Imperial press and farmer., 1902-06-07
Will the Delta Alkali Rise?

Herald, published an article review ing the governmental reports on al
 kali on the Colorado Delta, which, like the reports themselves, did not do justice to the situation in that country. Justice to the Imperial set tiers has, however, now been done in the following article which appeared
 under the above caption in the Sun day Herald of May 25:
 The existence of alkal in the various soils of the Colorado River Delta, known as the desert, is con- ceded by all concerned in the recla- nation of these rich lands, and eX-
 perience in other parts of the coun- try, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and
 California, has led to the general belief that alkali will rise to the surface of these delta soils on being irrigated, as it has done on irrigated lands in the other parts of the coun- try named. Being earnestly assured by one who has been familiar for years with the fact that irrigation has developed destructive areas of alkali by bringing it to the surface in various parts of California, that the alkali in these desert soils does not rise, even where they have been abundantly irrigated for ages, the Orchard and Ranch editor requested him to write out his views for pub lication, since such information is of great interest to a large number of people who have already settled on ,i, n1t ri +0 dn so; and he has kindly compiled with this request. Here is what he says:
 During the past year the United States soil division of the agricul- tural department sent experts to the Imperial Settlements to study the al kali question. Soon after the depart ment published a report which gave a detailed statement of how much al kali was found in various localities and the probable effect of that alkali deposit on growing crops.
 A little later Prof. E. w. Hilgard of the California State University is sued similar report from data col lected by an expert sent to Imperial by him.
 These two reports agreed in some respects and differed in others. There was very little land found where the alkali was of sufficient quantity to prevent the growth of crops. The whole force of both reports was to be found in the question as to whether it would come to the surface and become worse or whether it would go down and become better.
 The Herald, in a recent issue, re viewed the Hilgard report at some length, but in doing so there were some facts set forth in the govern ment report which were not suffi- ciently taken into consideration. These facts bear on the question of whether or not the alkali would rise so as to do damage. In this respect both reports seem to have been de fective in that they did not call at tention to these points which appear to be we'll taken.
 For ages past the Colorado River has had it's periods of high water annually in June. As a rule, in time of such high water, the river has overflowed the country adjacent to it on the west, and these overflow wa ters have found their way into the Carter and Padrones Rivers, thence into New River and thence north ward toward the Salton Sink. Some years this flood overflows more or less land adjacent to the stream and | other years the rivers do not get out l of their banks. Mesquite Lake is sometimes filled so as to cover sev- eral sections of land and then again | it goes entirely dry. Last summer when the government experts were at |