Scientist looking through filing cabinets full of soil samples

Image (illustration or photograph) for this item, linking to higher res image.

Citation

Unknown. “Scientist looking through filing cabinets full of soil samples.” Special Collections, USDA National Agricultural Library. Accessed April 25, 2024, https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/speccoll/items/show/8240.

Title

Description

Photograph of a scientist with four tubes of soil in hand. Beside him is a row of tall filing cabinets with three drawers open, showing dozens of soil sample vials.

Part of the permanent file of small reference samples of soils kept at the Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland for use in correlation, naming, and classification of soils of the United States. Each small vial contains a sample of one horizon or layer in a soil profile. On the average, a single profile is represented by five samples. These reference samples now number about 130,000, most of which are from the United States, but some are from other parts of the world as well. These reference samples permit comparisons of soils from different parts of the country, especially when the soils are thought to be closely similar.

Format

photographic print

Collection

Charles Edwin Kellogg Papers

Appears in Exhibits

Events at the Library