WATER SOILS, 3l7 



The climate of our new possessions, G. MiciiAi'i) (Sci. Anwr., S-i (1900), N^o. 

 11, j>. 171, (hiin.^. J). 



Frost protection, W. JM. Fi'lton ( D'niicsxcr Shi. linl. Vol. XIII, Ni>. 1 , ]>p. 3~12, fi(js. 

 5). — A pojiular discussion of how frost is formed and when toexpect it, and adescrip- 

 tion of various methods of protection from frost. 



Protection from lig-htning, J. B. Reynolds [Ontario Ayr. Col. aitd Ilrpt. Farm 

 Rpt. 1809, pp. 27, 28). — Statistics of destruction of property and loss of hfe from 

 lightning during a storm in August, 1899, are briefly summarized, and means of pro- 

 tection are discussed. 



Observations on the determinations of droug-ht intensity, G. H. Knibbs 

 [lour, and Froc. Fuj/. Soc, Neiv South Wales, SS [1899), p}>. 69-85, fig. 1). — A discus- 

 sion of the conditions affecting soil moisture, rainfall, percolation, evaporation, etc. 



Sugg-estions for depicting- diag-rammatically the character of seasons as 

 regards rainfall, and especially that of droug-hts, II. Deane [lour, and Froc. 

 Roij. Soc, New South llafes, 3S [1899), pp. 63-68, pi. 1). — The author briefly describes 

 a diagram which shows not only the total yearly rainfall and its distribution by 

 months, but also " what portion of the rainfall runs off the ground or soaks away 

 and is available for storage and for keeping up the flow of rivers and streams." 



Combination of the effects of synodic and tropic revolutions of the moon, 

 its action on the movement of lows, A. Poincaee ( Cortipt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Fans, 

 131 [1900], No. 2, pp. 132-135. 



WATER— SOILS. 



The soils of Salt Lake Valley, Utah, F. D. Gtardner and J. 

 Stewart {U. S. Dept. A(/r., JJivlsion of fSoH.s (Jive If. ^ 2*1). 11). — 

 This is a preliniinaiy report on a survey undertaken in July, 1899, 

 by the Division of Soils, cooperating with the Utah Station, to map 

 the soils with particular reference to the extent of and damaoe from 

 alkali and seepage waters. 



A brief account is given of early irrigation in this region and of 

 recent irrigation improvements and the results of 1 months' study of 

 the region are briefly summarized under the following heads: Cli- 

 mate, water supply, soil, alkali, and drainage. 



A large portion of the area examined is unfit for cultivation on 

 account of excess of alkali salts. 



"Sodium chlorid, or the common salt of commerce, forms from 50 to 97 per cent 

 of the total salts present. Besides this, there are considerable quantities of the sul- 

 phates of soda, lime, and magnesia, chlorids of lime and magnesia, and also carbon- 

 ate of soda, or true black alkali. The black alkali is nearly always present in 

 amounts varying from a trace up to several per cent in small local spots. There is, 

 in the aggregate, a large area in which it occurs in sufficient (juantity (0.1 per cent) 

 to be fatal to crops. 



"It seems quite probable that this accumulation of salt came chiefly from two 

 sources, i. e., from the higher lands to the south and from the waters of Great Salt 

 Lake. It is most likely that the lake is the source of the greater portion of them, 

 for when it was from 30 to 50 ft. higher than now, it would have submerged nearly 

 all the area under consideration, and must have also contained nuich salt in solu- 

 tion. Upon the subsidence of the water the soil would, of course, be left heavily 

 impregnated with salts. Besides, within the memory of the present inhabitants. 



