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Because of the growing need for more experimental ground for the Agricultural University and the Agricultural Institutes, this study was made to indicate soil qualities around Wageningen and the possibilities of soil improvement (water control). Soil classification was based on the concepts of soil landscapes, ranges and types; these categories were defined as units with corresponding geological origin, similarity of main soil properties and water control (visible as reduction and oxidation phenomena). Connections between geomorphology and hydrology were studied in soil catenas with a view to drainage improvement.Geological studies proved the occurrence of some loamy layers, influencing water table. Details of the surveyed area, remarks on soil formation and suggestions for a Dutch system for soil classification completed the study., Bodemkundig onderzoek Stiboka; het gebied is onderdeel van de Gelderse Vallei

This systematic soil survey covers an area of about 50,000 sq.km, that consists of marshes, coastal plains, hills and mountains. Soils were classified as dry-land soils, marsh soils and peat soils, and subdivided as Residual and Sedimentary soils. Most soils are derived from liparitic, dacitic and andesitic volcanic rocks. All soils are influenced by recent fertile volcanic ash, which had rejuvenated these soils. Only 8 % of the area was cultivated; most land was covered with tropical rain- forest.The soil map shows 65 soil mapping units. The principle soils are different Lateritic soils, especially Yellowish-Brown Lateritic soils, Reddish-Brown Lateritic soils, Alluvial soils and swampy marine Hydromorphic soils. Of all soil mapping units descriptions were made of typical soil profiles, the parent material, the chemical, physical and mineral characteristics and an evaluation was given of their agricultural value.

Rede Wageningen, 15 september 1947

A soil survey in the Y-polders was combined with studies of yield of sugarbeet on different soils. Subsoil differences were shown to be the most important factor. Topsoils in the Y-polders proved to be uniform in composition and to consists of young Ysselmere clay (underwater deposits) with a lutum (clay) content of 35-40%. The thickness of the clay layer proved to be very varied. Sands, peat, peat detritus, peaty silt were the materials of which the subsoil was built up through an intricate history of sedimentation. Therefore soils were classified on clay thickness and subsoil characteristics.To test the agricultural value of this classification, yields of various soil types were compared in the polders and on some soils of the Haarlemmermeer. This data proved that high humus contents caused low contents of sugar. The influence of decalcified topsoils and cat-clay subsoils was not important in 1949 because of the weather. Coarse sandy subsoils and heavy layers had much influence; maximum yields were achieved on soils with 75 cm Y clay. A suitability scheme for sugar- beets was derived from the data.

This research, originally under the auspices of Professor van Vuuren, was accepted by Professor Edelman after the war because of a vacuum in the Social Economic Department of the Agricultural University. Because of the change of promotors the description of the physical environment was extended. The development of Huissen was closely dependent on the history of the River Rhine, on whose bank it was originally founded near the bifurcation of the Rhine and Yssel. After the diversion of the bifurcation and its silting up Huissen lost its importance as a trading centre. The sandy soil, after which the hamlet of Het Zand was named, consisted of deposits of dike breaks and of breaks in the natural levees before the dikes were built. On these sands tobacco cultivation was introduced in the eighteenth century. After its disappearance this crop was in turn followed in the 19th century by the introduction of market-gardening and fruit- growing both for the nearby town of Arnhem and especially for the rapidly developing industrial area of the Ruhr.The social and economic conditions of farmers and farmworkers throughout its history and at present were fully discussed.Prospects for the development of Huissen as a horticultural centre after the severe damage of the Second World War were considered.

A detailed map of loess and cover sand, occurring along the south-eastern border of the Veluwe; Gelderland, was made to check hypotheses on the origin of loess and cover sand.The eastern flank of the Veluwe hills, consisting of glacial sand and gravel, proved to be covered by fine cover sand near the summit, loess lower down and fine sandy colluvium at the bottom. This colluvium partly covers the fluvial deposits of the River Yssel.Many samples from the deposits in this area, from surrounding countries, and Greenland and Iceland were analysed for heavy mineral and grain size.The relation was determined between the geomorphology of the area, the position of the samples and the mineral and granular compositions.The importance of these studies for soil survey was stressed.The origin and deposition of loess and cover sands were described extensively.

