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Show LAND WORTH THREE MILLION. ncrent dispatches from Washington published ln The Tribune have told briefly of the contemplated wotk b the Department of Agriculture in demon-strntlng demon-strntlng the feasibility of reclaiming alkali soils by means of drainage hlle tho dispatches Indicated that the work is to be In the Salt Lake vallo the full significance of the oiicrallons nnd the vast Importance of the vvorK was scarcely made ploln by the brief dispatches. The work mentioned will consist of the Installation of a number of complete s stems of tile drainage In vnrloui sections of the vast aren of flat, nlkall. lands Istng north nnd west of Salt Lake Clt between the Jordan river nnd Saltalr. The Inaugumllon of this tile drainage will be the complement comple-ment of the very careful and extensive soli survey made by the Department of Agriculture and tho Utnh experiment ttntlon during tho summers of 1599 and ISO.), and icportetl fully In bulletin "2 of the Utah station, mention of vvhlcn was . made ln Tho Tribune at the time. The j put pose of such Hill survey was to do- . teimlno tho nmount of alknll In the toll, the chemical comronltlon nnd phjsleal condition and to observe tho topography as to the possibility of drainage. Upon nil these points tho report of the experts was complete and wns of such nature ns to leave no doubt of the possibility of reclamation of tnoio than 30 000 acres of the land In question by washing out tho alkali through sub-drains sub-drains of tile. As to the value of the land to bo thus reclaimed, It Is safe to accept the csllmuto mado by tho experts who m.edo tho examination, slnco thoso gentlemen havo no local Interest In tho matter and nre theicfore not liable to bo biased In their Judgment, l'rof. Trank D. Gardner, In chutgo of the survey, ha)g. Attention has already been called to tho necessity of undi rdralnugo for protection pro-tection ugalnst Inlurj from siepike vva. trrs und alkali and for tho reclamation of Injured lands. Irrigated lands In the I. lit Lake valley nre worth at I ul from lw to IKM pel acre Lands burnetii itely adjacent to Salt loiko clt, cpclally If hi hi as suburban prnpert und If free from alknll, would be worth muih inure than this There is plenty of good lllo clay In the vltlnlty of Bait Lake City, nn 1 tile could too manufactured for tho farmci at a reasonable cost It Is estimated esti-mated that It would enst from $10 to il an ucre to unrtcrdralu these linds, which under the present conditions, have a inerelj nominal value. Lands In New lurk. Ohio and Illinois worth trnm WO m til per inn h ivt bten vcr extenslvelv uuderdrHlned In order ! Iticrente their protlui tlveiuss to bnsttti the mnturlt of the crops and tn Insure the crops from Injury b drought H would ceitnlnl be a reasonable proposition propo-sition to pmtett these vnliuMe lands anl tn retlnim in the same unl what would lie valuable Und Monty so Invested U In the nature nf an insurance against Inss nf ctops from seepage w'aters und alkali During the course of this Investigation particular sttrnllou was given to the pnssll lllly of It claiming the miH tract of 12n suuare miles betvvetn Salt Lakt Cltv and the Great Suit hike The ItviU nf the lallrnatl surveys mid nf the runiil cotnpanlts were ;re.. toiisultcd At Salt fjike Clt the levfl of the Jordan river Is about twentv feet iiUive the level of the water In the Gnul Salt lake The ellstance across Is about fourteen miles Thsre i n sllfM rldg however, running a little west nf not.h, about a loin! nf the wa aiross froai Salt Lake City 1 mm tiio crest of this rldae to Ihe Great halt Lake there Is a uniform full of np. prox'nintely three fet tn the mile This win 1.1 he nmile fnr the m iln drainage canals sa Ihe Irrigating tanals have oily nlolit cne-hull this full Turthir-more Turthir-more there ore innnv draws, ulrea Iv four to eight feet deep, extending like fingers through this urea whhh with little atldillonill vvnik 01 lid le mail" In answer fnr a cnnsldt ruble part nf the drulniige vsteiii .,"11 an omit nf the Impervious niture nf Out .Ionian cl.iy the greot salt 1 intent 11 ml the niv elevation il until I ,t ,. advisable tn attempt drilnuge nv.r thin 1 hiss nf land at the prestnt time hi, trading this area rstlm .1 thin" live miles, from ire l., turn,,, ,nn, ,. vuliie nt the remaining land r th ,r. mighl) drained would He ui Jt V,, .J, At Jreseitl they have mtrelj a nuinlnal c,VLlae!!,',1nr,".hneT,n,nV,;,T;, , ',. VlR ".5.1 dlWWrlir'arenrrpVyja; mngnltude-so nearlv uffecifng the v el. fare nf a I irge numlK-r , ' ni.e-ine State 01 rnuitv cntn I .u ,, 11, cr,IK In assisting thi unden tkinu This li rommonlv done In .Inm.u iimrnrisis i oiler loc illtles Th. re s, nii n h. lfi 1 1 elnul t of til finslltlllt f m " mun' "tl i land fiom Ihe engln.erlng polrt of "Tew! 1'iof. Milton Whitney chief of the division of soils, Depintnient of Agriculture, Agri-culture, conflmis Ptof Uirdnei. anl further says vvorlh from Slflou to ,,' ana??,,'"1"'" " The Hgures above given are without reference to proxlmltj of the lands to It 1. 10 1 in vhtth shnmi udel nt leist JO percent t: ihe value The demonstration work In drainage-will drainage-will lie done by the Department of Agrl-eultuie Agrl-eultuie ln co-operation with the Utah expeilinent station The plan is to se-oure se-oure the control of numberous small nreas say five to ten a. res each for 11 term nf Ave yeats Time plats will I thoroughly and si I. ntl'lt ally drained i.j me.in nf tile furnished b tm nrt owners, nil labor being perfoimt.l hi the Government Alter the in Hll laid tho lirlgatlnti and cultivation of the drained lands will be ilnn, l,v the Utah expeilinent station timing tin he years' lense. Various .inps will , Hiown nnd fruit trets set ma n'n pioduets to go, gratis t,. tho 1 Her of tho land lt Is tonl) I. nil, rxpeiud that the feasibility of ill 1, , ' a n means of ic linytton f ,uu lands will be thus -n J. riy ,1 monrt.alel that tivvneis of win nlr r, (1u .with full conlidenit, to bilnc their abandoned farms Into profitable pro-"aiirtne-rk herein outlined vv.,1 be of great value since It will point Ge way clears to the reclamation of I hat T. now . bar, en vvaate Moreover, The OW acre, of fertile land, !.ng ro near to Salt Lake City w II furnish ho?e, for 8000 families and will add .mmensely .0 tho taxable mlrl gait Lake county Tho 7' stiongly emphasizes the : rwl ' .Iu. 0 he aid afforded by the Deportment of Agriculture and the experiment station to tho agricultural classes. It Is to bo hoped that tho demonstration work will be so plain from the veo beginning that formers throughout Utah will not wait for the five ears to elapse, but will proceed along the lines marked out to reclaim the hundred, of thou-sands thou-sands of acres of nlkall lands now nbso-lutely nbso-lutely worthless for agricultural purine pur-ine Tribune will take great pleasure in reporting full the progress and success suc-cess of the work from Urn" to time. |