Excerpt from Ford County Soils T IS A matter of common observation that soils vary tremem dously in their productive power, depending upon their physical condition, their chemical composition, and their biological activities. For the most advantageous utilization of the land a definite knowledge of the existing kinds or types of soil is a first essential, and for any comprehensive plans for the improvement and the maintenance of our agricultural soils this knowledge is likewise necessary. It is the pur pose oi a soil survey to classify the various kinds of soil of a given area in such a manner as to permit definite characterization for de scription and for mapping. With the information that such a survey affords, every farmer or landowner of the surveyed area has at hand the basis for a rational system of improvement of his land. At the same time the Experiment Station is furnished an inventory of the soils of the state upon which intelligently to base plans for those funda mental investigations so necessary for solving the problems of practical soil improvement. This county Soil report is one of a series reporting the results of the soil survey which, when completed, will cover the state of Illinois. Each county report is intended to be as nearly complete in itself as it is practicable to make it, even at the expense of some repetition. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.