The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1906-07-11

bushes, greasewood and salt grass
growing out of heavy incrustations Of
| white and black alkali. met the eye
In addition, the soil was found to be
an unusually light one, containing
sixty-seven per cent silt, which rem
dered 1t exceedingly difficult to ham
die. In natural fertility it was aver
age. A fall of two feet from the north
west to the southeast corner. consid-
cradle for such short distance. con-
tributed to the difficulties. However
It was the purpose of the government
to give the people of the Yakima a
demonstration whose practicality could
not be doubted by the most skeptical,
and of course such a tract furnished
material for working out various prob
lens connected with a more thorough
investigation of alkali.
The tract was divided into forty
checks or squares. each surrounded by
embankments. and ranged In size up
to an acre and n quarter. Larger
checks indicate plats where water may
be more easily held on account of level
land or firmer soil, or both.
The salt grass formed a perfect mat
upon the surface, rendering clearing.
leveling and throwing up embellishments
arduous and very slow. The drainage
system installed at n cost Of about $40
an acre consisted of six lines of four
inch glazed thing. $50 feet apart. laid
mt depth of four feet on n uniform
grade of three inches to the hundred
feet, each lateral emptying independ-
emily into Wide Hollow creek. The
tile were groove fitted into the soil as
close to one another ms possible. and
as a protective measure against silt.
the joints were covered on top with
strips of tar paper. At n depth of ap-
proximately four feet the drain easily
caught the ground water and checked
its rise to the surface while flooding
either up the valley or on the tract
should be in progress, thus preventing
further accumulation of alkali in the
upper four feet of soil, and furnishing
an outlet for the descending alkali-
laden waters applied on the surface.
This four inch system has been found
quite sufficient on the government
tract, but of course the size. number
and depth of the drains must always
be gagged by the ground water table
prevailing and the character of soil on
a given tract The foremost objects
to be aimed at by our land owners are
to afford generous surface drainage for
teaching or flooding purposes and to
keep the water table below the first
few feet of soil. thus preventing the
rise of alkali by capillary attraction.
once these mechanical conditions are
satisfactorily arranged, constant food
ing only is required to leach out what
excess alkali lies in the soil. Upon the
amount of flooding done and the main
tenance of open drains, practically
speaking, the success of any reclama-
ton work for the most part depends.
improvements are being made from
time to time upon methods of accom-
plishing this work. and some new sci
entific knowledge of alkali is being
constantly gained, but to date the
theory of alkali reclamation remains
essentially the same.
When the Gervais tract was taken
by the government n survey showed
that there We're then some 900 tons of
pure earthly salts in the first four feet
enough to entirely preclude even the
termination of seed in any part of the
tract. Forty per cent, or $50 tons of