The Emmett index., 1912-03-07

~ vi y lllS NOp AHJ ~ VI StAA ~
exactly like piece OF blotting
paper, and of course all the salts
soluble in water are carried upward
by it, and are deposited on or near
the surface, sometimes so thickly
as to form the glistening white or
dark-broWn crust characteristic of
"alkali". At this point let it be
said that the word "alkali' is not
to be understood in its chemical
sense. AS used by agrieulturists it
includes any salt soluble in water
which, under conditions affording a
high degree of capillarity and evap-
Grafton, accumulates in such
quantities as to injuro plant-lfe.
The ones most met are the salts of
sodium, i. e., the chloride Gcommon
saIt,), the sulphate and the car
Donate.
Farming, even on lands quite
heavily impregnated, has been az"
tended with notable success, fol
irrigation supplied enough water
to wash the surplus of salts down
into the soil below the point where
they could damage crops. But ir-
rigators have always been tool law
ish OF water. The consequence is
that though the natural drainage
capacity of our deep, loose, rich
soils is for the most part excellent,
it is over-taxed, and the surplus war
ters, percolating downward, finally
form underground reservoir whose
level steadily rises until, as it comes
within three or four feet of the
surface the plants mysteriously wilt
under the "Osmotic pressure" or
sucking power" of the salt solu-
tions very much as meat shrinks
when placed in brine, and then the
land is abandoned. No less harm
is done by the fact that the rising
water fills all the tiny aiu-spaces,
Literally drowning the rootlets and
arresting the work of the nitrify |
ing bacteria.
Canal seepage has been We
largely blamed for the waterlogging |
of lands, but the damage from that
source is slight compared with the
waterlogging accomplished by our
reckless over-irrigation. This can
not be too strongly stated. An
extreme case is known where |
a farmer used a total depth of 21
feet OF water for one seasons ir-
rigation. Remember that the an
nual rainfall of the Mississippi Vail
ley is only about 40 inches, and
imagine, if you can, a successful
crop raised with a rainfall of 252
inches during the growing season
alone. We commonly use from two
to twenty times the proper amount
of water, and that, too, without
providing for drainage. 1t is esti-
mated that 250,OO0 acres of land
in Utah alone have been ruined
in just such a fashion, and every
valley has contributed its quota. TIL
story to tell, in fact, land in amy
climate, whether dry or humid, may
become alkaline where the drain
age is insufficient to cope with the ,
rainfall or irrigation, as the case ,
may be. Such salt marshes and !
'alkali spots" occur, for instance
n the Mississippi Valley and in
he rice fields of the Carolinas
1T will be seen, then, that the f
'eal trouble with the "alkali'' lands t
S not alkai at all, but an under u
ground water table that, has risen a
60 high. The alkali, though de- [
eterious enough, is, like the rash e
If measles, but symptom of the s
Iisease. The cure is obviously drain Q
.ge, and If this be provided the al h
,ali disappears just as naturally as \
t came. a
eve have corresponded with mer O
n all parts of the state on whose L
and drainage experiments have bee [
made by the experts of the state q
nd national governments, and prac r.
ically without exception they re- a,
ort the entire success of the work. n
t is true that exceptional cases O
ave been encountered which pre- il
ent difficult problems in drain q
ge, notably the presence of shale ft
with seepage from beneath h
r the presence of the carbonate n
l a clay soil Nevertheless, Unr- T
and subsequent care
II cultivation have never yet failed
, effect a complete relie', though
here the carbonate has existed in F
.rge quantities it sometimes re eC
lires four years or five to bring in
le soil back to perfect mechanical st
,ndition. n
"a piece of land in Emery County bl
as underlaid with hardpan, w
1gged so that it could not be ur
,ossed and heavily crusted with
kali, yet drainage by Experiment
alton engineers removed the all
Iii and the begged condition and hi
ade the field productive. Land VI
G