Comparison was conducted between four different virus extraction methods in recovery efficiency of bacteriophage MS2 and φX.74. The method of 3% beef extract plus 0.04M sodium pyrophosphate(pH=9.4)was the most effective one, with virus recovery efficiency ranging from 62.9% to 97.7% for red earth,red clay and fluvo-aquic soil. But the recovery efficiency reached only about 30%,which might be attributed to its high content of amorphous iron oxide and amorphous aluminium oxide. It was also found that type of viruses had little effect on the recovery efficiency. The findings could be cited as a platform for the research on fate and behavior of virus in most soils in our country.