The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1903-09-10
Retaining AIkall Land.

In the United States and Canada. As
we'll as In many other countries Of
the world, there are great stretches Of
land that are unfertile due to . too
great proportion Of salt or alkali In
them. Usually these tracts Of land
are quite low, and some Of them have
been formerly beds Of lakes and ponds.
There are other tracts Of land that
have developed alkali spots from hay
Ing being too long under q system Of
irrigation that permitted the salt and
alkali to rise In the soil as a result Of
capillary attraction. It Is therefore Of
interest to American farmers 10 know
what Is being done in the matter Of
the reclamation Of such lands In for
eign countries.
Egypt Ia the country that 10 at pres.
ont attracting the most attention In
this regard. Here some Of the problems
are being work.. out, This has not
been an easy matter. Quite q number
Of years ago, q French company
bought 10000 acres Of this land, and
sunk $4,5O0.000 in an attempt to- 70.
claim 1t, but were unsuccessful. Yet
the land they handled was and Is as
easily reclaimed as any Of the other
land that has been reclaimed and
made profitable. They showed how
not to do 1t, and other companies
profted by their mistakes. The causes
Of their failure were first, the bitches
were not close enough together to
permit Of rapid washing Of the soil.
The bitches were about 1000 feet
apart when they should have been
not more than $50. Second, the bitches
should have followed the slope of the
land. They were actually laid out on
rectangular plan regardless Of slope.
Third, reclamation was attempted on
too large q scale, and lacked thorough.
ness. Fourth, the land was put into
such crops as cotton before It was
sweetened--freed from Its alkali and
salt. This land Is now In process Of
being reclaimed under correct
methods.
On the other hand the success In r.
land in Egypt has been most
gratifying and profitable. An English
obtained a grant Of $4,000
acres Of this worthless alkali land and
invested $3.50 per acre In Its reclama'
ion. The land now brings an annual {
'ental Of about SIS per acre and has
value Of over 5000 per acre, or a
otal Of over $2,5OO,00O. The English
declared dividends Of As
YER cent last year. The soil before ,
|ralnage was described as heavy,
tense, sticky, black clay, apparently IA
cry impervious to water and difficult 1
o underdraln, In fact the whole as. ,
ect Of the land Is one Of utter hope. !
essness, and none but the most san ,
uine Of agricultural engineers would !
ave undertaken Its reclamation" +
hat land Is now bright with grow
lg crops and productive Of an i'm
tense revenue.
The most effective method Of rid Q
Ing the land Of Its surplus salt and t
kali is found to be flooding, with tile '
rains. The drains are placed 80 c
Iches deep and IS feet apart, and the 6
,st is $50 per acre. This Is the lat Y
1t and best method, but Is not the a
ethod by which most Of the Egyptian d
nds have been SO far reclaimed.
hat method has been to use open
tches and flood the land for months
a time till the salts have soaked "
1t. The water Is then drained of. ~
In some cases 1t has taken two p
,ars to sufficiently drain the soil Of :"
, salts to make the land productive, W.
nerican farmers will Of course pre-. 81 -
r the tile drains to the open bitches, " y.
open bitches are o nuisance and VI
ep much Of the land out Of cult.
ton, Besides, they have to be
tger and cost more to dig. A tile MI
ain does not have to be cleaned out MI
as is the case with open ma
.ches. An experiment Of this kind OK
now being carried on near Salt sis
Ike City, Utah, where the bitches pr
!, MIA nod 1b0 foot pnart