THE WATER OF SOILS. 



231 



substrata, until finally it may come to within a few feet of, or 

 actually to the surface. 



Consequences of the Szvamping of Irrigated Lands. The 

 injurious consequences of this swamping of the irrigated lands 

 may readily be imagined. The first effect is usually noted in 

 the sickening or dying-out of orchards and vineyards, conse- 

 quent upon the submergence of the deeper roots, which in 

 such lands frequently reach to from fifteen to twenty feet be- 

 low the surface. But even where pre-existing plantations are 

 not in question, the shallowing of the soil- and subsoil-strata 

 from which the plants may draw their nourishment, consti- 

 tutes a most serious injury to the cultural value of the land. 

 It has become unsuited to deep-rooted crops; and where the 

 natural soil, alone, would have perpetuated fertility for many 

 years, fertilization becomes necessary within a short time. 

 The injury becomes doubly great when, as is frequently the 

 case, the rising bottom water brings up with it to the surface 

 soil the alkali salts which previously were distributed through- 

 out many feet of substrata, frequently rendering profitable 

 cultivation impossible where formerly the most luxuriant crops 

 were grown. 



Theoretically of course it is perfectly easy to avoid or rem- 

 edy these troubles. It is only necessary to render the ditches 

 water-tight by puddling with clay, cement, or otherwise. But 

 the heavy cost of this improvement forms a serious obstacle 

 to its adoption by the ditch companies who are not themselves 

 owners of land. Thus, extensive areas of lands which when 

 first irrigated were among the most productive, have in the 

 course of eight or ten years become almost valueless to their 

 owners, to whom legislation thus far affords but distant prom- 

 ise of relief; although the case seems in equity to fall clearly 

 within the limits of the laws governing trespass. 



Permanent Injury to Certain Lands. In cases like those al- 

 luded to the remedy usually available for higher ground-water 

 does not always afford relief, even when otherwise available. 

 Long-continued submergence produces in many soils effects 

 which cannot easily, if at all, be overcome by subsequent aera- 

 tion. This is most emphatically true of soils containing a 

 large proportion of ferric hydrate in the finely divided form 

 in which it is usually present in " red " soils. 



