MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 39

THE INVESTIGATION OF THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF THE SOILS.

The intimate relations which exist between geology and agriculture
have come to be recognized in late years by those who are investigat-
ing the subject of soils and their formation. The character of a soil
is determined by the underlying geological formation, since the soil
itself is but the disintegrated surface of the subjacent rocks mingled
with varying proportions of vegetable humus. The limits of a geo-
logical formation become then the limits of a particular type of soil,
so that a geological map is at the same time an agricultural map. The
latest investigations of soils show that their difference is dependent
not so much upon their chemical composition as upon the physical
arrangement of their particles, so that a study of the character of
the rocks from which they come is of much significance. It is the
intention of the State Geological Survey, by co-operation with the
Maryland Agricultural College and the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture, to investigate the origin and the nature of the soils of Mary-
land from a geological standpoint, believing that such a classification
of the soils will be of great benefit to the agricultural interests of the
state, and will at the same time show to those who desire to settle in
our midst the characteristic features of our arable land.

THE INVESTIGATION OF ARTESIAN WELL PROSPECTS.

A very close relation exists between the water-bearing horizons of
the state and the geological formations, and it is of much importance
to the people that the most reliable information possible should be
available upon this subject. A careful study and measurement of
the thickness of the several geological formations throughout the
eastern and southern portions of the state will readily afford data
upon which estimates may be made of the depth at which water may
be anticipated. In the more highly folded and crushed crystalline
rocks of the Piedmont belt between Baltimore and the Frederick
valley less accurate information can be given, but even here the geo-
logical relations often give indications of the depth of deep-seated
water. Farther to the west, in the Appalachian district of the state,
the geological relations are again much more distinct. The value of