Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-24
At WORQAN AFRICA
Scientific Investigation Of
Soils and Plants.
OLD TEACHES THE NEW
NEEDS OF SOUTHWEST BEING
CONSIDERED.
AlkaH Lands and Alkai- Resistant
Growths Furnish Problems for
Agricultural Department.

lands In the desert country OF the SOUTH
west. This task is complicated by the IN
PRODUCTION OF irrigation, for 1t has been
shown in recent experiments, conducted by
Prof. Milton Whitney Of the bureau OF
Soils that under some conditions irrigation
has positive disadvantages when applied to
land containing an excess of saline deposits.
Mr.. Thomas Fl. Means, head OF United
States soils surveys. with Mr.. j. Garnett
Holmes, his assistant. brought this out
clearly IN the report of a recent investiga-
ton of alkali lands in the sink of the Colo
RADIO river, near Imperial, Cal. 1t was
found there that alkali was present in the
soil in large quantities-larger than was at
first supposed, as 1t appeared In its worst
form only after the land had been subjected
to irrigation, the water serving to dissolve
and separate the mineral salts Of the earth
and to bring them to the surface through
upward capillary attraction. This report
attracted considerable attention at the time
1t was published, just prior to the passage
Of the irrigation bill at the last session Of
only of the promoterseof the Imperial Land
Company" but Of some of the supporters
of the irrigation measure.
Aim Of the Department.
The Department of Agriculture, however,
as in all such cases, wars simply after facts,
and. having obtained them, sought to find
their exact bearing on the peculiar prob
lens they presented. To this end efforts
are being made to introduce improved
methods of irrigation and cultivation, to
and profitable alkali-resistant crops and to
introduce them when found. The sudden
and great boom in sugar beet raising Is due
to the fact that the beet can thriv in aka
line soils. Alfalfa the Arabian desert
clover, which has so changed for the bet
ter western grazing conditions, is also
fairly immune to the generally injurious
saline deposits. The date palm also falls
into this class and several trials of it's Gull
tivation for commercial profit have been
made, but with indifferent success. as the
exact soil conditions under which 1t thrves
in Africa are not yet thoroughly under
stood 70 sd
To Stud y African Conditions.
In order to Investigate conditions else
where similar to those of the arid south
west the Department. sof Agriculture has
sent Mr.. Means Of the soils survey, with
Mr.. Thomas H. Kearnsy, botanist, of the
bureau of plant Industry, on an extensive
tour through northern Africa. including
Egypt and the Sahara, to report on con-
ditions as they founR them. especially in
regard to the date>palm, the sugar beet and
other alkali resistants; also upon Egyptian
cotton and tobactb and upon Irrigation and
Both men are especially fitted for the
task. as they knew our own deserts and
their needs from actual. experience, and
are familiar with beSt. sugar problems from
California and elsewhere through the west.
They sailed on the I'd of July from New
York, going to Paris, where their creden-
tails procured for them every courtesy at
the hands Of the French agricultural SER
vice In that country and In her dependency,
Algiers, where the first desert researches
were made. The Department OF Agricul-
ture here at Washington has received fire.
uuent word from both men at various points
on their travels, giving interesting bits Of
description and reports of the work they
are doing.
Experience in France. .-.-.
In France they. found it difficult to per
suade cocheres and couriers to show them
the things which they wished most to see
as the Frenchmen knew they were Ameri-
cans, and could not be brought to under
stand that Americans cared for anything
except what might be termed the stock
sights" Near Paris they visited L'Estab-
lisement Vfmorin. probably the largest seed
firm In the world, which company supplies
a large share of the seeds used for free
distribution in the United States by the
Department Of Agriculture. The Rhone
valley was interesting on account of its
fine system of irrigation from the river,
everything but the olive groves being wa
tered in this way They went to Tarascon
to look over the alkalt lands there, but
found 1t impossible, or almost so. to make
the cochere realize that they were not visit
ors at the shrine of the immortal "rartarin,'
but simply wanted to take samples Of dirt
from places which, the cochere insisted
had never been sought out by souvenir
hunters.
Conditions in Africa.
From Marseilles. where they stopped
few days. they took passage for Algiers.
finding the Mediterranean as quiet as the
Potomac.
After some experiments in the neighbor-
hood of Algiers. they Travelled westward by
rail to Relizan, Perregaux, Anew and Oran,
accompanied by Dr.. Trabut. lie directeur de
Ia service Botanique Algerienne, who ex-
tended them every courtesy and was Of the
greatest assistance in their researches. At
Arzew they found an alkali lake much like
those of the United States. and encountered
a sirocco-a fierce hot wind like the solano
of California. Indeed. all conditions were
found to be closely analogous to those ex-
listing In Arizona, New Mexico and south
eastern California. Near Perregaux, on the
Habra river in the foothills of the Atlas
mountains, they saw the great irrigation
dam, 100 feet high. which renders fertile
all the valley below.
The roads through these mountains were
found to be better than any pavements
either had seen outside of Washington
Here also the so-ealied 'leopard-spotted''
landscape Of Africa was greatly in EVIL
dence-yellow earth with dark cypress
growth; and this also has it's counterpart
In our own southTest. without the pictur-
esque name-whereathesfa Of the country
is dotted with MESQUITE, greasewood and
chaDarral. z,asr,-
Studying the Desert.
After returning ito cAagiers they set out
again to the southeastate learn more Of the
real desert country In the land of the
Kabyles, a fine. hercen and practically I'M
conquered Bedouin5 people. known best to
u.s. perhaps, in Scfiseyers paintings of them
and their horses. 5s1fc
At Biskra. the fer4nliasaps of the railroad,
and from thereon they found 1t extremely
hot. From Biskra, they journeyed along
the caravan routei-tp Huggurt, situated In
what might be termed the heart of the
desert, If the word Tuggurt did not signify
another portion of the anatomy, It's Kabyle
translation meaning '.belly Of the desert"
All along they found the country more and
more like New Mexico and Arizona At
midday 1t was hotter than at Phoenix, SO
they Travelled for the most part at night,
stopping al the bordu, or rest houses, along
the route during the day trying in vain to
enjoy siestas. The food they were given
was peppery hot to the. taste and touch
another resemblance. to the American
southwest, where the theory of the Spanish
i've to off iv,ta