The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-09-15

Notwithstanding location OF black ell
kali in similar way
No service that could have been Der
formed for the state could be Of greater.
practical value. but in all that area
hardly land owner has been found
to appreciate it and profit by the sug-
gestions. although the proof OF Professor
Gardner'S assertions as to what recIa-
nation viii do for the district Is con-
vincingly given by the results which
have followed tile drainage in three or
four instances
A Golden Opportunity.
Within the area surveyed it vas
600 acres of land which when FIRST
brought into cultivation were wonder
fully productive. but were so ever
watered on the surface and from sesp-
age as to concentrate the alkaline salts
III such quantity as to render them tenn
porar1ly worthless. Every acre OF that
land is reclaimable, yet property worth
at least 500 600 lies there uncuEti-
waited, and unstable at any price. when
by the expenditure of ons-tenth that
amount 1t viii become available
for the highest grade of pro-
ductiOns- Nor is il necessary to
undertake the drainage Of the area as
whole There is hardly a section that
cannot be drained as a single unit In
many parts Of it there may be SEPARATE
drainage for quarter sections or for
/ ties.
/ The people who lived over there 6e-
serted it like a flock of frightened
sheep. condemning and denouncing it in
/ set terms. They ought to have been
tapped for the simples.' Even cd
itOrS, who are supposed to be men of
ordinary intelligence. are still advising
/ their readers to beware of the alkaH
lands on the west side" The east side
/ OF the river has Jared better. at least
Z that portion of il close around the civ
I because he nd ~ frrr1a md
sleeper grades, so that the water Is
drawn away to the river more rapidly;
/ and at the same time the surface is
washed clear of the salts to some ex-
tent by the rainfall. There are. how
ever, tens of thousands Of acres on tbs
side of the river suffering from the
same cause and really no better of, al
though they continue TO be sold at $50
or more per acre. A farmer only the
other day. in Farmers ward, one OF
the finest and best watered" bodies OF
land in the whole valley. remarked that
the more water they got the less OrO-
ductive the land becomes. He was In-
der the impression that it was because
the Jordan water was being used in
stead of Cottonwood Had he dug TO a
depth of three feet almost any time
during the summer IN many parts or
the ward he would have found standing
water. a condition calculated to inture
any land
Drainage System Needed.
A drainage system is as imperatively
needed over all this valley, and the
lower lands of the Utah valley, as is the
irrigation system. Drainage viii dcu-
BILE the profits from crops grown on al
most any Of the irrigated lands, and
such drainage if intelligently done
would be comparatively inexpensive be-
cause of the presence Of the sand seam
above the clay over nearly the whole
area It is through the sand seepage
occurs.
The agricultural department is now
introducing new varieties Of seed wheat
and corn with a view to securing those
that viii add even two or three bushels
70 the ordinary yield. While this does
not appear TO be a very great matter
when applied to the product of a single
acre, If 10 per cent can be added to the
aggregate crop of 100, 000. 600 bushels OF
wheat it becomes. an appreciate addi-
ton to the national wealth. How much
more, then, would be the relative gain
? to the farmers of irrigated land where
doubling of the average crop. which is
entirely practicable. will treble the net
profit, and the gain will be so great to
the individual farmer.
stated in another way. before water