El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-01-09
FARMING
DRAINAGE IS REMEDY
FOR ALKALI TROUBLE
Some . Crops Resist Considerable
Amounts of Alkali; Must be Kept
From Alfalfa Roots.

Amounts of AIE1ali; Must be Kept
From Alfalfa Roots.
State College, \. NJ, Dec. 9.-The al
kalies which trouble the farmer are Of
two general classes, says a bulletin is
sued by the State college. White al
kali and black alkan. White alkaii
is largely composed of common salt,
Glauber's salt, gypsum, Epsom's salt.
and a few other compounds. 1t IS
called white alkali because when these
salts are brought to the surface of
the ground they appear in a white
flaky crust Black aIllaH is composed
OF sodium carbOnate( sal soda) and
sodium bicarbOnate common sOda). 1t
is called black alkaH because it ap-
pears black at the surface of the
ground, due to the action of these salts
on the organic matter present. Black
alkaH is much less prevalent than is
white alkali. 1t is more harmful also,
but may be treated successfully in
small areas by the addition Of gypsum
While gypsum is itself one OF the
white alkalies, it is practically un-
harmful To plants and by its use the
black alkali is converted into COM
paratively harmless compounds.
The alkalies are all soluble in wa
ter and move freely in the soil when
in solution. They are brought to the
surface of the soil by capillary attrac-
ton just as oil IS brought up in the
wick of a lamp-and when the water
eAdpOIdleS the SALTS are 1CLL IN d crust
or they may be washed down into the
soil by rains or irrigation if there IS
underdrainage. Because of this QueS-
ton Of undertakings lands whose wa
ter tables is near the surface are very
troublesome, while those whose sur
face is high above the water table
are easily managed In fact, in Jne
latter case, the lands are not known as
"alkai lands al all because the salts
are kept washed down below the root
have their water table near the sur
face, a drainage system of open or
covered bitches can be installed, the
fight is almost won. 1t only requires
then sufficient flooding OF the land to
wash the alRali salts out of the first
few feet of the soil
But adequate drainage is not al
ways possible. Two courses are left:
removal of considerable amounts of
the salts, and the growing of resistant
crops. Considerable amounts of the
injurious salts can be removed By
scraping up the crust with a shovel
and hauling it off the land This
should be repeated as new cruStS are
formed. This method is applicable
where the alkai sports are small.
Considerable amounts of the salts may
also be removed by growing crops
that take I'D large quantities of these
salts into their tissues and removing
these plants from the land. Saltbush
has been used for this purpose. This
method IS very slow and not very sat
isfactOry.
There are certain crops that resist
considerable amounts of alkai A list
is given below. IN attempting to grow
these crops the alkali must be pre-
vented from accommodating near the
surface Keep the alkali as far as
possible, especially while the plants
are very young and tender. This can
be done by frequent irrigation. Where
frequent irrigation is impossible, pre-
vent excessive surface evaporation by
cultivating the land. AS stated above, /
evaporation brings the salts to the sur
face, where they are left in a crust
Land that is baked at the surface |
loses water rapidly.
Sugar beets, mjllet, barley for hay |
crop, oats for hay, milo maize, kaffir /
corn, and alfalfa are among the more !
resistant crops. With the exception of |
alfalfa, these are shallow rooted crops.
To grow alfalfa the alkali must De 1
kept away from the roots during the l
first year. After this alfalfa will 1
stand considerable alkaI