The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1903-10-02


In the United States and Canada, as
well as IN many otlar countries e
the world, there are great stretches Of
land that are unfertile due to too
great proportion Of salt or alkali ia
them. Usually these tracts of land
are quite low. and some Of them have
been formerly beds Of lakes ard ponds.
There are other tr41ts q lard iis
have developed aaaa spots frcm iisf
ing being Toe .erf 1Dder 8 system ~
irrigation .na1 permitted ire salt af'
alkali to rise ihe sSil as . result
capillary atl7ae1tn Il IS therefore ~
interest TO Az1eI lEaI farmers 70 ELaF
what is being done . tie matter d
the reclamation Of sueE lands in for
eign countries.
Egypt is the country that is at pres.
ent attracting the most attention 10
this regard. Here some of the problems
are being worked out This has not
been an easy matter. Quite a number
OF years ago, a French company
bought 10000 acres Of this land, and
sunk s4.500.000 in an attempt to re.
claim it, 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 it, and other companies
prohtea by their mistakes. The causes
Of their failure were first. the bitches
We're not close enough together tc
permit OF rapid washing OF the soil
Tne bitches we're 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 We're actually laid out Ca
a rectangular p'an regardless Of alcpo
Third, reclamation was attempted on
too large q scale, and lceked thorough
ness. Fourth, the lano was i { into
such crops as cotton before 1t was
sweetened-freed from its alkali and
salt. This land is now in process o.
being reclaimed under correct
methods.
On the other hand the success IN re
claiming land in Egypt has been most
gratifying and profitable An English
company obtained a grant Of 25.00G
acres OF this worthless alkali land and
invested $3.50 per acre in its reclama.
ton. The land now brings an annual
rental Of about s25 per acre ard has
value Of over $500 per acre, or q
total Of over s2,500,00o. The English
company declared dividends Of AZ
per cent last year. The soil before
drainage was described as heavy,
dense, sticky, black clay, apparently
very impervious to water and difficult
to underdTain In fact the whole as
pect of the land is one OF utter hope
lessness, and none but the most san
guine Of agricultural engineers would
have undertaken its reclamation
That land is now bright with grow
ing crops and productive Of an in
mense revenue.
The most effective method Of rid
ding the land Of its surplus salt ant
alkali is found to be flooding, with til,
drains. The drains are placed "a
inches deep and IS feet apart, and the
cost is $50 per acre. This is the lat
est ard best method, but is not the
method by which most Of the Egyptian
lands have been so far reclaimed
That method has been to use oper
bitches and flood the land for months
at a time till the salts have soaked
out The water is then drained off
In some cases it has taken TIVE
years to sufficiently drain inc soil o.
its salts 70 make the land productive
American farmers viii OF course pre-
fer the tile drains to the open bitches
as open bitches are a nuisance ant
keep much Of the land out Of cult
vation. Besides, they have to bs
larger and cost more to dig. A till
drain does not have to be cleaned ou
frequently. as is the case with opeE
bitches. An experiment Of this kind
is now being carried on near Sal
Lake City. Utah. where the ditche.
are placed $50 feet apart