1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



175 



' ' On the west side of the Jordan River 

 the earliest attempts at irrigation were 

 on the Jordan meadows, or river bottom 

 lands, the water supply being obtained 

 from the Jordan River by means of small 

 canals. Subsequently the Brighton and 

 North Point and the North Jordan ca- 

 nals were run upon the first terrace 

 above the river, and following these 

 were the South Jordan and the Utah and 

 Salt Lake canals on the second and third 

 benches, respectively. 



"As is frequently the case, the irriga- 

 tion on the benches caused an accumula- 

 tion of seepage and alkali on the river 

 bottom land, so that much of it has been 

 abandoned. The largest and most seri- 

 ously damaged area, however, is just 

 south of Twelfth Street road, and com- 

 prises a strip of land varying from half 

 a mile to a mile and a half in width, and 

 extending 10 miles west from the river. 

 Here the seepage and surplus waters 

 from the outer extremities of the Utah 

 and Salt Lake, the South Jordan, and 

 the North Jordan canals have collected 

 to an alarming extent. Indeed, the dam- 

 age has gone so far that a chain of lakes 

 has formed, presenting a water surface 

 of fully 1,000 acres. The area affected 

 is not less than 10 square miles. 



* * * * * * * 



' The seepage and waste waters from 

 the canals account in great measure for 

 the 10 square miles of good land which 

 has already been ruined by seepage and 

 alkali. It has been shown that the 

 water is of good quality, and the lands 

 of the upper benches are naturally free 

 from any great excess of alkali; but the 

 continual seepage from the canals during 

 the growing season for a great many 

 years has transported a quantity of salt 

 to the lower levels. 



' The application of water on the low- 

 lands west of Salt Lake City, where 

 there is a large amount of alkali in the 

 lower depths, has been attended with 

 very disastrous results to crops. The 

 salt has quickly risen to the surface and, 

 even where the surface foot was origi- 

 nally free from alkali, the crops have 

 been completely ruined in the course of 

 two or three years." 



In order to bring a matter of so much 

 importance to the attention of the farm- 



ers and the community at large, an ex- 

 periment to demonstrate the value of 

 drainage in alkali reclamation was 

 planned. In the carrying out of the 

 work the Utah Experiment Station en- 

 tered into cooperation with the Bureau 

 of Soils, and in 1902 a tract of 40 acres, 

 belonging to Mr. E. D. Swan, was se- 

 lected for the demonstration. This 

 tract lies 4 miles west of Salt Lake City, 

 about half way between the two rail- 

 roads running directly west from Salt 

 Lake City to Salt Air and to Garfield 

 Beach. The nearest railroad station is 

 Bueuavista, distant one-fourth of a mile 

 from the tract, on the San Pedro, Los 

 Angeles and Salt Lake Railway. 



The land, at the time work was com- 

 menced, was all strongly impregnated 

 with alkali salts, and had nothing grow- 

 ing upon it except a few alkali weeds, 

 the most prominent of which was grease- 

 wood. The land was considered value- 

 less by the farmers of the neighbor- 

 hood. 



The tract lies on the east side of Wil- 

 liams Lake, and at its highest point 

 has an elevation of about 8 feet above 

 the part of the lake bed adjacent to the 

 tract. The sketch map shows the plan 

 of the tract and the size, depth, and 

 distance apart of the draintile installed. 



The cost of this installation was as 

 follows : 



270 ft. io-in. tile, at |ioo per M ft. ... $27 oo 



300 ft. 8-in. tile, at $64 per M ft 19 20 



520 ft 6-in. tile, at $27.50 per M ft. . . 14 30 



6,580 ft. 4-in. tile, at $17 per M ft in 86 



2,890 ft. 3-in. tile, at $13 per M ft. ... 37 57 



Fittings 2 80 



Freight on 3 carloads, Ogden to Buena- 



vista 60 oo 



Cartage and scattering tile 17 50 



606 rods ditch, at 50 cents per rod.. . . 303 oo 



67 rods main ditch, at 54 cents per rod. 36 30 



673 rods covering with team 19 50 



150 feet outlet ditch (open) 6 oo 



One-fifth cost of tools 5 oo 



Total cost $660 03 



The average cost of the drainage sys- 

 tem completed was $16.50 per acre, and 

 it is believed that the drainage of larger 

 tracts could be accomplished at about 

 the same cost. Some of the stated items 

 of expense could be considerably re- 

 duced, but others would be greater. 

 For example, while it might be possible 



