14 



CIRCULAR NO. 122, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



mental effect on the soil and on crops. The three conditions above 

 enumerated, namely, the general lack of vegetable matter in the soil, 

 the presence of harmful quantities of alkali salts, and the existence 

 of a high water table, determine the nature of most of tlie problems 

 of crop production on the j^roject. The investigations conducted at 

 the experiment farm have been concerned largely with these three 

 conditions. (Fig. 1.) 



One of the first requisites of successful crop production on the 

 project is to get the soil well supplied Avith vegetable matter, and the 





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L 



F 



o 



W 



TRUCKETE-CARSON CXPERIMENT FAR PI 



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Fio. 1. — Diagram of the Trufkee-Carson ExptTiiin'iit Farm, sliuwiiii;- the arrangcmi'iit of 

 the fiplds and the locatio!i of the crop experiments in 1!)1L'. 



most practical method of accomplishing this is to get a crop of alfalfa 

 established on the land. This has been one of the principal aims of 

 the work at the experiment farm. Numerous experiments have been 

 conducted with a view to reducing the salt content of the soil, and in 

 1912 a i^umping plant was installed for the purpose of lowering the 

 level of the ground water. 



The question of marketing crops is also an important one to the 

 farmers on the project. The local market demands are so limited 



It'ir. \22\ 



