OCR Text |
Show TILE DRAINAGE IS NEEDED. A writer In tho Dixie Adtocate tells of the troubles experienced by the farmers far-mers In Washington Held, the ngrlcu-rnl ngrlcu-rnl lands near bt. George, Utah, as follows The owners of the lnnd In the southwestern south-western I art of the Meld commonly known as the lake bottom are ileserclng of ureal credit for their pluck In developing devel-oping and culthatlng thnt section The nil seems to hate been deposited from large ireshets of the rtter tt In of a loose, si out.) texture tt hen Its cuilUn-tlon cuilUn-tlon wss begun It was n lotel enticing pint of ground Hut Immediately after the water was put on the whole district hecime hoKg) The soil soured anl failed lo produce crors It wns found necessary neces-sary to dig large drains to cnrr the water off This has tettvred the condition of the I ind tei much unit now the major portion Is under cultivation The land silll however remains sour to some extent, ex-tent, and several of the owners have be-com be-com discouraged and are offering tn give their grounds nwnv It Is claimed by uome that the land ma) be made ft r-tlle r-tlle again by keeping the water entirety out of the district for a ear or two. to permit the (.round to dr out thoroughly and become sweetened Then, nfter U Is turned In again, It Is recommended that a nuantltj as smnil as possible be used nt leant fr a few acars, until the texture tex-ture of the svtt is changed through cultivation cul-tivation and deposit The writer hereof has made four Is-Its Is-Its to Washington fields and each time has been Impressed with the apparent excesslte use of Irrigating water on the bottom lands In this tlew such piactlcnl men as Hlshop James An-drus, An-drus, Isaac Macfarlane and Thorn is Juldoffit Oeorge hate concurred It Is this excessive uso of water that causes the soil to become "sour" Tho most rational treatment et tried for the reclamation of such soil Is tn use lets water and lo provide nn outlet for all excess of water by means of tile drainage N'ot only may tho boggj" places bo restored to utility, but the apots that ore killed out with alkali mat be made fertile by the use of the tiles for drainage Because of the alluvial nature of Urn soil, open ditches very soon 1111 up nnd also become clogHfd with rank growth of weeds nnd l,ras Moreoter the open ditches nre unsightly and a great nulfitnco when It comes to drltlng over tho fields The condition of the fields ns above noted calls for Intelligent and united action upon the part of the land-owners down there, looking to a s sterna-tlo sterna-tlo nnd scientific plan of drainage with tiles The expense of such drainage should not exceed S15 per acre, the greater portion of this sum being for labor which would be supplied by the owneis of the land To become con-tlnced con-tlnced of the feasibility of this method of tecl limine tho soil a trial plot of ten acres thoroughly dralntd tvlth tile would bo sufficient for the most In-crediilms In-crediilms If such trial vvcte made we are of the opinion that the entire field would be dr lined within two years anl that tlvu jiors from now tho Washington Washing-ton ftelda would be worth 200 per cent more than they nre today |