270 



J. E. WEAVER 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXPERIMENTS IN THE SALT FLATS 



A part of the territory adjacent to Lincoln and several square 

 miles in extent is unique in that it is a salt desert, or at least 

 is covered with halophytic vegetation (fig. 1). Although the 

 origin of this salt basin has never been satisfactorily worked out 

 it is believed to be due to the settling of the area to a depth of a 

 few feet. The water of the salt lake originated from an artesian 

 well. Much of this basin is watered by salt springs. 



On a portion of these salt flats an area was selected which 

 showed distinct zonation from the bare alkali flat to rather 



Fig. 1. A general view of a portion of the salt desert near Lincoln. The 

 chief components of the vegetation are Dundia depressa and Atriplex hastata. 



typical upland prairie. These zones in the order of their 

 sequence are: (1) Dondia depressa, (2) Atriplex hastata with A. 

 argentea, (3) Distichlis spicata, and (4) prairie. These may be 

 seen in figure 2. Numerous soil samples were taken which 

 proved conclusively that the zonation was not caused by differ- 

 ences in soil moisture. Indeed, the prairie is only about two 

 feet higher than the bare area. A chemical analysis of the soil 

 in the several zones was then made. Samples were taken to a 

 depth of 8 inches soon after a rain had wet the soil to just that 



