Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1906-12-13

less alkaline salts, put IN the RAIN /
belt they have been washed out by
the rains and seepage during the
past. Arid soils are no exception
to this, the only difference being
that they have never been leeched
or drained off by the action of rain
or otherwise.
All arid lands contain more or
less alkali, which causes them
sometimes to be classcd as alkali
lands This is a misleading state
rnent, as the popular understanding
is that alka1i lands are unfit for
plant growth. This is true if alkali
is in excess. However, the amount
of alkali in the greater portion OF
the arid lands is not harmful Only
by mismanagement, or through
lack of proper drainage. so that the
alkali has accumulated, is agricul-
tural land damaged by it.
Wherever alkali has accumulated
it shows that the water table is near
the surface, or there is an imper-
vious strata usually called hard
pan underneath, prohibiting under
drainage These lands may often
be reclaimed, or the accumulation
of alks1i prevented, by system of
under drainage. Many of our
farmers have reclaimed these lands
by dynamiting or blowing up the
hard strata underneath, thus pro-
viding under drainage, which car
ries the harmful salts downward out
of the reach of plants.
In other cases flooding has been
resortcd to with very beneficial re-
suits, allowing the salts to crystal
Iize on the surface of the land,
then quickly flooding and washing
them away. This being many
times repeated, carries away the
excess of harmful salts
Discussing the soil in connection
with agriculture, the subject OF
chemistry is SO closely allied with
it that it is impossible to deal with
the question without taking it into
consideration
The term sssoil'' is here Consid-
cred not only as medium in which
plants grow, but in it's more perfec'
definition, implying that medium,
as well as that which plants de-
rive more or less food from
In considering the soil from the
standpoint of agriculture, the cs
scntial elements of plant growth
must not only be present, out II
certain abundance, and in such !
condition that they are available To-
plants. A soil may be rich in plan
food and yet it may be SO firnl,
locked up in insolublc compound
that the plants have not the powc
to dissolve and use it, Again, tn
elements may be in the soil am
. vet be out of reach of the roo
system of the plants.
The origin and formation of tn
soil III Idaho is such that all of tn
mineral constituents necessary TO
:. plant growth are present in avail
able form and within easy reach {
:, the root system.
A series of analyses made of tn
soil on the Twin Falls tract show
that the contistuents of the soil ar
practically the same to the depth
i at least six feet, the only exceptio
u being nitrogen, this element beir
y more plentiful in the surface fo'
> than deeper in the soil. This is I
doubt true of all bench lands in tt
arid belt. Fortunately, Nature hi
: provided means of appropriate
" this from the air, where it is
- abundant, and storing it in the sc
p in an available form for the use
= growing crops.
n These plants have the pow
~ above referred to through nitroge
Gus bacteria that live on the roc
of plants.
a Plants of this class, such
se alfalfa, clover, peas, etc, gre
y profusely all through the arid be
" making this soil The most prolii
in the world
al The alkali found in the low, u
Us drained places is of two kinds
nc black and white. Black ak
usually is the worst form of aka
n actually corroding the organic II
nc terial of the soil, killing the see
81 and plant roots when in excess.
White alkali is not poisonous
% plants but is injurious when in {
nc cess, as it prevents the plants fir
n taking up needed food and wa
supply.
-; The soils of the Great Salt La
- basin are very rich and very ret'
- tive of moisture. On the higi
- lands, where water for irrigat
is not available, crops of grain
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