Show examination eava naki OF UA tf SOILS IN UTAH W F ILA K professor men ill of the agricultural college has completed extensive Exen sive examinations of certain utah soils with three other experts prot prof lawla A murrall of th the 1 utah agricultural college at logan baa ban just completed extensive elaml nations of certain utah soils in company witti with dr leinan 3 briggs thomas 11 II kearney and dr 11 II L three prominent experts from the united states agricultural department dr briggs la Is soil physicist in the bureau of plant industry and la fit recognized as one of th leading soil authorities in america kearney la Is eoll soil physicist in the united state states reclamation bureau and dr la to botanist in tho the reclamation bureau these men came to utah with the purpose in view of finding the relationship between the negative vegetation and the soils on which they are found and before returning east again may probably give methods used in utah farming careful study and alio also gather such specimen 1 in as may prove of value to the work of the department in the opinion of professor Prote eeor merrill A the investigations and tlona made in company with the government experts during the past few days have more than ever emphasized the fact that it ih alkali lande lands as in other olle soils the natural plant growth determines the re clarn ability and adaptation of these land lands for crops professor merrill also claims that as an investigation proceeds it becomes all the more indisputable that the safety of homesteaders ste aders in utah beetling to cultivate iry dry land uee lies in selecting good sagebrush ground these experts and their visits are of incalculable benefit to utah farmers and newcomer newcomers say says professor merrill they are now on their way to tor california but I 1 hope they will find time to spend several weeks more in utah on their way wa beck back to the investigations and experiments they their make are of mt the greatest educational value to tar and were the agriculturists more disposed to profit by this official work which Is carried on un in 14 their own failures in farming would seldom be bt found soil should lie ile tied 1 A proper testing of eoll soil and climatic conditions should be the first step the settling the he next in some sections settlers sett lere have been known to spend all their time and money in d developing farms just as 0 they reach the point ahem these farms should begin to produce and repay th sir lr efforts their hopes are blighted by the presence of alkali or some other fatal mineral proper of soil eliminate such cases la in alkali lands as an in other others the natural plant growth groth determines ter mines the and adaptation apt ap tation atlon of these lands for crept the most superficial observation shows that certain plants indicate extremely strong alkaline laid land where here they occupy the ground alone other plants indicate pre the presence of common salt these experts from the department part ment of agriculture have during the past few e days made a number of borings bolings bo rings testing the soil J right in the tie A lor for alkali by what Is known as the bridge method this metho enables one to determine the alkali or harmful ex cej of soluble lutife so salts present in the boll soil the percentage tuge of alkali cin n by be fairly aurA accurately tely determined the work just completed show sho invariably that where certain plants occupy the ground in an abundant and luxuriant growth such 1 ands contain euch nth an excess nf of alkali that it would be impossible for economic alanta to grow upon them at all 11 the occurrence of merely scattered and more or less les stunted individuals divi duals of ol those plants while a sure indication of the presence of alkaline baits salts does not how necessarily cessa rily that the land possesses the eo so called groese wood barco batus tua tug land was examined and found to t bo be heavily ha y fly impregnated with alkali there e re la Is no quest question lott but thit tinder irrigation thia this land can be made productive but there Is a serious doubt aa as to whether und under r dry farming th land could ever over bo be made nade productive in lit ta ie le A largo large area in tooele thoele vallo valle covered with bait salt wort suadda tor royana waa was found and on the surface gave ever aveo Indica indication of being excellent land the first foot of oil poll did not reveal any excess of alkali the second secondo foot however gave nearly one halt half ot of I 1 per cent and there waa was an increasing easing amount down to a depth of fix six feet no economic plant could live in a soil containing so much alkali as was indicated by the third ind fourth foot of soil A dry farmer taking up land of thia this character would no doubt get excellent germination of the seed and receive every encouragement un until ifa the roots ed the soil to a depth of two or three feet when the excess of albit would kill the plant on dry inerd one foot of coll sell would be unable to furnish moisture and food cupply sufficient for the growth of the plants there Is thua thus a very grave danger of homesteaders taking up land of this character as it Is bound to result in their disappointment shad scale conforti folla ground waa was also tested and found to contain injurious quantities of alkali for sake land on which there was an abundant growth of sagebrush commonly known as black sage was also tested and found to be true free of anju injurious ious alkaline salts the visit of theeo experts and their investigations confirm the oft expressed opinion of myself and others that the safety of homesteaders 5 ste in utah seeking to cultivate dry land lies in selecting good sagebrush eago brush ground I 1 |