THE) RAISIN INDUSTRY. 73 



or even ruinous to the crop. In clayey soils these alkalies cause the 

 clay to harden in such a way that no good tilth can be obtained. The 

 land may be plowed ever so much, it will only turn up in chunks and 

 never become properly pulverized. These true alkali salts consist 

 principally of carbonate of sodium (sal-soda) or of carbonate of potassium 

 (saleratus). Remedies: Gypsum, land-plaster or leaching with water. 



2d. A second class of alkalies are the sulphates and chlorides, all 

 soluble in water. Such salts are: Magnesium chloride (bittern), 

 magnesium sulphate (Epsom salt), calcium chloride, etc. These 

 salts, when not present in too large quantities, are easily counteracted 

 by lime. 



3d. A third class of alkalies is composed of neutral salts, such as 

 chloride of sodium (common salt), sulphate of sodium (Glauber salt), 

 sulphate of potassium, all soluble in water, but not convertible into 

 less injurious substances by lime or gypsum. These salts do not bake 

 the soil, but rather contribute towards keeping it loose and mellow. 



The remedies which are practical and not too expensive may be 

 divided into several classes, which, if used in combination, may prove 

 effective, while each one of them used separately would fail. 



i st. Leaching with water. All soluble salts may be leached with 

 water. The alkali land should be checked and so ditched that the 

 water from each check can be drained into a waste ditch. But, besides 

 these waste ditches, drain ditches should be made for the purpose of 

 draining off the water, say to a depth of four feet below the surface. 

 The 'modus operandi consists in first flooding the soil, and while the 

 check is yet full the floodgates are opened and the water drawn off into 

 the waste ditch, when the water will carry off the salts which have 

 been dissolved in it. A second or third flooding should be allowed to 

 settle in the soil and be drained off below into the drain ditches. The 

 drawback to common leaching is that under certain circumstances the 

 water may deposit its alkali in lower strata, especially if they are sandy, 

 and there form hardpan or alkali accumulations. A much better 

 method is under-drainage by means of pipes or gravel drains con- 

 structed all through the tract at certain regular distances. This under- 

 drainage, if properly constructed under conditions favorable for its 

 perfect working, is by far the best method of freeing alkali soils from 

 their superfluous salts. To what extent this system is practical depends 

 upon circumstances. To reclaim large districts by this method may 

 not prove economical as long as good land is plentiful and cheap, but 

 where smaller alkali tracts are surrounded by soil, and where it is of 

 importance to get a uniform plantation, under-drainage by pipes or 

 common drains is both the surest and most practical solution of the 

 alkali problem. Under-drainage is strongly recommended by Prof. E. W. 

 Hilgard, who has repeatedly pointed out its value, and who has called 

 the author's special attention to this as yet little understood remedy. 



2d. Deep and constant plowing. Deep and frequent plowing acts in 

 various ways. By being mixed with a larger quantity of soil, the 

 alkali is diluted sufficiently to not cause any serious injury to the crops, 

 the damage generally being done near the surface. Constant plowing 

 also prevents evaporation, which carries the alkali to the surface and 



