220 CROPS FOR ALKALI LAND 



Grapes, according to the California observations, are 

 the most resistant fruit which does well in many of the 

 alkali sections. They were found to grow well in soil 

 containing 2860 parts per million of total salts, 630 parts 

 per million of sodium carbonate, 770 parts per million of 

 sodium chloride, or 2550 parts per million of sodium 

 sulphate. 



Olives were unaffected in a soil containing 2520 parts 

 per million of total salts, 180 parts per million of sodium 

 carbonate, 420 parts per million of sodium chloride, or 

 1920 parts per million of sodium sulphate. 



Other fruits tolerated very small quantities of salts, so 

 small that even the mildest alkali land would cause trouble. 

 Orange, almond, fig, pear, and apple trees withstood be- 

 tween 1000 and 2000 parts per million most of which was 

 sodium sulphate, whereas the toxic limit for prune, peach, 

 apricot, lemon, and mulberry trees was below 800 parts 

 per million for this type of alkali. Hecke, De Greeff, 

 and Heime (n) found that apricot, peach, and similar 

 fruit trees did not suffer from gummosis when there was 

 salt in the soil about the trees. This would indicate that 

 small quantities of salt in the soil would be advantageous, 

 but the quantity could not be large enough to be called 

 alkali land without causing injury at least to the quality 

 of the fruit. 



Other trees tested by California experimenters and which 

 withstood over 1000 parts per million of total salts were 

 Kolreuteria 4600 parts per million, Oriental sycamore 

 2670 parts per million, and eucalyptus trees 2530 parts 

 per million. The former two trees withstood 620 and 200 

 parts per million of black alkali, respectively, and 790 

 and 1270 parts per million of sodium chloride, respectively. 

 Eucalyptus trees will withstand very large quantities of 



