Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-03-02
.,..,d Mead of the Department
Of Agriculture Gave Interest
ins Address Last Night
WASHING OUT OF The ALkALI.
,.,,usr,s ia This Direction He Re-
LAP s,,,, 70 be Progressing in Very
Good Shape

rxp,rt Elwood Mead Of the ourea"
, hA department Of agriculture
u W." - Interesting lecture last nish''
sA, ", cat, hall, before a fair sized au-
u .i.,s on methods of irrigation OBTAIN
INK in northern Italy His lecture s,N WSs
a" illustrated by stereopticon views wh'o"
=. occurred while in the land OF owes
., ro,lceably in the vicinity OF MI
NV, NV Ana the scientific thoroughness
~n which the Italians irrlsate their
s,,d, was noted with surprise Inc
,,aI,,rs do not stint at using cement
and masonry, and there Is no sinal
,mornt Of high and costly aqueduc'lns'
-noh q, which Is centuries old me
nut NJ water rights over Whlch
h .%srIoan farmers have been SQUAD
Mime over so long, were troublesom"
actors years ago in European irrisa-
,,or circles. The canals in northern
u,ly were originally built by the
i,a or by the nobility, but the I'M
.ss proprletorship during the series
.,.svnlntions finally brought the canals
v,asr Inc control OF the government: IN
, ,,,a . commission settled the troubles
. ,, water rights along the canals, ana
,Ssr. has not been any troubles since
!, ' rorthern Italy, and all disputes are
INA now by arbitration. Moreover,
rsiisn farmers have come to regard
ma rights OF others In the matter Oh
irrigation water.
one Of the views showed part OF the
eoulpment OF an Italian farmer, when
included hoes 10 times heavier than Inc
American article, and scyihe that no
american could be induceft0Fegard In
ether than the light Of cuko, Tor II
VAS a most clumsy affair. In some OF
me irrigated localities, the land Is so
valuable that $500 worth OF hay to the
sers Il harvested there annually, and
me- value OF the land itself IL $4,000 per
acre Prof Mead said he was very
much interested In the irrigation work
in Iris western country and particularly
in me work being done by Prof. Dore-
mus the Utah state engineer, because
h will result In the greatest good for
the state
In an Interview, Prof. Mead said the
work OF his bureau was to experiment
with a view 10 saving water and TO
make the best use OF II, as well as TO
reclaim alkall land Matters OF con-
sructlOn and engineering are taken
care Of BY the geological survey, The
irrigation bureau Is also experimenting
extensively IN the matter OF seepage.
Said the professor From n third to
half Of the water available for irri-
ntbn here In Utah is lost by seepage.
Where water Is valuable, this Is q
serious problem In California they
are trying an experiment which, II sue
Cesstul, will do much toward solving
he problem there, They are mixing
Petroleum with the soil and plastering
he Interior Of the bitches. In this
way II is hoped TO reduce the seepage
greatly"
Prof. Mead stated further; "Our ex-
pernents with washing out the alkall
ron lands In the fiat west Of Salt
Lake are progressing favorably, We
hope 10 persuade the farmers to take
The matter up and follow out the same
lines with their own alkali land. II 10
merely case Of washing out and cult
Ntlng and the returns are worth the
expenditure and effort many times
over. Land that is practically value-
less can be made worth 5000 an acre"