The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-13
In Amount of Money Expended in Survey Work DoneIn Area aof Territory Covering, Alabama Is Ahead of All Other States
 of the Union.
BY HON. J. A. WILKINSON. Commits sioner< of Agriculture, Mont

RY HON. J. A. WILKINSON. Commits
 sioner> of Agriculture, Mont
 gomery, Ala.
 The first soil survey work in the Etate of Alabama undertaken by the Bureau of Soils of the United States Department of Agriculture, was in Perry County, Alabama. in connection { with the development of the tobacco !. industry of the State. This work was done in 1902, and was followed from time to time until 1907 by additional soil surveys in other portions of the State.
 In 1907 a bill was passed by the Legislature of the State of Alabama empowering the Commissioner of Ag- ricu1ture for the State of Alabama, to arrange cooperation between the State Department of Agriculture and the . Bureau of Soils of tho United States Department of Agriculture for the prosecution of soil survey work in the State. The sum of $10,000 annually was set aside by thIs act to constitute q State fund to be employed for this purpose. An agreement was entered into with the Bureau of Soils that an equal or greater amount of money from the funds of the United States Depart ment of Agriculture should be employ ed in this work. and that the work should be personally under the joint
 
 . Commissioner of Agriculture, and Prof. Milton Whitney. Chief of the Bureau of Soils. The services of several train ed soil survey men employed by the Bureau of Soil were secured for the State, and graduates of the agricultural course in the Alabama Polytechnic In- stitute were selected to represent the State in the soil survey work. The parties thus made up are employed continuously in the conduct of the soil survey work in the State and rapid progress with this list has been made nince the fall of 1907. In fact, larger amount of soil survey work has been done in Alabama during the past two years than in any other State in the United States. and several of the other States seeing the results which are being secured by the Alabama work, have also arranged for cooperative soil survey work within their own bounds.
 The total land area of the State of Alabama amounts to 51.540 square miles. By the end of June, 1909, ap- proximately 10000 square miles of the area of the State will have been cov- cred by detailed soil surveys, leaving about 31,500 square miles still to be covered. In the pi osecution of this work the Federal Government has ex- pended over $41,000, and the State of -hiADduld ndS eXpenOeO a ULIIe over $l0.000. The work has cost a trihe over $2.50 per square mile, and by the time ths cooperative agreement has been completely carried out the total cost of tfA soil survey of the entire State will amount to about $135,000 or $I50.00o.
 Alabama Leads All.
 Alabama thus leads all of the other States in the United States, both in the amount of money which has been expended fin the prose- ution of soil survey work, and in the amount of territory covered. Texas comes next with total expenditure of $37 ,000, and the soil survey covering 13.36O square miles. The cost of the work ip Call fornia has been about $41,000. but only Ss670 square miles of territory have been covered. owing to the fact that in addition to the soil map, a map showing the location and amount of