The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-10-08

ter the lapse of comparatively few
years become so widely impregnated
with alkali as to render them COM
pletely or in large part unfit for the
growth of the ordinary farm crops.
The California station has for a num-
Der of years devoted especial attention
to the subject of the rise of altali in
soils. and recently the division of soils
of this department has undertaken q
study of the causes and conditions ia
voring the rise of alkali in irrigated
soils and the means of preventing or
overcoming the injury resulting from
It,"
division giving an account of such in
vestigations in the Yellowstone valley
near Billings appeared some time ago
in this correspondence.
The present bulletin says that the
trouble in that locality is due largely,
if not entirely, to injudicious or excess
sive irrigation. Before irrigation was
introduced the salts were present in
rather large amounts but well distrib
uted throughout the soil, and not in
such large quantities as to be injurious
to crops With the introduction of If
rigation. however, water was applied
in excessive amounts to the higher land,
and seeping through to the lower soils
carried with it the soluble salts, which
the latter, especially where drainage
was imperfect Similar conditions have
been reported by the California station
as existing in the San Joaquin valley,
California, and are known to occur in
many other regions.
The bulletin of the division of soils
states that 1.-THE open sandy lands. haV-
ing better undertakings, are not like
ly to be injured by rise of salts ex-
cept from an excessive application OF
water or in the low places in the path
of the drainage system, especially when
these are underlaid, as they are liable
to be, by the heavy gumbo so:<s.' 1t
thus appears that the injury may not
be due to the local application of wat
er, but to the injudic1ous use Of large
quantities Of water on neighborins
farms or in places still farther away.
Governor w. r. Merriam, the di-
rector of the census has had several
conferences at the white house recently
as to matters pertaining to his Durea l..
Among these it is said are the que5-
lions which are to be propounded to the
people of the country by his many
enumerators next June. They have
been decided upon by the director and
will soon be printed. The endeavor has
been to make the questions simpler
than before and to reduce their num-
Of the census committees and the :wo
houses of congress. Several OF the
questions which aroused the most an
tagonism in 1890 have been omitted al
together. The chief of these was the
inquiry of each person whether nc or
she had any acute or chronic disease.
Chief Statistician William &. ,<lng
recently communicated with the officers
in charge of mortality registration in
the states employing such system,
| and in the cities having ponulaion
| Of S, 900 or more at the last census which
| collect and register death returns. The
census office has undertaken to secure
| the modification or application or
death certificates so as to have them
| include the items necessary to obtain
| census data A model return form las
been prepared and submitted, with ex-
| planatory correspondence. to each reg
| istrat;on office or officer controlling the
| preparation of the state or local forms.
| The result i said to be that the regis
| trat!on officers have abolished many
| practically obsolete local variations in
| their certificates, and the latte: have
been made to conform nearly 10 enc
| standard.
The director says he expects that