150 PRINCIPLES OF RURAL ECONOMICS 



But after all is done that we can at present hope for, there will 

 doubtless remain considerable tracts of land which can only be 

 regarded as waste. It will be pastured, much of it, it is true, 

 but even as pastures a great deal of it is so poor as to be 

 practically worthless. 



Bad chemical conditions. The problem of reclaiming lands 

 which are now going to waste because of bad chemical condi- 

 tions is one which requires a degree of expert technical knowl- 

 edge, which is, unfortunately, very rare as yet. Unlike the 

 reclamation of dry or wet lands, which sometimes requires irri- 

 gation or drainage works on too large a scale for individual 

 enterprise to undertake, the reclamation of these lands does 

 not call for state or national enterprise except perhaps in the 

 experimental stage. When it is once learned by scientific study 

 and experiment how to treat such soils, private individuals and 

 companies are quite as competent to handle the business ques- 

 tions involved as is the state or the nation. Consequently this 

 is a problem for the soil expert rather than for the economist. 



Alkali land. The most conspicuous type of land now going 

 to waste because of bad chemical conditions, both in this country 

 and over the rest of the world, is that which is commonly known 

 as alkali land. These lands are usually found in regions of 

 slight rainfall, where there is very little surplus water to be car- 

 ried away in streams, but where the greater part of it is carried 

 away by evaporation. Where there is an abundant rainfall and, 

 as a consequence, a multitude of streams, the alkali salts are 

 leached out of the soil and carried to the ocean, where they con- 

 tribute to the saltness of the water. But where the rainfall is 

 slight and most of the water is carried away by evaporation, 

 these salts remain in the soil. Even here, however, the high, 

 the sloping, and the well-drained land is usually found free 

 from alkali, because even the slight rainfall leaches it out of 

 the soil and carries it away, sometimes, however, only to the 