The Dutch Bulb Fields are situated on the Beach-ridge landscape between the Rhine Estuary and the Y-Polders in the mid-western part of North Holland and South Holland. Culture of some horticultural crops (tulips, daffodils) is important in this area because of the special requirements of these crops: rather coarse, calcareous, deep sandy and highly porous soils easy to penetrate by roots, without organic matter, without impermeable layers and a stable watertable. Continuous deep digging is inevitable. Soil formation (mainly decalcification) in the beach ridges over some 3000 years has caused non-calcareous topsoils and a slight podsolization; the soils have been improved by digging off sand. The area has been influenced by peat growth, marine and estuarine sediments and shifting sand. The soil survey resulted in a soil map, indicating soil quality. From the results ensued the recommendation of improving soil by suction dredging. This had to be planned and carried out very carefully, because the formation of humous and clayey layers in the new profile would make the soil completely unsuitable for valuable horticultural crops. Geological studies on Middle and Late Holocene geology and stratigraphy showed that the beach ridges were formed during and after the deposition of the Atlantic Old Marine Clay (4000-2000 B.C.).

There were two hypotheses on the formation of loessoid soils in south Limburg. F. H. van Rummelen and W. J. Jongmans explained the origin by weathering of underlying rocks and reworking of the weathered material by water; J. H. Druif concluded on qualitative mineral data that the soil material was wind-borne from the north.Detailed descriptions of places and sample profiles, and quantitative data on heavy minerals and grain size confirmed the hypothesis of Druif. The mineral associations of loess soils were similar to those of glacial deposits in the central and northern parts of the Netherlands and deviated considerably from those of the underlying rocks. The grain size was characteristic for loess.At least two deposits were present: the oldest, possibly of Riss age and the younger Wnrmian.

Geology, soil science and the history of water management were surveyed between the rivers Meuse and Waal. Two terrace-shaped sand plains, covered by loamy aeolian sands border the Nymegen ice-pushed ridge. Further west were well formed soils with manganese banks developed in unpushed High Terrace material. The fluvial Low Terrace developed as a braided river system, leaving a meandering river system just before the Allerod period.Decalcification and soil formation under wet conditions yielded gley and pseudogley soils. The few well drained profiles developed brown soils, sometimes with textural B layers. Aeolian sands of different grain sizes blown from periglacial rivers, form cover sands and inland dunes. These richer sands formed brown podsolic soils or, with secondary blowing, podsols. Holocene alluvium was laid down in cycles of 550 years, of which the most recent ones were of Roman times and medieval.Meuse alluvial soils are primarily non-calcareous in contrast to the Waal. The oldest ones from Roman times yielded a brown soil with a weak textural B. The younger ones developed alluvial soils with different textures, contents of lime and degrees of gleying.Cultivation was first without dikes, Which were first round small village units in the 12th century and protected the whole area by the end of the 13th century. Similarly drainage developed from small units to greater units, which lasted until modern times when the whole area was drained in a modern way.

Various definitions of soil structure were reviewed and discussed. Soil structure was finally defined as 'the spatial arrangement of the elementary constituents and any aggregates thereof, and of the cavities occurring in the soil'.The macrostructures, visible to the naked eye or with a lens not exceeding 4 x linear were divided into two large groups: those consisting of structural elements and those without these units.A more detailed classification of the elements, formed by geological processes, was found necessary. Special attention was paid to the internal porosity of the elements and to the occurrence of various types of coatings and root prints.The concept of grade of structure was discussed, and a scheme of description modified.A classification of structures without structural elements was developed in which emphasis was placed on porosity.Samples of higher sandy soils, underlying forest and heath, were described to demonstrate specific microstructures seen in thin sections.Brown podsolic soils and podsols were shown to have characteristic differences in the morphology and mechanical behaviour of humus components., Bodemonderzoek Stiboka

The relation was studied between vegetational development and soil formation in the Pleistocene cover sands in the Netherlands, particularly whether forests, rather than heaths, were early involved in the formation of podsolic soils. The pollen content of profiles of various podsols and some gleys were examined, all lying below layers of drift sand and peat of various ages. Beyerinck's palynological method had to be extended with a study of the significance of sand diagrams. In an undisturbed podsol pollen decreased in concentration roughly geometrically from the sand surface downward.A relation could be observed between the length of the vertical distribution of pollen (pollen profile) and the depth above, in which the original stratification of the Eolian cover sand had entirely disappeared.It was concluded that most of the pollen permeated before podsolisation, during the biologically very active stage of the homogeneous forest profile. The lowest part of the pollen profile, already fixed, constantly 'grew' on the top through addition of continually younger spectra; in later degradation stages illuviation of pollen could also become significant. A paucity of tree pollen in the whole spectrum could occur after various types of vegetation and after certain conditions of soil moisture.During the Boreal, Atlantic and Fagus-Carpinus period both homogeneous forest profiles and podsolic profiles occurred under diverse vegetation. During each of these periods homogeneous forest profiles were degraded to new podsolic profiles.

