QUATERNARY AGE. 



301 



from the Platte bottom, south of North Platte; the second from, 

 near old Fort Kearney, and the third two miles west of Lincoln: 



| No 1. I No. 2. No. 3. 



The specimens for analysis were not taken from soils crusted over 

 with alkaline matter, but from spots where the ground was covered 

 with a sparse vegetation. 



Many of the alkali lands seem to have originated from an accu- 

 mulation of water in low places, where there is an excess of alum- 

 ina in the soil or subsoil. The escape of the water by evaporation 

 left the saline matter behind, and, in the case of salt (sodium chlo- 

 ride), which all waters are known to contain in at least minute 

 quantities, the chlorine, by chemical reactions, separated from the 

 sodium; which latter, uniting immediately with oxygen and car- 

 bonic acid, formed the soda compounds. 



These alkali spots are often successfully cultivated. The first 

 steps toward their renovation must be drainage and deep cultiva- 

 tion. The next step is the consumption of the excess of alkali,, 

 which can be effected by crops of the cereal grains in wet seasons. 

 In such seasons these alkali lands, if deeply cultivated, often pro- 

 duce splendid crops of grain. Wheat is especially a great con- 

 sumer of the alkalies; and these being partly removed in this way, 

 and the remaining excess mingled with the deeply cultivated soil, 

 renders it, in many instances, in a few years capable of being used 

 for the other ordinary crops of Nebraska. Treated in this way, 

 these alkali lands often become the most valuable portions of the 

 farm. There are comparatively few alkali lands in the State that 

 cannot be reclaimed in this way. 



