Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 June 1901 — NOW IT’S A SOIL MAP. [ARTICLE]

NOW IT’S A SOIL MAP.

AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT IS MAKING FARMERS* GUIDE. Colored Chart of the Entire Country —Carefully Gathered Information Shorn What Grows Beat and Telia the Thing* to Avoid. Washington correspondence: The Agricultural department is about to publish a soil map that will enable the farmer, wherever he is located, to determine just what crops will bring him the largest returns in money. Printed in colors, it will convey information in the clearest 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 represented by one-eighth of an inch square. But each fanner 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 suggestions which It conveys. The work la 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 guesswork; the agriculturist formed a surmise as to what crops were best for him to try, and did his planting accordingly. Henceforth it will be quite different. Soil Map I* First Guide. In the first place, the soil map will show what kind of agricultural industry any given locality is best adapted for, whether fruit raising, vegetable growing, dairying, or general farming. It will make clear to the farmer in North Carolina, for instance, that he has the same soil that is used advantageously for certain purposes io Georgia, and that, if climatic conditions are not unfavorable, the same crops may be expected to succeed on his land. A wonderful strip of light, sandy soil not over four or fi,ve miles wide extends along the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Florida with occasional inter-* ruptions, bqrderiug the ocean and its embayments— i. e., the rivers and bay*.? It is a natural truck patch, adapted for the production of early vegetables, which' ripen much sooner in that ribbon of land than anywkere else in corresponding latitudes, jwing to the nearness of the sea. Tb'«s 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 it produces come to market at a corresponding 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 latitudes of the strip, and thus bringing about a glut disastrous to grower*. Under ordinary condition*, however, the potatoes, tomatoes, peas,: and other garden stuff arrive 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. It has so lengthened the season for fresh vegetables that now it may be said that there Is no longer any season; such products nre obtainable all the year round. In Southern Florida there is a limited area below reach of frost where vegetables can be grown all winter, nnd the yield of thi* region tides over the cold months until the spring season begins its march up the coast. Show* What to Avoid. It Is the strip next to the beach, a mile wide, that Is best for trucking purposes, and these sandy lauds, when near to cities and with good transportation available, are worth from SSO to SSOO an acre, though only a few years ago they were valued at $1 an acre. As shown by tho map, even along the strip the soils vary,' so as to be adapted to different kinds ot truck, the lightest and sandiest being best for early peas, the medium most suitable for tomatoes, and the heaviest just right for growing cabbages. The map will call attention to certain troubles of soils, which have been investigated through chemical analysis. One of these is acidity, which has an Important influence upon farming over large areas;;anothcr is excess or deficiency of certain elements of plant growth, which san be supplied by fertilizers; and yet another is alkali. As for allaaM, science has ascertained both the source of i\and the remedy. It comes usually from wash from the mountains, from -salts carried on to the land by‘irrigation, or from deports laid down at a period when the land was sea bottom. The remedy is to underdrain the land and wash out the alkali and to prevent the accumulation of seepage water in the subsoil. Map for Cotton Region. An illustration of the method of mapping, and of the value of the work, is afforded by a chart of the so-called Yazoo Bottom, in Mississippi, which has just been completed. It is a vast alluvial delta 100 miles long by 40 miles wide; and comprises a good deal of the richest land in the world. But within its topographical 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 tire acre, some of It half a bale, some of it three-quar-ters of a bale, and some of it a bale and more. Generally speaking, the bottom represents a production of about a bale to the acre. f The spots not so productive for cotton have been ascertained recently by the experts to be valuable for crop* of kind* not yet Introduced, such as vegetable* and certain fruits. Provided with a soil map of the region, the farmer will know where to replace poor crops of cotton with vegetables that will yield SIOO to S2OO an acre. The map will give a basis for the introduction of new crops from abroad by showing what areas are speoially adapted to certain kinds of plants. It was incidental to this investigation that the important fact wns 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 theso of rapid agricultural development 11 Is of the utmost importance to encourage in every possible way the introduction and spread of new Industries, such a* truck growing, fruit culture, etc.