Evening star., 1899-04-03
M AP S OF THE SOILS
Field Work Being Done Under the Direction
of Prof Milton Whitney.
How Arid Lands, Made So by AIkali
and Seepage Water, May BE
Reclaimed.

Mr.. Thomas H. Means and Mr.. Frank D.
Gardner of the Department of Agriculture
left Washington last Monday night to be
absent six months in the west, engaged in
field work for the division of soils of the
department. They will act under the inn
mediate direction of Mr.. Milton Whitney,
chief of the division, who himself has had
experience in the kind of work they viii do.
They will proceed first to the Pecos VAL
ley, in New Mexico, where they will spend
| three months making maps of the soils of
the valley. and with the use of a new cleo
trical apparatus determine the amount and
distribution of alkaline salts in the soils,
the serious menace to all irrigated districts.
The electrical apparatus and method has
been perfected in the division OF soils, and
was used in the Yellowstone valley last
summer. The results have attracted atten-
tion all over the world.
The Pecos valley is one of the newer dis
tricts being brought under irrigation, and
these steps are being taken to make a soil
survey TO determine the danger from al
kali and seepage water resulting from over
irrigation, in order that planters may pro-
tect themselves from the injury which has
been wrought upon so many of the older
irrigated districts.
Will Then Go to Utah.
July they will go to Provo, Utah. and
spend three months in the investigation of
lands there which have been seriously in
jured by over-irrigation of the higher levels
| and the accumulation of seepage water.
They will work in connection with the
Utah agricultural experiment station, max
ing thorough survey of the soils, with
maps showing the distribution of the al
kali salts and seepage water.
There are immense tracts of valuable and
hitherto productive land in the irrigated
sections of the west which have been ruin
ed by alkali, resulting from over irrigation,
and the damage is still going on. The value
of the maps to the owners of the lands can
hardly be overestimated, ii is said. They
show just where the seepage waters and
alkali salts are accommodating. from which
direction they are coming and how drain
age systems should be introduced TO re-
move the trouble They will show that
some areas are safe for number of years
and will indicate other areas which will
need careful attention or even energetic
enorts IN the prevention of or reclamation
from damage.
Investigations i'm the Yellowstone
Valley.
The results of the Investigations made in
the Yellowstone Valley last summer by
Professor Whitney and Mr.. Means show
that the ultimate source of the alkali is in
the sandstone, aad particularly in the shale
or slate rock from which the soils have
been derived. Before irrigation was intro
duced the salts were present in large
an cunts, but well distributed throughout
the soil and not in such large quantities as
to be injurious to crops. The injury is due
entirely to over-irrigation, to the transloca-
ton and over accumulation of salts by
means of seepage waters and to the i'm
perfect drainage facilities in the compact
RumDO soils and the ina nilifV of soils 70
move the excess of salts and OF seepage
waters. The first trouble appears TO be
due TO the seepage waters.
Inc investigations point clearly to tha
natural methods Of preventing this injury
and OF reclaiming the lands when the in
jury has occurred.