ALKALI AND WATER LOGGED LANDS 27 



only necessary to provide ample underdrainage to a depth of six feet or 

 more and then leach out the salts by a liberal application of irrigation 

 water coupled to a vigorous cultivation of the soil. It is impossible to 

 wash the salts from the surface by flushing. They must be dissolved and 

 leached out into the underdrainage. 



The presence of the salts on the surface indicates that the ground 

 water is at such a height that plants would suffer even if there were no 

 salts present so underdrainage serves a double purpose. 



It behooves all citizens of this city and state to acquaint them- 

 selves with the needs and possibilities of drainage as a factor in agri- 

 cultural development. The farmer must understand the situation, 

 naturally, as he is directly in touch with it and there is no valley in the 

 state in which the problem of water-logging has not been encountered 

 and there are few individual farms that could not be improved by drain- 

 age. The banker should, by all means, understand the situation because 

 lands injured by an excess of water or alkaline salts generally have a 

 very low loan value when as a matter of fact most farms which are not 

 paying taxes can be improved at a cost of from $15 to $25 an acre and 

 be made to yield returns on -a valuation of from $100 to $200 per acre. 

 One of the greatest obstacles to drainage reclamation is the securing 

 of sufficient funds to effect the reclamation. Business men, professional 

 men, manufacturers, railroad heads and men in the building trades 

 should understand the situtation because the future of their business 

 in this section depends to a considerable extent upon this factor. This 

 is true not only because of the present status but because the problem 

 grows bigger as time goes on and each new irrigation development 

 brings with it an increase in the acreage demanding reclamation by 

 drainage. In fact all prudent irrigation companies make a compre- 

 hensive drainage system a vital part of their plans when they begin 

 a new irrigation project and it is usually safe to avoid projects that 

 advertise perfect natural drainage because this is only a relative term 

 which applies before irrigation water is put upon the land, but cannot 

 apply afterward. Even a "high gravelly bench does not have perfect 

 natural drainage as is witnessed by the fact that many such benches 

 require drainage. Investors are becoming inbued with a new wisdom 

 and their inquiry is not, "Is this soil well drained," but, "What pro- 

 visions are making for artificial drainage" and "What are the possi- 

 bilites of securng a satisfactory outlet for artificial drainage." There are 

 few lands so badly alkaline in this state that they cannot be brought back 

 to a high state of cultivation if proper methods are employed but it must 

 be remembered that thorough underdrainage is the fundamental basis 

 of all such reclamation work. A great deal of agitation is now going 

 on throughout the state, looking toward such reclamation, and this will 

 be followed by dishonest activities on the part of unscrupulous pro- 

 moters to foist worthless lands upon the unsuspecting. It should be re- 

 membered that thorough underdrainage is a vital necessity in lands that 

 are, have been or may become impregnated with alkaline salts. 



It is not the intention of this article to attempt an enumeration of 



