In undertaking a survey of the soils of a given district the methods of analysis and the classification to be adopted (which in its turn shapes the scheme of the work) must be determined by the purpose before the investigator at the outset. His end may be scientific–to assign the soils in question to their types, or practical–to give information to the cultivator by showing him the area over which a given method of treatment may be expected to succeed. Much will depend upon the extent of the area under investigation and on the character of the climate prevailing.