Karklins makes a good argument for using standard color designations for bead
studies, but what about for soils?  I am sure someone out there has actually
made use of their soil color readings for some interesting purpose - please
relate your experiences.  It seems to me though that soil is such a complex
thing to study _and_ then learn from that it should be left to the
pedologists (that's dirt, not children).  I'm sure they have a set of tricks
to use in making sure their method of reading color is the same time after
time _plus_ they know what else to look for, describe, and then interpret.
 
Mostly it seems that taking soil color readings is another one of those field
rituals that reassures us we are doing science.  In the belief system I was
initiated into, the ritual is invalidated unless a small scoop of soil isn't
also saved in a film canister that has been inscribed with a mysterious
string of numbers.  The soil, of course, has to be removed from the profile
or feature with a Marshalltown trowel, size 45/5.
 
             Yours in being color blind enough to mistrust other people's
eyes too,
                           and best to all for the season,
                                    Larry McKee