PORCELAIN MATERIALS.-The porcelain materials of Maryland, which comprise flint, feldspar and kaolin, have been relatively little worked, although it seems probable that valuable deposits of these materials may be looked for in many portions of the Piedmont belt. Their manner of occurrence in crystalline rocks is such that close examination is necessary for their accurate location, but the proposed investigation which will be given to the whole crystalline area will undoubtedly develop many new deposits of these materials.

MARLS.-The marl deposits of Maryland have been worked from time to time for nearly a century. They received the attention of the First Geological Survey and of the subsequent State Agricultural Chemists, and since then analyses have been made from time to time by the chemist of the Agricultural Experiment Station. It is desirable that this work should be continued and that the location and extent of these marl beds, which cover so wide an area in eastern and southern Maryland, should be fully determined. It is particularly important that the agricultural interests of the counties where these natural fertilizers abound should realize the value of their own resources.

IRON ORES.-The iron ores of Maryland have from the earliest times been a source of great profit to the state of Maryland. The earliest blast furnace was built within the limits of the state, and local ores since early colonial days have been smelted both in Maryland and adjacent states. On account of the discovery of larger and more easily worked deposits in other portions of the country, the iron industry in Maryland has in later years suffered a considerable decline, but notwithstanding these facts extensive deposits are still known to exist, and the carbonate ores are to-day worked with profit. The State Geological Survey has in view the location and study of these deposits with the view of bringing them to the attention of the people.

COALS. The coal deposits of Maryland have perhaps been more fully explored and extensively worked than any other of our mineral resources. In Allegany county, especially, the coal operators are well informed as the result of private enterprise, regarding their coal seams, but in Garrett county little has yet been done toward the devel

opment of this industry, and it is the intention of the State Geological Survey at an early date to take up a systematic investigation of the coal-bearing beds of this portion of the state. Already enough has been learned in the preliminary examination of the area to convince the members of the survey that extensive deposits of coal exist there. GOLD DEPOSITS.-There is undoubtedly a considerable volume of gold scattered through the crystalline rocks of the Piedmont portion of Maryland, but it has not hitherto been found in sufficient quantities at any one point to give assurance of its being worked with profit by present methods. It is not at all improbable, however, as the various processes are improved, that the gold deposits of Maryland will come to have much value, and it is certainly desirable that the character and distribution of these gold ores should be fully studied by the State Geological Survey. Such investigations are to-day being accorded the gold deposits of the adjacent states where the outlook can be considered to be little better than in Maryland.

SOAPSTONE.-Soapstone quarries have been opened from time to time in the northern portion of the Piedmont area, and it is desirable that the distribution of this material should be carefully determined. Larger and more readily worked deposits may be discovered in the careful investigation of the crystalline rocks, which will tend to very largely develop this important industry. It is the intention of the State Geological Survey to consider this matter as its work proceeds. MINERAL PAINTS.—Mineral paints in several varieties have been obtained in various portions of Maryland, and are to-day being worked to some extent in the region between Baltimore and Washington. These mineral paints are found in the old crystalline and in the recent sedimentary rocks. It is probable that further investigations will reveal other deposits and that this industry may receive much aid from the work of the survey.

DIATOMACEOUS EARTH (Tripoli).-The deposits of diatomaceous earth, sometimes known as infusorial earth or tripoli, extend as a thick bed across the eastern and southern counties of Maryland and have been worked with profit at several points in the latter area. As the work of the State Geological Survey proceeds, the extent of these

deposits will be carefully located, so that further development of them may be anticipated.

MINERAL WATERS.-Mineral waters in considerable variety issue at many points from the Maryland rocks. The great diversity in the geological formations and their different chemical composition have an intimate relationship to the varying character of these waters. It will be one of the objects of the State Geological Survey to investigate the mineral waters and to call the attention of the people at large to their occurrence and value.

MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTS.-There are many miscellaneous mineral products in Maryland which are not known to-day to occur in sufficiently large quantities to be advantageously worked, although many of them have in the past been of economic value. Among these products may be mentioned copper, chrome, lead and zinc ores, asbestos, mica, amber and graphite, while traces of other substances, including manganese and antimony, have been observed. It is not improbable that as investigations proceed larger deposits of these substances may be detected which may come to have considerable commercial importance to the state. The geological formations of Maryland will be subjected to careful examination by the State Survey, and everything that appears to have a possible economic value will be fully looked into, with the anticipation that still other products of commercial utility may be detected.

DETAILED STUDY OF AND REPORT UPON COUNTY RESOURCES. There are many advantages to be found in considering the resources of each county collectively. In the first place the work can be done in much more detail than would be desirable when considering each product as a whole in its general distribution throughout the state, while the bringing together of the several resources of a small division like that of the county would show, as would not be possible by any other method, the natural wealth of a specified district. The physiographic and climatic conditions of each county will be considered in the accounts which will be prepared as well as the geology and mineral resources, so that the reports when finished will afford a complete

statement of the natural advantages of each county, and will not only be of value to the residents, but likewise to those who are looking for homes in the state. These reports will be accompanied by large scale topographic maps which will show at a glance by the colors and symbols introduced all of the natural resources of the county. This method of treatment has been pursued in some of the other states with excellent results, and has many practical advantages in a state like Maryland over the publication of section sheets which ignore the county lines.

THE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION OF ROAD MATERIALS.

There is perhaps no subject to-day which is more demanding the attention of enlightened commonwealths than the proper construction of roads. Much consideration has been given this subject by experts, who have found that if the money now expended annually by the several states was properly applied, a system of permanently good roads could be gradually constructed in place of the temporary makeshifts now in vogue. The importance of proper highways to all classes of citizens cannot be too forcibly dwelt upon, but this is neither the time nor the place to go into the discussion of this important question. It is desirable, however, that attention should be called to the fact that good roads can only be built with proper materials, and that it is most essential that the various rock formations within the state should be studied with a view to their use in this direction. Although some rocks may be shown to be better than others, questions of transportation have to be considered, and in each section it is necessary to discover the most available local materials. After the various. rocks have been tested by well-known methods and their availability determined, it is then important to show their distribution so that the road commissioners of each county may know where to obtain them with the least expenditure of time and money. There are few ways in which the Geological Survey can be of more direct service to the state than in giving advice regarding the proper materials for road construction, and it is the intention of the State Geologist to give this subject his careful attention as the work of the survey proceeds.

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 investigating 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 geological 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 Agriculture, to investigate the origin and the nature of the soils of Maryland 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 geological relations often give indications of the depth of deep-seated Farther to the west, in the Appalachian district of the state, the geological relations are again much more distinct. The value of

water.