THE ALKALI PROBLEM IN IRRIGATION. 



By Carl S. Scofield, 

 United States Department of Agriculture. 



[With 3 plates.] 



Soon after gold was discovered in California a large number of 

 Americans undertook to reach the new El Dorado by crossing what 

 was then known as the Great American Desert. The two or three 

 trails across this 2,000 miles of wilderness proved difficult enough 

 to try the endurance of the strongest. In the broad plains and 

 dry valleys the dust was annoying and the water was often scarce and 

 bad. These irritating and disappointing features of the region were 

 so important and so serious that they became widely known and the 

 word alkali soon came into general use to describe the dust and 

 water of the arid West. 



This word now passes current in our literature as applying gen- 

 erally to the salts that are often found in abundance in arid lands. 

 While the major portion of these salts are not really alkaline in 

 reaction the term is so well known and so widely used that we must 

 recognize its validity. 



Following the rush of gold seekers to California, pioneers began 

 to settle in the desert and to practice irrigation. For them the word 

 alkali came to have a special interest and significance. Some of the 

 water that was used for irrigation proved to be detrimental rather 

 than helpful to their crops and the land upon which such water 

 had been used soon became unfit for crop production, even when 

 better water was substituted. Thus in the progress of time, and 

 with improved methods of transportation, alkali dust and water be- 

 came less of a problem to the traveler but remained a problem to the 

 desert farmer. 



Save in a few exceptional localities, alkali is now or is likely to 

 become a serious problem wherever irrigation is practiced. It has 

 been the primary cause of the abandonment of large areas of irri- 

 gated land both in this country and in the Old World. The inju- 

 rious effects of alkali are manifested in several different ways and 

 101257—22 15 213 



