The soil selected for sampling for these investigations should be typical, should represent fairly well a considerable area of land. It should represent either the very best type of land for the staple crop or crops of the locality, or the very poorest lands for these same crops. Both of these extremes are desired for contrast. For example, if the staple crop of the locality is wheat or a certain type of tobacco, select the soil best adapted to this staple crop, and another soil, if possible, in the same locality, representing considerable area of land upon which this staple crop cannot be successfully grown on account of the inferior yield, quality, or the time of ripening of the crop. The soil sampled should be, or should recently have been, under actual cultivation in the crop or crops best adapted to it, so that the real agricultural value of the land can be accurately known. The samples should be taken inside the field, some distance away from fences, roads, or trees. If there are plants growing in the field, the sample should be taken about midway between two plants. The samples should be taken where they will typify fairly well the average soil of the field and of the large area of land which they are to represent. The samples are taken in some one of the ways described herein. Each sample should be carefully labelled at the time of taking. The following blank form will be found convenient for this purpose: │Locality: LABORATORY No.: │ ────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────────────── No. of sack: │Description: (virgin or cultivated). │ (_a_) Natural herbage: │ (_b_) Crops best adapted to land (grass, │ wheat, tobacco, truck, barren). │ „ ------------------------│ „ Date: │ „ │ „ ------------------------│ „ Collector: │ „ │ „ ------------------------│------------------------ Depth of sample: │ (Soil or Subsoil?) │Geologic formation: ... in. to ... inches. │ =68. Method of the Royal Agricultural Society.=[50]—Have a wooden box made, six inches long and wide, and from nine to twelve inches deep, according to the depth of soil and subsoil in the field. At one of the selected places mark out a space of twelve inches square; dig around it in a slanting direction a trench, so as to leave undisturbed a block of soil, with its subsoil, from nine to twelve inches deep; trim this block to make it fit into the wooden box, invert the open box over it, press down firmly, then pass a spade under the box and lift it up and gently turn it over.