Alva Review-Courier -

"Soil don't get no respect," Rodney Dangerfield might have said (but didn't). Perhaps you know your state bird or flower, but do you know your state soil?

Well, in recent years soil has begun to get more respect. Since the celebration of the Soil Survey Centennial back in 1999, each state has been given its own official state soil. It was in 1899 that the U. S. Department of Agriculture started its survey of all the soils in the country.

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SOILS COME IN MANY 'FLAVORS'

You might wonder what a "soil survey" really is. Isn't it all just dirt — some perhaps stickier, or redder or deeper —...