SOILS IN THE SALTON BASIN. 107 



TABLE 38. Areas of different soils Mirwyed in the Salton Basin around Imperial, Cal. 



The alkali content of the surveyed land is shown in Table 39. 



TABLE 39. Alkali content of soils surveyed in Salton Basin around Imperial, Cal. 



Dunesand consists of reddish-brown sand, rather rotten, and often 

 mixed with small particles of flocculated soil. It is blown by the wind 

 into small dunes, usually crescent-shaped and 2 to 10 feet high. The 

 dunes are underlain by the heavier soils of the basin. This soil is 

 mostly free from alkali, but the land is not now occupied for agricul- 

 tural purposes because of the heavy expense necessary to level it to ren- 

 der it fit for irrigation. This expense is variously estimated at from 

 $20 to $30 an acre, and in view of the preference of the date palm for 

 sandy soils, it may prove in future a profitable investment to level 

 such land and plant it to the choice varieties of date palms. This dune- 

 sand area, as may be seen from the maps, is of considerable extent. 



The small area of level Imperial sand is also free from harmful 

 quantities of alkali and would be very useful for date culture. The 

 anlount of such land is small, however, and it will probably be used 

 for truck crops sensitive to alkali. 



The Imperial sandy loam soil is formed by the coarsest particles of the Colorado 

 River deposit mixed with wind-blown sand. The sandy loam extends to a depth of 

 3 feet and is underlain by a loam or heavy loam. This soil will take water readily, and 

 where level and free from alkali is adapted to cultivated crops or alfalfa. Some of 

 the best and some of the worst lands of the valley are composed of this type. 



The Imperial sandy loam occupies over one-fifth of the surveyed 

 area in the Salton Basin and is probably the soil on which the date 

 palm will succeed best, as it is on such land that it grows best in the 

 Sahara. 



Means and Holmes. Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils, U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, 1901, p. 594. 



