Arizona republican., 1918-12-02
SOME FACTS Of I
A[KA[| LANDS
IN THIS VALLEY
BY c. J. King,
BiophysicaI Investigations, U. S. De-
partment of Agriculture

numbes Of inquiries have come to
this office with regard to the POSSIBLE
ties of utilizing. temporarily, some of
the land that has been laid waste by
the rising water table and its insepara
BILE allv. noXious salts. 1t has been es-
timated that there are nearly 10000
acres in the valley in this condition,
some of which had been in former
times the most productive under the.
project While great hopes are being
entertained for the reclamation OF
these tracts through the pumping pro
( ject now under way. the owners are
much interested in haYing IL produce
as much as possible at this period OF
! exigency when every acre is needed foF
/ production of food for the allies.
The first remedy that the agricul-
tural expert thinks of when alkali lands
| are mentioned is gypsum. The late
Dr. Hilgard of the California expert
mental station. many years ago recon-
mended gypsum for this purpose, ana
without doubt it has been a great boon
TO many western farmers. In manS
| cases. though, it has proved a disap
pointment. 1t was these failures which
led members of this office to undertake
Investigations with regard to the re
! actions which occur in the soil when
BLACK alkali'' is formed, and the re
actions which occur when gypsum is
applied.
1t was found that when black al
kali" Sodium carbonate) is formed
from the action of calcium carbonate
on the sodium nitrate or the sodium
Chord of the soil, gypsum may be
used as a remedy to convert the so
dunn carbonate into sulphate which
is white alkalf' and less harmful to
plants. However, if the black alkali is
being formed from sodium sulphate
tGlaubers salt) by the reaction with
calcium carbonate. or if the sodium
sulphate is present either in the soil
in company with other white alkali
salts, or in the water. then gypsum is
one OF the products formed from the
reaction. and neither this. nor any
amount that the farmer might add, will
be effective in checking the formation
of the black alkai." Conditions here
in the valley. are ideal for this last re
action for it takes place most readily
when the land is swamped by excessive
irrigations or by the rise of saltwater.
Some samples taken recently from some
of these areas show that the Sulphates
are present in abundance, and TO add
gypsum to such soils would doubtless
be a waste of money. This fact does
use of gypsum altogether. for it is very
: probable that in other places the black
J alkali is being formed from common
5 salt or from sodium nitrate.
: The method that is most commonly
: practiced in the valley at present for
5 removing harmful salts from the soil
surface is in teaching them out of the
/ first foot or two by surface flooding
While on first impression this would
seem to be bad medicine, in that the
2 chief cause of the trouble is being used
as remedy, yet such practice appears
s to be the most feasible of any that the
q farmer can perform. While the salts
are certain to come back in time. the
; seeds are given an opportunity to ger
4 inmate and grow from a delicate into
: a more hardy existence. This plan is
: especially efficient in the case of al
falfa. since the older plants can tof-
crate four times as much alkali as this
young seedlings. For this reason, old
alfalfa growing on such soils, if pro-
I ducing anything worth cutting. should
: never be ploughed up to experiment
: with another planting. Its age and its
= shade are its chief protection
One unproductive field in the vale!
( showed a content of over four per cen
: common salt in the surface tire,
/, lHCHesr While dI lower utptHS IL ul0 no
exist in harmful amounts Such con-
dition might be helped in some degree
by scraping off the surface. blowing al
deep as possible. and continued prac
I tice of deep cultivation.
7 None of these methods suggested car
be expected to effect permanent relief
] That will only be brought about whei
the cause is removed. and it is to b'
hoped that the pumps and drainage
. system to be installed will accomplish
- this. With all of the evils that arr
= credited to alkali it has one importan
- virtue-that of rendering soluble valu
y able stores of plant food Therefore
= when permanent remedy is secure,
. in the removal of the saltwater, tn
owners of alkali lands can REASONABLE,
>, expect to see them become profuseivel,
Al | productive.