The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1902-04-25

This much is preliminary to the special
subject, but is given to bring out two
points which have much to do with the
status of the soil there, to-wit-
The present absence of standing water
to be evaporated by summer heat and
winds. and the present luxuriant growth
of grass as compared with twenty years
or more ago.
WHAT IS ALKALI LAND?
Alkali, or at least the alkali we have
to deal with, without going into technical
chemical terms, is mixture Of various
"salts" and potash. These are common
articles Of commerce and domestic use.
They are necessary constituents of pro-
ductive SOIL Common salt is one of
these. Everybody knows that salt in
certain quantities is stimulant to vege-
table growth; on the other hand too much
salt will kill, and the same is true of the
other "salts" and the potassium the soil.
Now there is no doubt that the locality
we are discussing has in spots, too much
Of these, otherwise valuable, constituents,
and the question of the value of these
lands depends largely on the possibility
and cost of ridding the land Of the Slight
excess of fertilizers that nature has placed
there.
We say slight excess, because it is but
seldom we find an. absolutely "bald"
place on the prairie. Sometimes only
certain sorts of grass or weeds grow, but
vegetation OF some sort grows almost
generally and in the greater part, abun-
dainty and even luxuriantly.
Our theory of the alkali conditions
here is. that the excess is not of the soil
so much as on the surlace-"gumbo"
land. or most of it is alkali clear through,
mixed with clay, and is therefore difficult
to get rid of. But in the locality des-
cribed, where nature, only by the
growth and rotting OF successive crops
of grass, has, in score of years done so
much to clear itself, it ought not to be
difficult for intelligent men to complete
the job.
These "salts" and potash" which
compose "alkali'' are just as solvent in
water as sugar. Every foot in the soil OF
the Red River valley is impregnated
with alkali. That is the greatest reason
of its fertility. A small quantity of our
soil from any locality in the valley when
thrown into a glass of soft water will i'm
mediately make the water "hard." The
rivers, the lakes and the sloughs all have
these alkaline elements and this to some
extent accounts for the blue tint and
purity in other directions. Dead slough
water never becomes rank and putrid
like eastern ponds. Part the rank
growth of water vegetation, and the
water is clear, pure and sweet, to the
very roots. though alkaline; and out in
the open the ripples sparkle as clear and
blue as the deep sea.
In the spring, melting SHOWS and rains
SOSSA hS ASVSA PAouAS Will WolCI, water
courses are few, the land nearly level
and drainage is slow and easily choked.
The water soaks the soluble salts from
the ground, and under the rays of the
sun and the summer breezes, passes
away by evaporation. leaving the salts
on the surface, and of course nothing
can grow on that surface. This process
is often visible to the eye, and the white
deposit after the drying up of the ponds
and sloughs easily seen, whenever the
bottom is hard and smooth and dfree from
grass.
The simple remedy to prevent such
depositssis is to let the water thus impreg-.
mated with alkali run away to the rivers
instead Of letting it remain to dry up.
In time the water will soak up and
wash out all the excess. of alkali and
carry it away In other words, all that
the alkali lands spoken Of. need to make.
them the very richest soil in the wide
world IS drainage.