The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1883-12-19
AIkaIi Lands.
pluns.

There must be a remedy for alNali in
the lands of the Red River Valley,
which exists to such an extent as to III
jure the wheat crop. It has come under
the observation of those who have stud
led the alkali question that the land
affected by the alkali is that on edges of
the sloughs or coulees; while the land in
the slough, or that portion quite a ways
back, and which has been drained into
the %coulee, is not affected in the least.
From this fact a valuable lesson is learn
ed. When in the spring the entire
prairie is covered with water, and the
ground is frozen SO solid that it can not
soak through, it naturally run to the
nearest slough or coulee. Before the
ground thaWs the water runs off, the
uplands and spreads u owe the low
lands surrounding the %coulee; there it
remains and evaporates, and as it goes
down it leaves the alkali on the ground.
When the bottom thaWs out OF the coolie
the water soaks through Immediately,
chance to evaporate.
Some time since DR.. Wheeler made a
useful and valuable experiment. He
took some of the Red river valley earth
and leached the alkali all out, and in
the fall planted it in a porous vessel back
in the soil. When the ground thaWed
out he again leached out as much alkali
as he secured in the fall. This demon
strates that the alkali soaks through the
soil, and is raised and lowered by the
water level. When the water level is
raised the alkali rises with it, and when
it is lowered down goes the alkali. This
is demonstrated by the fact that the
land in the center of a slough or cOulee
produces a rich growth of grass, while
the land on the sides, where the water
has been allowed to evaporate and the
alkali is allowed to accumulate, produces
nothing.
The lesson is plain. The land of the
Red river valley contains a great deal of
alkali, and it is raised or lowered by the
water level in the ground. When the
rains fall upon the earth the land is
leached, and the alkali is carried off
from the highlands and is deposited on
the low lands. If all the low lands of
the valley were ditched the alkali would
be carried into the bitches, and would
not be allowed to gather on the land by
the evaporation. Again, by ditching,
the water level on the prairie would be
lowered, and consequently the alkali,
which rises and falls with the water,
WOulu DC 1OWCICu. LIZ ldCb SGCLIiS
plain that the alkali remedy is ditching.
There may be various modes of ditching
and grading, but the farmers of Polk
county seem to have goneabout it in the
right way. They have in nearly every
township purchased a New Era grader
and ditcher, and while securing good
drainage have at the same time secured
good roads and good crops. The alkali
problem. to those that have studied it.
seems perfectly plain-that alkali seems
to be something of a salt, and it is we'll
known that at first alkali is q kind of
salt which has great wheat-growing
properties, when not spread on too
thick. It is spread on the we'll
drained lands too thick. 1T only covers
the land when the water which washes
or teaches it out of the ground evapo-
rates from theland. Good drainage will
get rid of the surplus alkali.-Grand
Forks ID. IT, Plaindealer.