Comparison of Two Methods of Numerical Soil Classification for Some Tarai and Bhabar Soils of Uttar Pradesh

Numerical classification of seven soils belonging to the orders Mollisol, Inceptisol and Entisol of Tarai and Bhabar tract of Nainital district in Uttar Pradesh was done using the method suggested by Hole and Hironaka (1960) and Arkley (1976). Absolute ranking of the pairs of soils, based on indices of similarity calculated by former method and the average Eucledian distance coefficient calculated by the latter method, was almost identical. It is, therefore, suggested that for the numerical classification of the soils of Tarai and Bhabar tract of Uttar Pradesh, both the methods are equally good. The Hole and Hironaka method, however, is simpler and less time consuming than the other one.