The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-06
NOVELTY In The MAP Line
AGRICULTURAL EXPERTS ARE PRE-
PAIRING A MAP OF SOILS.
The Entire Country Is Being Charted
1t Will Teach Farmers What Can
Be Grown in All sections.

Washington Post.
Uncle Sam is going to have a soil map
that will be a wonder. 1t Will be m
thing of a kind entirely new. and will en-
able the farmer, wherever he is located,
TO determine just what crops will bring
him the largest returns in money. Print
ed in colors, 1t will convey information in
the cIearest and most easily comprehended
manner imaginable.
The map is to cover the whole OF the
United States, and will be on such a scale
! that every ten-acre patch will be repre-
| sented by one-eighth of an inch square.
But each farmer will be able TO procure
a chart of his own neighborhood on a
larger scale, so that he can arrange his
| planting in accordance with the sugges-
tons which it conveys. The work is done
by townships to start with. and these are
put together to make counties which are
finally assembled to form complete maps
of States.
Hitherto the business of farming has
been TO some extent guess work; the agri-
c%ulturist formed a surmise as to what
crops were best for him 10 try, and did
his planting accordingly. Henceforth it
will be quite different. He will study the
government map. and from it will obtain
advice, based on the highest scientiic
knowledge, as to what will be best for
him TO try to grow. Then he VIII go
ahead with a reasonap pie certainty Of sat
isfactory results.
In the first place. the soil map will show
what kind of agricultural industry any
given locality is best adopted for-whether
fruit raising, vegetable growing. dairy
ing or general farming. 1t will make
clear to the farmer in North Carolina, for
instance, that he has the same soil that
is used "advantageously for certain pur-
poses in Georgia. and that, If climatic
conditions are not unfavorable, the same
crops may be expected TO succeed on his
land.
OCEAN STRIP FOR VEGETABLES.
A wonderful strip of light, sandy soil not
over four or five miles wide extends along
the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to
Florida, with occasional interruptions. bor-
dering the ocean and its embayments, /. c.,
the rivers and bays. 1t is a natural truck
patch adapted for the production of early
vegetables, which ripen much sooner in
that ribbon of land than anywhere else in
corresponding ATTITUDES owing to the near
ness of the sea. The nearer the water the
earlier the planting may be done
Along that strip in spring the climate
moves north at an average rate of thirteen
miles a day. The crops of vegetables which
II produces come 10 market at a cOTTe-
spending rate. But backward weather in
the South and forward weather in the
North will disarrange things sometimes,
causing a ripening of the same kinds of
produce at the same period in different
ATTITUDES of the strip, and thus bringing
about a glut disastrous TO growers. Under
ordinary conditions, however, the potatoes,
tomatoes, peas and other garden stun ar
rive first from Florida. then from Georgia,
next from the Carolinas and so on.
This interesting strip is conspicuously
shown on the soil map owing to its great
commercial importance. 1t has so length
ened the season for fresh vegetables that
now II may be said that there is no longer
any season.; such products are obtainable
all the year round. In southern Florida
there is a limited area below reach of
frost where vegetables can be grown all
winter. and the yield Of this region tides
over the cold months until the spring sea-
son begins its march up the coast.
VALUE OF THE WORK.
1t is the strip next to the beach, a mile
wide, that is best for trucking purposes.
and these sandy lands. when near TO cities
and with good transportation available, are
worth from $50 to $500 an acre, though only
a few years ago they were valued at 81 an
acre. AS shown by the map. even along the
strip the soils vary, so as to be adapted to
different kinds of truck. the lightest and
medium most suitable for tomatoes. and
the heaviest just right for growing cab
bages.
The map will call attention to certain
troubles of soils which have been inves-
tigated through chemical analyses. One
OF these is aciditv which has an impor-
tant influence upon farming over large
areas; another is excess or deficiency of
certain elements of plant growth, which
can be supplied by fertilizers; and yet an
other is alkali. AS for alkali. science has
ascertained both the source of it and the
remedy. II comes usually from wash
from the mountains. from salts carried
onto the land by irrigation, or from de-
posits laid down at a period when the
land was sea bottom. The remedy is to
underdrain the land and wash out the al
kali. and TO prevent accumulation of seep-
age water in the subsoil.
An Illustration of the method Of map
ping and of the value OF the work is at
bottom in Mississippi, which has just
been completed. 1t is a vast alluvial del
Ia 100 miles long by forty miles wide, and
| comprises a good deal of the richest land
ical limits are four or five different kinds
of soil, some of which are unproductive.
Some of the land yields a quarter of a
bale of cotton to the acre, some of it half
a bale, some of II three-quarters of a bale,
and some OF IL a bale and more. General
ly speaking, the bottom represents a pro-
duction OF about a bale to the acre.
INTRODUCTION OF NEW CROPS.
The spots not so productive for cotton
have been sscertained recently by the ex-
icito " " Noiuophc " NAOpS VI hllu nOl
yet introduced, such as vegetables and
certain fruits. Provided with a soil map
of the region. the farmer will know where
to replace poor crops Of cotton with vege-
tables that will yield 500 TO $500 an acre.
In that part of the country there is a
great deal of what is called wash soil. ."
which has ruined whole sections agricul-
turally. the alluvium being readily carried
away by floods and rains. Such areas are
indicated on the map, and instructions are
given as 10 how TO treat them by terrace
ing. etc.
The map will give a basis for the intro
duction of new crops from abroad by
showing what areas are specially adapted
10 certain kinds Of plants. II was Incl
dentally by this Investigation that the i'm
portant fact was ascertained that real
Sumatra tobacco could be grown in the
Connecticut valley-a discovery which will
put millions of dollars into the pockets
of American producers. In these DAYS of
rapid agricultural development it is of
the utmost importance TO encourage In
every possible way the introduction and
| spread of new industries, such as truck
growing, fruit culture on improved prin-
ciples, etc. and the soil map here described
has an obvious and important bearing on
all such problems.
Fortune Told by Features.
Leslie's Weekly.
Teeth that ~ Iopa or5 ~. -1- "