Arizona republican., 1905-07-17
STUDY OF SOIL
The Fine Point to Which 1t
 Has Been Brought
FUTURE POSSIBILITIES
One May Safely Buy a Farm "Sight Unseen" In Any Part of the COun- try By Making Inquiry Or the De- pertinent of Agriculture.

Portland, July 16.-For the sake of supplying definite and absolutely reIi-
 able information in regard to every square mile of land in the 3.622. .922 l which compose the area of the United ! States of America, Uncle sam. through
 the bureau of soils of the department
 Of agriculture. will spend eighteen
 years and at least S6,0OO. .OOO. When
 the work of the bureau of soils has been completed, it will be possible for a man intending to purchase a farm i to write to the department of agricuI- ture and secure from that department i q detailed map of the section in which
 his farm is located together with 1 description of the section Then. by ! looking up his intended purchase on
 the map and consulting the descriptive booklet, he can determine to a nicety its value. The map will show by diff fer ent colors the nature of the soil. while the descriptive booklet will tell i its value which has been deter
 mined by examination of the soil. study of the railroad facilities. and examinations of the markets and other qualifying conditions. The soil maps and booklets will enable many farmers, who have been only partially 1 successful to learn wherein they have ! failed by trying to raise crops un- adapted to the nature of their lands and will instruct them as to what crops are best suited to their farms
 It will instruct them also as to the best methods Of cuItivating soils of 1 different kinds.
 While the examination of soils has
 been carried on for perhaps a hun dred years by laboratory methods, the present investigation is along entirely different and ia. more practicable
 lines. The soils division was estab- l lished as a separate hureau of the de- partment of agriculture on July 1, ] 1901, and since that time its force has
 been increased more than twelvefold Up tn December 31, 1904. the bureau
 had mapped SS.S55 square miles. in
 small patches scattered over the whole
 United States, and it is estimated that eighteen years more will be required
 to complete the work.
 The work of surveying the soils is now being carried on by twenty field parties in as many states and terri tories A soil party consists generally of two men, who are equipped with a compass, an instrument known as an adOmeter used for measuring dis tances; sometimes with a plane table. to make or correct a base map and with a soil augur. Generally, samples of earth are taken by means of the soil augUr to a depth of three feet in humid regions and to a depth of six feet in arid regions. but the instru- ment may be used, by means of exten- sions, in making bOrings to a depth of cafc~ likely to be encountered, the party is equipped also with instruments and chemicals for determining the total alkaH content of the soil and the chem 1 ical composition of the all1aH salts and ] irrigation waters.
 The investigation Of the soils is con ! ducted in this wise: Selecting some town in the area to be surveyed. the | party hires a horse and buggy and i drives out into the country. Then one Or both Of the men go out into the fields for a distance of half a mile | more or less, ard take frequent bor- i ings. They examine the material | carefully, noting the texture, whether | sand, silt or clay, the changes which ! take place at varying depths. the pres 1 ence of gravel, the drainage condi- ! tions, and the character of the crops or native vegetation. Moving forward | in it's work, if the party finds that the ] material changes, either in the sur ! face soil or in the subsoil sufficiently l to influence plant growth, the charac- 1 ter of this change is noted, and the l boundary lines between the two types are traced out. Separate samples of 1 the soil and the subsOil are sent to the | bureaus laboratories, where painstak- ing examination of them is made.
 During the months that the parties are in the field they are careful to ob- serve the character and yield of the crops and to acquire the fullest knowl- edge of farming conditions in the areas examined. The reports made by the partie~ also take into consideration climatic conditions. transportation ia cilities and market and labor condi- tions. All this information is neces- sary in order to determine the value of the land and it's adaptability to the raising of different varieties of crops. |
 At the Lewis and Clark exposition, the manner in which the work is car ried out is shown in an interesting way by means of maps and models and an attendant explains anything that is not understood. The exhibit has attracted a great deal of interest among farmers in the Pacific north west and those from the east who have come to the fair. for the farmers are coming to realize the practical inn portance of the work which Uncle Sam is carrying on in the interests or economic agriculture.
 The investigations carried on by the bureau of soils already have proved of practical value. and their importance when completed hardly can be con ceived. Tn Maryland. for example. it was found that peaches of superior quality and flavor could be grown on some of the stony foothiH soils that were worthless for general farming