ALKALI LANDS AND THEIR RECLAMATION 289 



leaching let us consider briefly the work on a 40-acre tract reclaimed 

 near Salt Lake City. The soil was badly affected by alkali, there 

 being from 2.5 to 5 per cent to a deptli of four feet. The salts 

 were principally sodium chlorid and sodium sulfate, and since 0.25 

 per cent of the former and 0.5 per cent of the latter represent the 

 upper limit of resistance of most farm crops it will be seen that the 

 land was worthless. 



The work began in 1902, the Bureau of Soils and Utah Station 

 cooperating. 5 A system of underdrainage was installed, the laterals 

 being three-inch and four-inch tiles, 150 feet apart and placed four 

 feet deep. The soil was a sandy and silty loam from 12 to 18 



- 



Fio. 132. Wheat on rerlnimod alkali land nonr Fresno, Cal. Tlrolnimpd by one year of 

 flooding with underdrainage. (U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



inches deep; the underlying material varied from heavy loam to 

 clay. The total volume of water used in flooding was 17,8!)(!,K(>(i 

 cubic feet or 10.2 feet deep over the 40 acres. The total salts re- 

 moved in the 8,775,040 cubic feet of drainage water was 1 0,(>3 \. 000 

 pounds of 5317 tons, or about one and one-fourth pounds per < ubic 

 foot of water. The amount of alkali in the soil at the beginning 

 was 0051 tons. About HO per cent was removed. 



The cost of installing the drainage system was .$!(>. 50 per acre. 



A 20-acre tract at Fresno, California, was reclaimed in a similar 



way, the cost of installing the drainage system being the same as 



for the Utah area (Fig. 132). Tin's land bad been purchased for 



$350 per acre and was abandoned 10 years after its purchase. 



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