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Show ihcy iiiay ioou iio i.pjvorihea iiy tT h i'i v.t-.n. r.n t'.o ;:T c!liv a.? wliiclj ;:r j nearly ;i;:p;-: :o to vl:;.-.'; a :!.'! O.i'j.-fc vhv-:i a.ivu ai'i!.ii::;-, tl;.j uiaaa i-;'uak':n ij LvL uj take a iooal cxLUyk'. Tljo i:l in the W'afhinaevn i'eKl in i-f t'.ro pi-hiciyal k'uvli. hi l'ig k'-.vvv yoraua-ui yoraua-ui this Hold, t'.io s.jll Is s-:::i' c'ay. c.-pj.'.ially in tlio rey'lon of t'.ie cia !uke bottom. As wo i';u.s fivm t'ue hi'.:e hta.ls t;v.MrJs the fuol-htlU o;i c-iiIkh-side, tho toll lyraa-l'ially cban-cs. i-oa-Lainiiygr jnerc sunil r.it-3 cousc-iuccly bctf'.r;:l:;j,' vaovc pcrraablc lo water. In mo;. t. plajes ehty i;at!fi-lks tho san;l: n jar Lee ;;oal':iei".i fuetl;ia. beivever. the i:adcflyi!i:j stratum is a kind ol ';ii-.t-.l-;ian" not yet tSisi&tcpratcil into soil, and qaite impoi'meable to vraiei The natural drainage of the hind appears ap-pears to be towards the lake region, c-'peela!!y towards the souiliwosloi-n part ef it. The water Pinkos its eseape frorti this section tbiwih drains min-niojj min-niojj northerly and leaeliny to the Fao Vive r :. V,"bn irrigation began, about 1SH3, the boils surrounding the lake were swee, and free front alkali: but as ir-rigalioa ir-rigalioa was apnU'ed to the hierb.er Iamb;, the portions lyiii.'.;' near the lake beg'an to be aii'eeted with alkali; and with every year, the alkali plague seem? to spread. To a. Id to the di."-tt.'ult'.cs di."-tt.'ult'.cs of the situation, the land settled set-tled in parts whore irrigation was therouydi, leaving' hb.rh spots in piaaos where the water bad r.ot bees: ullo.ved to soak. By means of levees in the low parts water wets carried over the 'high spots and there allowed to soak in order to settle the aoO in sueh places. Tho idea seemed to prevail, thatthe renter the amount of water applied, the better bet-ter and in or o productive would be the bind. The result was, the lands in many parts of the field were ib luged with water, particularly in the fall and winter, when v.u.tcr was plentiful. This practice could have brat one result re-sult : the under layers of the soli were satin' tfed. and an under-current naturally natur-ally .at is ;', .! the higher to Lh-a lower lands. ' As this underground water approached the lake region, it was forced nearer tho surface by the impervious im-pervious clay which underlies thesandy so'll. At the point where the sandy soil disappears, giving' place to the clay, the water appeared on the surface. Here as evaporation takes place under the iniluence of the sun's rays, the dissolved dis-solved alkali is left in the upper layers of the soil or as a crust on the surface. If the supply of wafer is too great .to ALKALI LANDS. 'firr.ut ( . a:-,-:; 1 1 ';;::. rewarded Tirst Pruc at the V,"ah-ingtou V,"ah-ingtou County Fair. There is a problem which, confronts the farmers in arid regions of the world, with which the farmers in humid regions have nothing to do. It is known as the '-Alkali Problem," and it makes its appearance espeeialiy where irrigation is practiced. Lands which at the beginning of irrigation appeared sweet and well adapted to tillage, till-age, have become, after a few years of irrigation, so impregnated with alkali that their use has had to be abandoned. Thousands of acres of land have thus been resigned to "alkali" in western America, including large tracts in Utah, and some even in Washington County. To be more specific, tiiere are many acres in Washington Field, about six miles southeast of St. Georee. which are aiieeted in this manner; on some of these lauds cultivation has already al-ready been abandoned, while on others the "mineral spots'' are yearly becoming becom-ing larger, and threatening to render useless large tracts which are still under cultivation. Questions of great importance to our farmers are: What causes tho alkali to rise, or appear on our lands? How-can How-can its coining be prevented? alow can it be removed when it has once appeared'? ap-peared'? What is its effect upon vegetation? vege-tation? These questions have been given much study at the various "Experiment "Ex-periment Stations'' in the West, particularly par-ticularly in California. Though the alkali problem is not yet cntirely maslerccl in till its details, still much valuable information has been gathered ih regard to these important questions. Alkali is that portion of the soil which is soluble in water. It is of two kinds: the black (sodium carbonate;, and the white (sodium sulphate.) Of these the black is much more detrimental detri-mental to plant life than the white. Either, in excess, will prevent the plant, from taking up' water, and therefore will cause it to die ;tj if by drouth. Fait in addition to this, the black alkali has the power of dissolving the plant tissues tis-sues and of breaking up or destroying the 'humus,'' or plant food. Seeds will not germinate in a soil containing any large portion of alkali. The origin of alkali is the same as that of the soil itself, being found in the rocks which are broken up or disintegrated dis-integrated to form the soil. It is more especially abundant in clay soils which are formed from mica and feldspar: pass oh by evaporation and has no escape by drainage, the result is a swamp. Wherever this underground current comes near to the surface, the water will pass upward by capillary tit-traction, tit-traction, just as oil pa-'-:es upward in a lanipviek. The moisture reaching the surface will evaporate, and of course leave a deposit 'of alkali. If this deposit de-posit is not prevented or removed it causes a mineral spot: and such spots are constantly enlarging or appearing in new places. A mineral spot once formed tends to perpetuate itself, and even to become worse, because the alkali kills the vegetation and leaves the ground exposed to the direct rays of the sun. Kvapoietion will thereafter there-after go on more rapidly, and the consequent con-sequent deposit of alkali will become more abundant. As this is mainly the black alkali, it is very deadly to vegetation, vege-tation, and germination in sueh a soil is all .but .impossible. Jn a'l tin; hike region the mineral spots appear and even in plaei 'S iiot yet rekr.e'a Uh"d to alka'i. the lucerne is aliVeted by the uiuhM';;".'errr..i earn nt of mineral water. tn.U". i;jxs;-:riY. 'el what i- the remedy for this iosi-d: iosi-d: tb m of all s Irs? I'ir-t and foremost, the amount of water applied to the like r lands :lu.ald be re- cd'y r !;: ted : enough shoe' 1 be r cl to leoi a or ;he lb hut it c.ol.M r' b allowed to run oe j "a . loo o ( noe di .' r ray : at ac : i e- ; be vat !'.'!'.iO! daa in '. w,o a' a p- pll '1 t . to.' earao-o .,'.:.:'.-! ic.ia'y j -la r'd 1 -a oo.i , ;,'.' eg. -j. , ,: , o il: :' "'od a- -h.ady a i o so,, aa ' far: ' : i :i k e a j a and c ' . a ; " ah. ' : i Ik ' I - 'a! boo- a-, km elk. 1 y : . c : .a. . 1 .- ! o : l.'. ' k k ;" -c o, . c j . ,p. small quantities are found, however, in most sandy7 soils. In the humid regions reg-ions of the world, this alkali, being soluble, is carried away by the water which percolates through the sod as the result of tho heavy rains. But it should be remembered, that in carrying carry-ing away the alkali the water also dissolves dis-solves and carries away a part of the plant food, leaving the seal comparatively compara-tively poor. In the arid regions, the rainfall is so slight that very little of it cscap.es by underground drainage; the greater part is evaporated, from the surface, thus leaving the soil the alkali and the plantfood. Such soils arc naturally very rich, but liable to have an excess of alkali, especially in the lower lying portions. So long as the -alkali remains re-mains uniformly distributed through the soil, there is seldom enough to do injury to crops, bat conditions arc likely to arise which will bring it to the surface and if is then that injury is moe-t likely to result. When a light rainfall o:.kvi. the water dissolves the alkali for a few inches under the' surface. As this water again i Uos to the upper layers of the soil to pass oft by ev.ipora t ion, it carries up with it the dissolved alkali, and leaves it as a la. or on the MU'.'aee. of the ground. V, hen a heavier rainfall rain-fall occurs'. ir dh elves the alkali to a greater dept!. but it caraie-' ilo-n vidi it meek i f km alk. li fern ady eokmo;.,; on the surface. If this waier a go in rises to be co a'toaako-d fao r '.ke cua.e'o. a still tkh ker layer of alkali will be collect.:;!: if a portion of it rs ' by under-d; aina go. it Carrie-' : kh A the alkak ami er-uanouka ivr. - !'. from tkat p iiaiou ef the - Ik v k .: -.- ! J this drain; go water Mows '..-'P. ; i or:, k i it carries t! a alkali v. kk k : !. r.-v c it rk..; to "dm sari ".eo ard i e va..:-.!. ikere k dep. tkia i'.a:a '- if : . . a: o The t.V ef i-ri -kea i - kk k. P . ; i ak: fall: a . a- kl a a a' a '. : ':. :;.' , eke 1 v kl 1 a e a t erg a k: k;.. k. ' sok.bk- :m o cab Coles... - .:'. a wlkah k p ; c Me |