134 Agricultural Department. [Bulletin 121 



throughout the valley of the Kansas river and its tributaries consider- 

 able areas of land were left covered with white sand from a few inches 

 to several feet in depth. 



DEPOSITS OF MUD. Over large areas which were covered with 

 backwater or where the current was slight there was left more or less 

 of a deposit of mud. The covering of mud served to destroy crops 

 which otherwise might have escaped destruction by the water alone, 

 and often because of the sediment or the slow draining and drying of 

 the soil some fields could not be replanted last season. Plate II is 

 an example of such a field upon which a corn crop was destroyed, 

 while plate III shows an alfalfa field which received a deposit of mud 

 from three to twelve inches in depth. The photographs from which 

 these cuts were made were taken July 15, forty days after the waters 

 had receded ; yet at this time the land was too wet in many places to 

 drive a team over without miring. 



Aside from making more certain the destruction of the crops and 

 perhaps throwing the fields out of . use for the season, the deposits of 

 mud are likely to prove beneficial to the land by increasing the fer- 

 tility and improving the texture of the soil. Where a thick mud cov- 

 ering has been made the land should be plowed deeply, so as to mix 

 the old soil with the new soil and bring some of the old soil up to the 

 surface. The soil bacteria which are considered so essential in fertile 

 soil because of their action in making plant-food available are likely 

 to be more or less lacking in this new deposit, and thus the mixing 

 of the new and the old soil is essential in order to spread them.; also, 

 the deep plowing and mixing of the sediment with the coarser soil 

 will tend to improve the texture or physical condition of the soil. 



DROWNED LANDS. On low lands and on poorly drained fields stag- 

 nant water remained for weeks and even months during the hot 

 summer weather. As these lands are drained and brought under cul- 

 tivation again the soil will perhaps not produce well for several years. 

 Some of the soluble plant-food has been leached out of these lands. 

 The soil has been settled and puddled, so that it will take some time, 

 assisted by good tillage to reestablish a proper physical condition and 

 good tilth. The bacteria in these soils have perhaps been largely 

 destroyed by the long continued flooding, literally drowned out, and 

 it may be several years before they again multiply in such numbers 

 as to maintain the supply of available fertility necessary for a pro- 

 ductive soil. A good way to treat such land will be to seed it to grass. 

 The land should be thoroughly drained at once, -if this has not been 

 done already. As soon as the surface is in a fit condition disk or plow 

 shallow ; later, when the land has become drier, plow deep and leave the 



