344 



Journal of Agricultural Re^search 



Vol. X, No. 7 



sodium, 2.8 per cent is the bicarbonate of calcium, 3.2 per cent is the 

 chlorid of sodium. For convenience these results are brought together 

 in Table VII. 



Table VII. — Percentage composition of alkali obtained from shale, soil, and ash 



This characteristic niter spot is abundantly supplied with the sulphates 

 of calcium, magnesium, and sodium. The proportion of the bicarbon- 

 ate and magnesium sulphate varies but little. The chlorid and nitrate 

 increase from a small proportion in the shale to relatively large amounts 

 in the ash and alkali. The origin of the nitrate, as well as the other 

 salts in the clay, ash, and alkali, is definitely traceable to the alkali- 

 salt content preexisting in the shale itself. The color of the brown 

 alkali is due to the old organic matter of the shale, which in this case 

 lies immediately beneath economic coal deposits occurring in the shale. 



SOLUBLE SALTS IN TERTIARY SANDSTONE 



The samples of Tertiary sandstone collected represent widely separated 

 portions of the Tertiary deposits. Owing to the lack of material, not all 

 the samples reported in Utah Bulletin 134 (9) have been analyzed. The 

 Tertiary sandstone is not so rich in alkali salts as is the Cretaceous sand- 

 stone. The results for the four representative samples is recorded in 

 Table VIII as pounds per 2,000,000 of sandstone. There is less of all. 

 material in this sandstone except chlorin. 



Table VIII. — Soluble salts in the Tertiary sandstone 

 [Results expressed as pounds per 2,000,000 of material] 



Field No. 



273 



283 



312 



203 



Average 



Location of sample. 



Uinta Basin, Utah 

 Lyman, Wyo. . . . 



Utahn, Utah 



Millburn, Wyo 



Tertiary 



Calcium 



(Ca). 



,08s 

 ,042 

 410 



.532 



265 



Magne- 

 sium (Mg). 



1,223 



2,830 



760 



786 



I, 400 



Sulphuric 

 acid (SO3) 



4,543 

 4, 806 



395 

 1,415 



2,790 



Carbonic 

 acid(C03). 



760 



840 



800 



3,240 



I, 410 



Chlorin 



(Cl). 



851 

 3,403 

 Trace. 

 Do. 



I, 064 



There is only 0.5 per cent of soluble salts present in the sandstone, 

 which is about equally divided between the various salts of calcium and 