By aerial photography and numerous field observations a map with soil landscapes of the northern part of Surinam on a scale of approximately 1: 600,000 was constructed. On this map three main landscapes were distinguished: the landscapes with young soils from sedimentary parent materials on young coastal plain, old soils from sedimentary materials or old coastal plain and soils from residual parent materials. The last group included soil landscapes on schists, on granite and on subgreywacke and all lateritic or laterite-like soils.

Near Paramaribo part of the young and the old coastal plain was examined more closely and the results were shown on a reconnaissance soil association map on a scale 1:100,000.

Methods were discussed and ways were considered of using aerial photographs for soil mapping in humid tropical areas covered by dense forests. With expensive and therefore limited fieldwork the relation between soil and aerial photographic image needed to be determined. Individual soils had to be grouped into soil mapping units recognizable on aerial photographs, thus making it possible to follow their boundaries on photographs and to plot them directly. Real physiographic soil maps 1:100,000 could be made with mapping units distinguished on a reconnaissance soil map but with boundaries as detailed as from a detailed soil map.

Agriculture developed remarkably in the old and especially in the young coastal plain of Surinam in the 17th, 18th and 19th century and produced such crops as sugar, cotton, tobacco, cocoa and coffee. In the second half of the 19th century activity decreased severely. With the modern sciences including soil science and survey the Surinam government was now trying to extent agriculture.The author surveyed some areas in the coastal plain, where there were sandy beachridges, some rich in shells. In the old coastal plain, he studied clay soils and eroded sand ridges of very fine sands, classified them and considered their suitability for fruit crops. Soil genesis was discussed. In the young beach ridges brown to reddish brown, biologically homogenized deep loamy sand soils were formed with favourable drainage and groundwater podsols with poor drainage. There were all intermediates.- In the older coastal- clay soils textural B horizons developed in planosol-like soils. Also plinthite was present. Better drained soils were well homogenized, giving physically good brown soils suitable for many fruit crops such as citrus, cocos, oilpalm and coffee. These soils are also very suitable for grassland.

On the eastern slopes of the Cameroon Mountains soils occurring below the 100- metre contour were surveyed on a scale 1:25,000. Most soils are young marine clay soils used for growing bananas, oilpalms, cocoa, rubber and tea. At some places there are lava streams from the mountains.

A more general soil survey was made of the younger and older volcanic soils above the 100-metre contour line and a map, scale 1 : 100,000, was produced.

The relative age of the various volcanic deposits could be estimated after completing the study of the origin, genesis and distribution of marine soils, that cover volcanic deposits in the lower part of the plain.

The discovery of beach walls at different levels formed as a result of differences in sea-levels and gradual rise of the land, helped to solve various soil problems. Most soils are K-deficient, especially young volcanic soils.

By order of the State Service for Agricultural Restoration, the whole area of the Delta Islands of Schouwen-Duiveland and Tholen was mapped to obtain data on inundated soils. Beside soil maps and descriptions a review of the holocene geology was included. A reconstruction was made of post-Boreal incursions and recessions, their periodicity and characteristics. Soil properties (CaCO 3 content, grain-size distribution) could be correlated with conditions during sedimentation.Decalcification, a process that plays an important part in soil genesis in these tidal flats and tidal marshes, was studied by comparing polders of different age allowing for local effects. The rate of decalcification could be estimated to 1 % in 80- 90 years. The influences of fresh and saline seepage on the profile and of salt susceptibility were established. From trial harvests and data on farm rents, conclusions were drawn on the suitability of the soil types, but many other factors often caused irregularities.

The thesis was the first of a series concerned chiefly with soils of the Netherlands and was a totally new approach to the problems of survey, genesis and classification, ensuing from the publications by Staring (1856, 1860) and van Baren (1908, 1927).Oosting's concept of soil science was a wide one. His thesis deals with the basic principles of modern soil science. It was only in and after the Second World War that soil survey developed along these lines. Oosting also indicated the importance of such auxiliary sciences as agricultural history, archaeology, quaternary geology, agrohydrology and geomorphology.Methods were described and information was given on soil genesis, emphasizing the function of vegetation and human influence.New ideas were developed on quaternary geology, different from those embodied in the Geological Map. Some chapters were devoted to hydrology, enclosure (related to human occupation), archaeology and history of some settlements on the southern Veluwe. The importance was stressed of studies of the relation of the plant to the soil profile and of mapping of Dutch soils, which had not yet started. It was pointed out that this was a task for people trained in agricultural sciences. Soil maps should be based only on soil properties and should be useful to as many people as possible., Geologie, geomorfologie, vegetatie, bodemkartering en bodemvormende processen zijn bestudeerd voor het Wageningse Binnenveld en de Bennenkomse Meent (Nergena), onderdeel van de Gelderse Vallei

