Grand Forks daily herald., 1914-12-17
SOIL Survey IN
COUNTIES DONE
Dickey and LaMoure Get
Valuable Information as
to Conditions.

Fargo, \. d., Dec. 1.-THE field
work Of the soil survey of LaMoure
and Dickey counties has been com
plcted. a corps of soil experts fur
nished by the North Dakota agri-
cultural experiment station and Unit
ed States department of agriculture
have been classifying and outlining
the boundaries of the various soils in
these areas since June /, 1914. The
county commissioners in each county
have also appropriated funds toward
the support of the work in their re-
SpectiNe counties. These soil men
have studied the soils from the stand
point of methods OF formation, text
ure and structure of soil and subsoil
content of organic OF vegetable mat
ter. lime content and suita bility to the
production Of the various crops. Furt
ther studies of the capacity of the
various soils to retain water for crop
production and analyses of the several
types to determine the amount of the
various plant food elements present
in each will be made in the cxperi-
mcnt station laboratories.
This information will be published
as bulletin Of the experiment sta
ton and will be available to the resi-
dents of the counties and others who
may be interested In farming in these
SoohIASS. Luz WEALTH. OF IIlGS0 COuH~
ties is derived from the soil and this
survey will furnish anyone interested
In the county accurate information In
regard TO the quality and character of
the soil on every quarter section.
This knowledge will furnish an in
voice of resources and provide pros-
pective settlers with reliable informa-
tion regarding the soil Of any farm
within its borders. 1t will furnish
f11op pl s,1C<
that. will enable them to work out
more profitable systems of soil man.
agement. The selection Of crops and
the planning of cropping systems can
not intelligently be done without a
knowledge Of the soi1s upon which
they are to bc grown. Profitable
methods of soil improvement cannot
be carried out without a. knowledge Of
the deficiencies Of the soil. Methods
for each crop depend upon the type Of
soil upon which it is to be seeded.
The reports Of these counties will fur
nish definite information regarding
the kind of soil on every forty acres
within the county. The results Of
agricultural investigation work in the
state having bearing on the man
agement of the respective types will
also he summarized in these reports.
" by the United States department Of
agriculture and the North Dakota
Agricultural Experiment Station. c.
r. Marbut, who has charge of over
forty men engaged in this work in va
rious parts Of the United States has
inspected the work for the United
States department Of agriculture.
Messrs. n. NJ. Bushnell, II. z. Hutton,
w. I. Watkins and f. H. Smies have
been assigned by the United States
department of agriculture to North
Dakota for cooperation with the
state experiment station and the coun-
ties during the season. r. G. Doneg-
hue. director Of the state agricultural
and geological survey. has had charge
Of the work for the~st and Messrs.
A. G. Anderson, Melvin Thomas and
Murray Stebbins are the men assigned
to this work by thelstate. The men
engaged in this woris have been train
ed In the agricultural colleges of
North Dakota, Illinois. Indiana, Penn
sylvania. Missouri. Kansas and Ohio
and have had practical experience in
farming in addition to their collegiate
training and are, therefore. thorough
ly familiar with soils and problems Of
soil management.