REPORT OF THE CHEMIST 157 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



The results of the chemical analysis furnish satisfactory evidence that the reason 

 for the unproductiveness of this area is not to be found in any deficiency of the more 

 important constituents of plant food. Indeed, in certain particulars — and more espe- 

 cially as regards nitrogen — this soil must be judged as one decidedly above the average 

 and one which under favourable climatic conditions should prove most profitable 

 under cultivation. The high lime-content is worthy of remark; it is a characteristic 

 of soils of semi-arid areas, and may be considered as indicative of productiveness. 



The explanation of the trouble was readily apparent when a search for deleterious 

 salts was made. In all three of the samples, and more especially in No. .3, consider- 

 able amounts of sulphate of soda,, sulphate of magnesia, chloride of soda and other 

 salts which might be included in the group forming white alkali, were found, and in 

 No. 1 a certain small amount of the more injurious carbonate of soda was also present. 



Winona, Ont. — This is a rather remarkable instance of the occurrence of alkali. 

 It is most unusual in eastern Canada, as indeed in humid districts, to find an arable 

 soil saturated with saline matter; the constant rainfall preventing any such accumu- 

 lation. In a letter accompanying the sample, which, as we shall see, was heavily 

 impregnated with alkali, our correspondent says : ' There are here (Winona, Ont.) 

 about six (6) square yards of land which every spring become encrusted with white 

 alkali (?). It is grape land and this is the second year that I have planted vines on 

 the spot and they have died; they grow for a while — during cultivation — and seem 

 to do well, but subsequently die. This must surely be due to a salt or soluble mineral 

 matter in the soil. We are about thirteen (13) rods from the lake shore. What can 

 be done towards reclaiming the land ? ' 



Upon analysis the air-dried soil was found to contain the following amount of 

 saline material : — 



Per cent. 



Sodium chloride (common salt) -29 



Calcium sulphate (sulphate of lime) -25 



Magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) -61 



Undoubtedly the sulphate of magnesia is here the compound most harmful to 

 vegetation; the common salt and sulphate of lime in the above proportions cannot be 

 considered injurious — indeed both substances are used to a certain extent as fertiliz- 

 ing materials. Of course the surface soil after a period of drought, during which 

 cultivation had not been practiced, might contain much larger amounts of these 

 chemicals than we found and, hence, the injury to vegetation greater than that which 

 might be predicted from the present results. 



If the affected area could be thoroughly drained and the soil then leached, further 

 accumulation of saline matter might be prevented. Provided the salts are being con- 

 stantly supplied by a subterranean source or spring, drainage suggests itself as the 

 most effective method for preventing saturation of the soil. Frequent cultivation will 

 of course be necessary in checking surface evaporation and jjreventing the rise of the 

 alkali. The various means that may be adopted in the reclamation of alkali soils — 

 drainage, leaching, cultivation, application of farmyard manure, &c. — have been fully 

 discussed in Bulletin 4, Series II, Experimental Farm, Ottawa, in which publication 

 we have also considered the more common forms of alkali found and their specific 

 treatment, and enumerated the crops most resistant to alkali. This bulletin should be 

 read by those who have alkali lands to reclaim. 



THE NITROGEN-ENRI0HMENT OF SOILS THROUGH THE GROWTH OP LEGUMES. 



In the report of this Division for 1905 we gave an account of certain experiments 

 that we had instituted in 1902 to ascertain the amount of nitrogen that could be added 

 to and become part and parcel of the soil through the growth and turning under of 