A detailed soil survey was made for forestry purposes in the Keuper hill area of Stromberg in north-west Wnrttemberg. The soil profiles consisted chiefly of heavily weathered diluvial deposits, usually clayey, sometimes sandy, not rich in lime, and numerous deposits of loess. The Keuper deposits (the most recent deposits of Trias) underlying the soils hardly had any part in their structure. Most soils had moved by soil slip during the glacial period, giving rise to special mixed soils and a multilayered structure. Native weathered soils seldom occurred. From the structure of the shifted material, the land morphology and the slope governing solifluction, 3 terraces could be distinguished. These resulted from the main layers of hard sandstone between the Red and the Grey Keuper Clays.In most of the forests there were slightly podzolized brown forest soils. The growth of all types of timber was determined by the soil units. Growth of the native oak, beech and hornbeam, and the introduced conifers pine, European larch, and spruce distinguished different types of deciduous forest soils of the former middle forest. The economics were discussed first of oak and then of beech. The chief conifer was pine, mixed either with oak or beech according to situation. Its growth on heavy clay in basins was outstanding. European larch was particularly suited to solifluctive soils, consisting of a clayey subsoil with a loamy topsoil. The failure so far of spruce through drought and bark beetles was ascribed entirely to its situation in dry valleys.

The relation between soil conditions and vegetation, especially of teak forest was studied. Chemical or physical characteristics of the soil only did not give reliable results. Soils were then studied in the field and a detailed soil map of about 1000 ha of teak forest was made. This soil map shows the occurrence and distribution of 29 soil types, which were briefly described. For some soils some chemical and physical characteristics were given in tables. Most soils are Lateritic and Margalitic soils of varying composition and morphology. Often there are horizons with mottled clays or lateritic concretions. Some soils are derived from andesitic, others from quartz-rich or other parent material. The Margalitic soils are developed in heavy-textured clays. Further to this soil investigation an intensive study was made of the vegetation in the same area of Java. The vegetation was classified into various groups according to the development of the forest trees, the shrubs and the ground flora. It was concluded that the soil map was a very important tool for the prediction of the suitability of the land for growing teak.

Cursus bodemkunde

Belgian holocene marine deposits, similar to those in Zeeland, were surveyed. The formation of this area in south-west Belgium was associated with the Atlantic (Old Marine Deposits) and Subatlantic marine transgressions (Duinkerken I-III); in the Subatlantic Period sands and clays were deposited on the surface peat (dating from the Subboreal). The same distinction of the coastal area as in the south-west of the Netherlands could be made along the Belgian coast: Old Land, Middle Land and New Land soil landscapes, each with their own sedimentary and geographical history. Soils were classified according to this sedimentary history (physiography and morphology system), Soil formation in this area was closely correlated with hydrology, which governed decalcification.The relation between soils and crop production was studied (mainly field crops), using a method developed by Belgian soil scientists.The position of the settlements in relation to agricultural problems was described and measures to improve agriculture (manuring, treatment, drainage) were recommended.

Since 1945, detailed soil surveys were made in the maritime districts of the Netherlands. They increased knowledge of marine deposits, not only for pedologists, but also for geomorphologists. The author combined these data with new palynological and archaeological studies to construct a new time-depth diagram for the relative rise in sea-level during the last 7500 years. The curve was constructed from a number of selected points. At each point the mean sealevel during sedimentation was carefully reconstructed from sedimentation facies and by comparison with recent conditions of sedimentation. With archaeological and palynological data the ages were determined precisely. With the new 14C method of estimating age only slight correction was necessary.The author considered the curve to be the result of at least two movements: the absolute rise in sea-level believed to be a logarithmic curve and the tectonic subsidence being a continuous movement of about 2.5 cm per century. The selected points were As free as possible from subsidence through soil compaction of peat and soft clay layers; otherwise this factor was calculated.The curve was constructed as a flowing line without undulations indicating a consistent slowly dwindling transgression without minor eustatic fluctuations. The regressive and transgressive phases of marine activity on the Dutch coast were believed to have a periodicity of 525 years and were climatically conditioned, for example by increase in storminess and not by minor eustatic changes in sea-level.It was concluded that up to about 2050 the transgressive phase with severe storminess and a slight rise in sea-level will persist.

Expertise Stiboka

Lezing over de bodemkartering in Nederland door de Stichting Bodemkartering van 1943 tot heden 1946. met speciale aandacht voor het nut van dit onderzoek voor de groei en ontwikkeling van de druiventeelt in het Westland