228 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



of the movement of alkali under irrigation in a soil of this quality 

 would be very advantageous in furnishing reliable information upon 

 which to base recommendations fot further projects of this character. 

 Accordingly two plots were chosen about 50 feet apart upon the 

 C.P.R. Demonstration Farm at Tilley from which two groups of 

 samples M-ere collected and analysed, each group consisting of four 

 members representative of the following depths: "A" O'.O — 0'.5; "B" 

 0'.5-l'.5; "C" l'.5-3'.0; "D" 3'.0-5'.0. Similar groups from 

 these plots have been taken and examined annually since that date. 



The Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada for 1921 

 contain a report of the first five years' investigations. The present 

 paper records the results of last year's investigations, (1921) and in 

 order more closely to correlate the physical and chemical properties 

 the results of a complete mechanical analysis of these two groups 

 of soil have been incorporated. 



Irrigation water was applied for the first time in 1915. Hence 

 the following results of analyses indicate the position and nature of 

 the saline content to a depth of 5 feet during the seven seasons of 

 the investigation. The water applied has been approximately 1| 

 acre feet annually. 



The mechanical composition of this soil is fairly uniform to the 

 depth sampled. The soil consists chiefîy of silt and clay in almost 

 equal amounts, the proportion of coarser soil particles present is 

 very small, consequently the soil is stifï and highly impervious and 

 it is to be expected that soil water would move very slowly through 

 it. Evaporation at the surface, it might be argued, would have but 

 little effect upon the upward movement of the moisture of the sub- 

 soil of this type compared with its effect upon a subsoil of a more 

 porous character, and it might be found that judicious irrigation, 

 accompanied by efficient surface drainage could be safely practised, 

 even though the subsoil is heavily impregnated with alkali. Fortun- 

 ately for the future of this area the results of analysis of the water- 

 soluble content of the soil made each successive year have shown 

 that the irrigation water has not materially affected the location 

 of the alkali. On comparing the different columns of Table I. and 

 more particularly the results for Group No. 1585 A and B and 1747 

 A and B — it will be evident that practically no change has taken 

 place in the nature or position of the small quantities of saline matter 

 present. At the end of seven years, irrigation has lowered rather than 

 raised the saline matter of the chief root feeding zone — ^the first foot 

 and a half of soil. 



