Norwich bulletin., 1912-06-05
This County's Soil Problem
Detailed Survey of 6s1 Square Miles Will Be Made by Gov ernment-Three Fundamental Factors For Governing the Work.

the form of crops, and which, under | proper management, may be continu- | ally increased from it's annual earn 1 ings. The forces of nature which have produced soils have not ceased to act, ! and through their steady, continued operations they are capable of main- taining and renewing the producing power of this great natural resource when they are properly directed and assisted by the husbandman. In this respect soils. as a natural resource, differ most materially from mines. The mine of metal or of mineral fuel constitutes a resource whose extent may be ascertained and whose total content may be measured. It is pos sible under certain conditions for skill full engineers to estimate with consid- erable exactness the total amount of material which may be removed from a mine and the Tenth of time which it will continue to yield. With the soilt his is not possible. Even when surface soils are bodily removed and useless subsoils are exposed, these, if only left to nature, may In time be brought to useful productivity; when nature is properly assisted the process becomes rapid. When through mis- mana cement the crop producing pow CT of a soil is impaired, a simple change in crop rotation or in the me chanical handling of the soil is often sufficient to make it's continued culti- vation possible and profitable. Thus the soil, under businesslike and seien- tific management, is capable of yield ing not only annual but annually in- ereasing profits. While bad manage ment, neglect or avarice may cause a temporary check in the producing ca- pacity of the individual field. history shows, and statistics prove that in all civilized countries, through all histor-
 ic times, the soils of the world have responded with increased crops to in
 creasingly intensive culture for the
 support of growing populations. It is only within brief periods of time and over limited areas that improvidence or neglect has been able to cause de- l creased returns from the soil
 Looking Ahead.
 The time has not yet arrived when even the present known resources of American soils are fully called upon to feed the people of our own nation No such intensity of cultivation is de- manded as in many of the older eoun tries. The time may come, and doubt less wilt may be when there are 300 millions of Americans instead of S5 millions-when more land will be needed for farms. Much sooner will come a time when the farm land now in use must be handled more inten- sively and more effectively and each 1 acre must be made to produce to its maximum capacity the crops for which | it is best fitted.
 It is partly in anticipation of that time that the soil survey is examining into the total soil resources of the country and Investigating the broad problems of the relationship of soil to crop, which must be solved before American soils and American farmers | can do their best the one for the oth- CT. Tn crop production. even under | ordinary farm methods, there are two 1 groups of influences which control the l selection of appropriate crops-the | planning of crop rotations and the | adoption of correct systems of farm l ing. These are the influences of the 1 climate and the soil. Neither may be l neglected by any man who hopes for l complete success, and the due and rel ative importance of each must be as- | certained
 l The work of making soil surveys
 was begun in 1899, and up to the pres i ent time detailed surveys aggregating ! 233, ,459 square miles. or 149. 413, 760 l acres, have been made in 4S states. In l Connecticut up to the present time
 surveys have been made of the follow | ing areas:
 1 Connecticut valley area, Windham l county, 1.033 square miles, or 661, 120 | acres.
 Survey of 661 Square Miles.
 The assignments for the present
 field season will consist of a detailed
 survey of New London county, which covers 6S1 square miles.
 The work of the soil survey is based I upon the principle that there are diff ! ferences among soils which so affect i plants that not all soils are equally suited to the productnon of all crops
 This work, therefore, comprises a study of both the character of these
 soil differences and the effects which
 they produce in the growing of farm
 crops.