Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-01-03
WESTERN soIL MATTERS.

WESTERN SOIL MATTERS.
Problems Of Alkali, Hardpan ana
Irrgsatfon Waters.
From the report q the director, Mil
ton Whitney, who Ii ii charge OF infyess-s
legations now going on al to soil and
Irrigation matters. q number Of inter
esting facts are learned. Around
Tempe, "a. !. on the south side of Salt
river, the soils are found to be formed
Of wash from the mountains and allu-
vial material brought down by the nv
Ell. The underlying material is eaIcare-
GUS, and underlying this at still greater
depths are gravel and bowider beds,
which invariably carry water. The
soils are naturally free from alkali, and
the irrigation waters are good. contain
Ing about 100 rr:sts Of salts per 100000
parts of water. The irrigation OF the
mesa lands, however, has caused the
wateraSin the4lower lands to rise to-
within one or two feet Of the surface
In years Of plentiful supply of water,
and considerable areas of what were
the most fertile lands are now liable to
be too wet to cultivate and besides
have accumulated an amount Of alkali
detrimental to all cultivated crops. It
Is believed quite possible and practica-
BILE to reclaim the damaged lands by
un~derdrainage. Il 81
At Oxnard, Cal, where an extensive
irrigation plant is proposed for the de-
velopment Of the sugar beet industry,
1t was found that the underground wa
ter was already so near the surface
and SO charged with alkali that serious
trouble and damage were predicted If
the land was irrigated without. ade-
quate provision for u~nderdrainage. st
7 In the vicinity Of Fresno, alkali has
damaged large areas OF what were
once thrifty vineyards and fruit Or
chards, causing a loss Of at least ST.
100000 i 10 land values alone. 1T is con-
sidered that reclamation is both posi-
BILE and a good business proposition.
The alkali is confined principally to
the southern part Of the area and has
Its origin in a hardpan below the. sur
face, SO that it did not. at first show
any effects n vegetation. After irri-
cation was introduced this material
d~isintegrated, and the alkaii was
brought to the surface. This hardpan
is soft and when moist is easily pene-
trated by roots or broken up by plows
where near the surface, and it is only
the alkali which it contains that makes
ics no rfioa,l n yIu h oe~yo f,,1 ID ,oroko%far,N3
In the northern half of the area this
alkali hardpan is believed to underlie
the land, but the surface is much high
er, and the alkali Is buried in places to
q depth Of 40 feet. Overlying this the
soils are free from alkali, but there is a
different hardpan cemented with iron
and silica, so that it forms virtually a
sandstone, which is in layers interbed-
ded with sand and other loose material
to . depth frequently Of 40 feet. Over
a considerable part OF. this area this
hardpan comes to within three feet OF
the surface, and the soils are SO shall
low that fruit trees cannot be success
fully grown,and the crops are liable to
fall. Some of this land ia quite WORTH
less, while part Of 1t is used very sue
cessfully for wheat and barley under
dry farming This hardpan is q: much
more serious problem in the Fresno
area than the alkaI. Attempts have
been made to blast out holes for fruit
trees and %grapevines with apparent
success, but at p ost OF $40 or $50 per
acre. 49, = ~ ~ r.. z
In Salt Lake county, Utah, out Of an.
area Of about $4,000 acres which have
been under successful irrigation 6,400
acres, or one-ffthi Of the whole irrigat-
ed area, have been ruined by seepage
water and rise of alkali and are now
lying waste and worthless. Of 100000
acres surveyed. in this region about
one-half the total, or $4,000 acres, lies
in such a way that it could be irrigated,
and there is water enough Of good
quality, but the land contains so much
alkali, especially in the lower depths,
that any such attempt has failed, and
much money has thus been lost. 1t APP
peers that $4,000 acres OF this land
could be reclaimed by underdrainage
at cost of not exceeding $50 per acre.
The land now has a mere nominal
value. : & =
Interesting conditions have been
found in: the Sewer valley, unlike those
prevailing in other localities consider
ed. Il The soils were originally quite
salty. the salts consisting principally
of common salt-&The water supply has
been so small that great economy has
been exercised in the application of
water in irrigation. The soils generally
are %quite porous and have good natural
drainage.The first application of wa
ter has improved the soils, and after
two or three years the excess Of salts
has seemingly been entirely removed
and the soils left in such condition that
they have been very productive. How
eYer, where there has been the most
abundant supply of water an excessive
quantity has been used or has seeped
from the canals, SO that over a consid-
cradle area the water table has been
raised to within three feet OF the sur
face. Alkali has risen from the lower
depths, and lands which were once re-