The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-30
IT LIKES ALKALI
New Alfalfa Brought From North
Africa Thrives Where Ameri-
can Variety Dies.
Dept Of Agriculture Is Also Demon
strating the Valuable Egyp-
tian White Cotton.
From The Journal Bureau, Room 45, Post Build
ing, Washington. vs

From The Journal Bureau, Room as, Post Build
ing, Washington.
Washington, Sept. 30.-A project to re-
claim some $50, 100000 worth Of land IN the
the result of one of the exploration trips
sent out by the department of agriculture
more than two years ago; the time since
then as been spent in trying to gTow the the
was to Egypt, Algeria, Turkestan and other
parts OF northern Africa, and was made by
industry. Among other things which he
brought back was alfalfa from Algeria. In
that country the alfalfa was growing in
soil strongly impregnated with alkali. In
fact. there was twice as much alkali in the
soils Of the uSited States Where the crop is
attempted. 1t occurred to the explorer that
this Algerian alfalfa. evidently very resist
ant to alkali. might be grown in the United
States on lands thus far useiess.
So Mr.; Ke s,a began experimenting Pc with
on irrigated akali land at yuma, Arz; some
more he planted in the Colorado desert in
southern Califc rnia, and still another piant>
ing was made in the valley of the Pecos in
faifa he planted The ierdinsry w alfalfa. An
When harvest time came he found that tie
American alfalfa had succumbed to the
in similar soil and under exactly the same
conditions, showed good crop. The amount
Of alkan IN the soil. as measured BY the eX-
rary American alfalfa can stand only about
one-half Of one per cent.
Thus encouraged with the first years tests,
the department did not regard them as final,
and this spring the paintings were repeated.
The results are just coming in. The report
from Yuma is excellent. Mr.. <Kearney has
w ss that and there IRE is fine oa stand ID Of
few days to inspect 1t. Reports from other
stations where it was planted are also ia
vorable.
The cautious disposition Of the scientific
mind will probably determine the authorities
to delay the final announcement, as to the
outcome Of these experiments fer another
year.
II want to go into the field myself said
Mr.. Kearney, "and make sure that there
is no mistake. want to, be certain as to the
to see that tue alkali is still as strong in
the soil as wlen the first planting was made,
that 1t has not been washed out by the irri-
cation. And then 1 think the experiment.
should be repeated another year. We hardly
feel like making positive statements under
| a three years trial. But we can say that
the results are entirely favorable SO far"
Speaking further Of his alfalfa work, Mr..
Kearney said:
There is also brand of alfalfa which T.
+; Means and brought from Turkestan.
strongly impregnated with akali salts fully
enc por cent. and watered with alkali water
But there were certain local conditions which
might nave offset THIS COnQlC1On, ana we
| are working hard to determine whether it
| can be grown in the slightly differing SUR
roundings Of the western part of the United
| States.'' Es
The government bureau of soils has esti-
mated that there are at least 100000 acres Of
irrigated land In the United States rendered
for OF b the
a species Of resistant alfalfa, which will
I grow On these lands, each acre will be worth
ss0, making the total land value gained $780,
CCO,CQ0. In summing up the benefits of the
discovery the value of the crops of alfalfa
subsequently. raised on this land would be
1 properly added. 1t would be easy thus to
show how, In year or two, 100000, 900 had
4 Of the western farmers. 81
7 " -s,'5f" Egyptian Cotton, Too.
l The same exploration trip which brought
| Algerian alfalfa will result In the introduce
ton of Egyptian cotton into the United
States. The Importance OF this announce
1nent will be understood better when it ia
added that Egyptian cotton commands double
the price Of American cotton, and it is i'm
ported by American spinners to the value
OF $l0OOD,OOO every year, With the excep-
ton of sea island cotton 1t Is the best in
the world.
"Our experiments have demonstrated be-
yond doubt that Egyptian cotton can be
grown in the United States in practically the
entire cotton belt
This is the statement of Mr.. Kearney. who
brought the sample varieties from Egypt,
and who has been experimenting with them
for two years. The test planting has been
done at Calexico, Yuma, the Pecos valley,
New Mexico and in Texas. Paintings were
also made at points farther east, in South
| Carolina, Louisiana and Georgia. The re-
suits have demonstrated to the satisfaction
Of the department that we can grow a cotton
! equal to the best white Egyptian, which is
| accepted as the standard.
! The department is now working On the
problem to what locality in the United
States Is best adapted to growing the Egypt
ian. Considerable interest attaches to the eX.
4 periments at Calexico, which is about fifteen
miles south of the irrigation settlement Of
Imperial, in southern California. The cotton
| growing industry is new in this locality Las
year the experiment at Calexico was not en-
tirely satisfactory. The first paintings were
destroyed by storms and the result was thai
the cotton did not get started until many
1 weeks after it should have, and when the
frost came the bolls were caught immature
and only a partial yield was secured But
| the quality of the cotton secured was sc
good rs to redeem the experiments from
failure. Samples were sent to manufacturers
In different part of the country, and they
were almost unanimous in pronouncing i
equal to the best white Egyptian. This yea1
the planting Jared better, and reports coming
; to Washington forecast fine or Up from tn.
paintings In The extreme southwest. Mr.
kearney will visit the various points wher,
the cotton is growing, and before the fros
comes will have some definite returns or
, this years experiments. If the realization
comes up to present promises, cotton raising
tries Of the southwest. III. G. Stevens,