Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-03-06
An Interesting Treatment of the
Subject FROM Experiences in
India Here Stated.
university Bulletin No. 5s.l

OF the phenomena OF alkali as appear
ing in the two countries, and expressed the
hope that California would profit in time
by the bitter experience of 1.-THE oldest
country in the world" What this expert
ence has been is pregnantly set forth in a
series of reports received here, not long ago.
from the Director of Agriculture at the ag-
| ricultural station of Cawnpore, Oudh and
the burden of their tale is SO instructive.
and as far as comparable so nearly akin to
what exists, or has already occurred in Cal
ifornia, that lengthy extracts from the same
will be given in the report of the Agricult-
ural College for 1886. For the present it
becomes of interest TO state some of the
main points, in view of the fact that in
some of our irrigation districts measures
looking to the relief from the already grow
ing evils are now under discussion.
RESULTS OBSERVED IN INDIA.
The document in hand is entitled g Re-
port of the Committee for Investigating
Into the Causes of the Deterioration OF
Land by Reh in the Aligarh District
This district lies southeast of the city of
Delhi, between the Gauges and Jumna riv-
ers, and is traversed by the canal system
diverging from these rivers The report
! refers, however, to numerous other regions,
notably the Punjaub, where precisely SIM
regards the scourge of g reh, !" the latter be-
| ing the Hindoostanee equivalent for al
| kali
| The broad facts set forth are these Prior
! to the establishment of the great irrigation
canals by the English Government, regular
cultivation in those countries was practi-
| cally restricted to the moist lands immedi-
ately along the water courses, and to such
as could be laboriously irrigated from wells
| the latter being very numerous Occasion
ally rainy seasons would there, as in south
ern California, bring good harvests on un-
irrigated lands; but failure of the rains
brought famine Tracts rendered un.
cultivatable by excess of alkali exist more
or less throughout the northwest provinces
but under the old system of cultivation
there was no appreciable increase of the
area of these reh lands.
! The canals were built for the purpose oil
/, affording abundance of irrigation water
and in order that they might be easily
available, they were laid high, so as to al
low their water when used to flow naturally
over or through the agricultural lands No
provision for drainage was made.
ALKALI swAMPs APPEAR
For few years only benefits were ex.
perienced from the irrigation canals and
large plantation enterprises were set on
foot where previously only scanty pasture
formed the product of the land. Grad
ually, however, it was noted that crops be-
gan to languish in the lower ground; and
| soon it became apparent that the latter was
being converted into rapidly enlarging
swamps. More than this, it was observed
that on the higher ground the reh spots pre-
viously existing were rapidly enlarging,
and that new ones were being formed
b.,-a hafs t>o1 al IL
memory of man. This was, however, SIM
ply repetition of previous experience,
thus referred to by one of the members of
the committee: When, under the Mughal
dynasty. the Western Junna canal was
open, reh was $50 say the people, common
| throughout the tract. though not so highly
developed as now. During the century of
| Mahratta misrule the canal was closed, and
reh disappeared. The canal was reopened
| in 1920; and irrigation. far more extensive
than before, was established in 1888, and
swamps and reh were the immediate re-
suit"
So great and extended is the injury thus
inflicted, that while some members of the
committee discuss the possible remedies of
deepening the canals, establishing deep
drainage, ETC., one at least goes so far as to
say that rather than that this state of
things should be allowed to continue and
increase. it were better that the canals
should be closed and the old system of
well irrigation restored. There is little
difference of opinion as to
THE CAUSE OF THE EVIL
And the source of the alkali. 1t is shown
that not only near, but within even consid-
cradle distances from the canals, the water
table or subsoil water level has been raised
from distance of 20 to so feet, to within
a few feet of, or actually to the surface. 1t
has brought up with it, by an easily intelli-
gible process of upward teaching, all the
alkali salts existing within the substrata
thus traversed; and then by evaporation,
these salts, before ditfused throughout
many feet of substrata, accumulate at the
surface to such an extent as to render
profitable cultivation impossible, if even
they do not make the soil absolutely
barren, by covering it with white crust OF
salts. While the committee agree that the
largest proportion of the damage has been
brought about by the rise of the water
table by sidewise soakage from the high
lying canals, yet they state that the trouble
has been greatly aggravated and expanded
by the extravagant use of water by the
peasants, who, relieved from the laborious
processes of well-irrigation. took great sat
isfaction in giving the land and crops a
plenty, now that they had the water free OF
cost. 1t is estimated the water used often
approaches GO inches RAINFALL and is equiv
lent to q inches, at least over the whole OF
the irrigated region.
THE REMEDIES SUGGESTED
By the committee and in part carried into
practice within the last FIVE years, are the
following: First, deepening of the canals,
SO as to lower their water level, and hence
hat f,f -
at least below that of the lands to be irriga-
ted. This measure carries with it the re-
striction of the over-irrigation heretofore
practiced, by compelling the ryots to raise
the water by means OF wheels or pumps,
which is the second point insisted on.
Third. they recommend the establishment
of system of drainage, by which the sur
! plus subsoil water shall drain into the riy-
ers, carrying with it also the reh salts, and
thus relieving the land more or less per-
| manently of that scourge.
1t unfortunately happens that the first OF
these measures offers in many cases in
superable engineering difficulties, from the
fact that the entire canal construction was
calculated for high levels; so that deepen
ing would often be equivalent to almost
entire reconstruction. The establishment
of drainage systems, also, offers great diff
culties in region where, from the scanti-
ness of the rainfall, the surface conforma-
ton of the country is not favorably sculp-
tured. The enormous cost now to be in
CURED in applying thoroughly either or
both of these remedies. of course stands
seriously in the way of their application.
Had the effects of the high-laid canals and
defective drainage been foreseen, q different
system could have been constructed with
the same, or slightly greater cost.
APPLICATION To CALIFORNIA.
1t is hardly necessary to go farther into
the details of these interesting reports to
enforce the lesson and warning they con-
yey to our irrigating communities. In some
of the latter, the evils now besetting the
irrigation districts of northwest India are
already becoming painfllly apparent and