Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1895-12-26

nius much more Of the former than Of
lhe latter Do not On dsfstaud that
sic alone is prepared ior the plant in
greater quantity On rcclI1i OF tho
presence OF u.ucI a.ksi, tut other
wheat food, or slant food ia b creased
Tor tho same reason.
No. =, 51lluails o. carbonate u 30.
'hiaiuni ur u.caf11n.4a Of potassium.
Toe latter substance contains moro
cstb1uic ac.d than toe igfmeE & m.
mon s'lerNtss geae-ally has several
substAucea ns Impurities mixed with
the one given above.
No. Q. Luceru Will undoubtedly nc.
cumuIaiu nitrogen in ihp soil In quite
large quantities on account Of ia long
roofs supplying abundance OF organic
m' { ur Roots are among the agencies
through which fgcks IRE disiutegtated.
No doubt the mineral fool tor plants,
10 many Instances, ata prepared Tor tho
plant iNsiof than toe lucorn extracts 10
from the col, by reason OF the abund.
once 90 roots, OF which luCUln IL very
characteristic. OF c0urau, the food 0i
luccru being little different iu regard
TO tue proportional amounts OF ljs con.
stiluCniH, from that uf other plants, as
Tor example wheat, corn, etc, on on
rotiuniiy IN given, while lucotn is
giOwiug and occupying tue land, for
the constituents VI other plants 10 nc
oumulate la excess u tue needs OF Ia.
Cetu.
No. I. In the first stage Of the compo.
sltion OF organic OF vegetable matter,
the humus In brown, uue probably TO
uImic acid and ulmin; in later stage
humlc acid nuu humiu appear, when
the humus 10 generally black. IL is
the water that makea II possible, Tor
what ~ known ss humuH, 10 DO pro.
duced. As this particular kind Ut or.
gaulC matter is found In tho presence
Of water and ~ the absence 0i much
oxygen.
No. o. Dsoaying IL a allow process Of
oxidation, while combustion or turn.
Ing IL rapid process OF oxidation.
The i0tmes process ~ not accompanied
with light and much heat; tho latter
II accompanied with light and much
heat Both docayiug ana burning
arc uniting Of oxygen Of the air
| chemically with tho substance. decay.
lux and burning. the products arc
tue sane, csrboniC acid gas and wnlor,
! the ashes remaining % the uu6utnod
or unoxi ilzad substance.
No. o. 10 IL tOmBwhat Questionable
! 10 my mind, w B. whether correct
| observation huB been made, IN fugarl
| 70 the lugrrn consuming the mineral
| ('alkalr') as fast n, II comes to the
surface. Lucurn, according 10 my ex.
| pUrleuco aud observation, can thrive on
y coll imprognstod with nlkal, where
wheat and ether plants would not
grow. something Ike bcs,a, and
no doubt ags0rbs more Of the alkallos
than many olnur plants DO, or can
| p1sEibly absorb, nnl BbH.Ibn 10 certain
extent the alkali (balara,us") ia sOlu-
ton In tAe Irrigation water
No. Z. Alkali sofia atu conquered"
mostly by irrigation aud drainage.
Irrigation will only partly overcome
tue Alksll, anu does 90 by carrying II
down 1850 the SOL, from which u viii
afieo again, through capillary action.
Tue land southwest OF salt Latte
CITY was no doubt IN the most part
freed from some Oilih alklli By irfi-
CATION, together with drainage.
Luoofn no doubt within more recent
years has done something towards
bubduing these alkaline soils. Farmers
have told mo tina. they have success
! folly bettUrod thu condition OF Homo Of
their land In question, by raising On
their land! heels, carrots aud especial.
| ly Wild California clover. l rumbm-
Der Que instance OF gentleman
speaking 10 me about tho use Of
gypsum, a. n remedy Tor the alkali.
lilo sow0d land In the region referred
| 70 above. Whether ho employed this
mineral 10 help reclaim the alkaline
| soil or not l do not know. When
gypsum IL used Tor such n purpose the
Albali N not gotten rid Of, but only
! changed into less luxurious form.
might state here that tue alkaline mat.
ter, or what you have oslleI saleratus,
fol mostly sodium carbonate, sal SODA,
sodium, sulphato (glhubsr salts) 90.
dium chloride (C0mmOn tali,) Sodium
carbonate mixed with organic matter,
VI pumus, 10 tho black alkAli, sodium
tulphatu 10 the white ulkali, anu muuu
ltsB destructive 10 plant, OF tho two
kndg. Nov, whom gupstm IL mixed
with the black alkRii, clfbonnde Of
| lime (limu stone or matblp) and the
white Rlkall are formed. The while
alkali, On stated 10 lsss Injurious than
tho black, 10 plants. Aud Ia olayey
stitl soils carbonate u lime ~ very
beneficial Ia diminishing their c0m-
pscinefs, making them more pJlua aud
much easier 10 work,
No. s. Our alkaline soils are certain.
ly rich IA the mineral food VI planlt;
for richer than tho mineral soils IA
other TsRlon0, for the reasons already
assigned, and In your own worlds
0thsse arid minerals accumulated arc
n blessing TO agriculture" IL mgy be
also that nitrogen Ia converted
10 a certain extent, by alkali, into a
form In which II can be- utinzud by
the plant. by the presence Of JzOne,
nitrogen aud water are converted Into
ammonium nilrite, aud hence am.
monlum nitrate. Its claimed that IA
alkgli carbonate will accomplish the
same thing.
There 10 no doubt about these arid
valleys being great sl0relOuso Of
fertile soil, rich ia the mineral food Of
plants, and that the alkaline matter 10
sufficiently subIued by irrigation, to
give the farmer an opportunity to
raise crops, which through the gbund-
aure Of mineral food, mak03 them in-
deed In many instances truly lux.
ufIanl.
should BIO pleased 10 assist you
farther In your inquiries IN any
chemical line, a. far as | shall be able
To do 90. And III have not maize my
self clear, do not hesitate to write
again. Very respectfully,