 

 considered further for the irrigation of rice. The land, on the other hand, 

 is best adapted to the cultivation of crops requiring less water and an 

 open well-drained soil. Maguey, sugar cane, and corn are examples of such 

 crops. The rate of seepage through the rest of this soil will not be so 

 great as the land does not have as much slope and the water table is 

 nearer the surface. 



Drainage. — In the vicinity of San Manuel the topography is such that 

 rice paddies have to be made small in order to distribute the water uniformly 

 over the surface. On the other hand, the land around Urdaneta and 

 Villasis is very low and flat, and the question of drainage is more important 

 than that of irrigation on account of the close texture of the soil. The 

 water from the rainfall percolates through the light open soil around San 

 Manuel and passes through it unobstructed until it gets to within 500 meters 

 of the Asingan-Binalonan road where it is impounded by a heavy stratum 

 of clay loam. Here it is forced to the surface and is carried off in small 

 ditches to be distributed again on the land near the Tonoy-Urdaneta road. 

 The soil east of Asingan is of a light loamy character. Seepage water 

 direct from the Agno River runs through it very readily, and the water 

 finds an outlet on the land around Villasis. 



In any irrigation project care must be taken to avoid surplus water, 

 or the soil will not only become water-logged, but injurious alkali salts 

 would accumulate. Portions of this district now suffer a great deal from 

 lack of suflRcient water, and if a water supply were available crops could 

 be successfully grown during the dry season. 



The chemical and mechanical analyses of Pangasinan soils 

 are shown in Tables IV and V. 



