220 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



(Continued from page 208.) 



up the uniform capillary spaces in the soil and preventing 

 the rise of the water from the subsoil to the surface, and 

 that of covering the ground with a layer of dry soil, or a 

 mulch, that prevents evaporation. Indeed, there are cases 

 where frequent cultivation, or stirring up of the soil, have 

 reduced the accumulations of agali to one-third the amount 

 on uncultivated land. As to its preventing evaporation, every 

 farmer is too well acquainted with the effect of cultivation 

 as a conservative of the moisture in the soil not to know 

 this thoroughly. 



The incorporation of organic matter in the soil, such as 

 stable manure, leaves, straw, plowing under a crop of weeds, 

 or green manure, tends to break up the capillary pores in 

 the soil and retard the upward movement of the subsoil 

 water. But this retarding process is much greater if this 

 organic matter is spread over the ground in a uniform layer 

 or mulch. This method alone has saved many an orchard 

 when an adjoining one in the same kind of soil was perish- 

 ing from an excess of alkali. 



It should not be forgotten that it is water that disolves 

 the alkalis, not moisture. For which reason the water in the 

 subsoid must be kept below the surface at least three, four, 

 five and six feet, according to the soil and the crops. It is 

 the standing water below the surface which soaks up the 

 salts, and they must be drained away until the water table 

 will not send up water, but moisture only, a sort of subsoil 

 evaporation, to coin an expression, the water coming up as 

 wet vapor, or merely wetness, leaving its salts behind, they 

 being unable to follow unless held in solution. 



As soon as water from rain or irrigation begins to fill 

 the soil, the standing water below with its alkalis in solution 

 commences to rise, but by keeping this subsoil water at a 

 depth of fie or six feet, and thus allowing an easy movement 

 of moisture through the land, the work of reclamation is 

 easily attained. Here is where the rotation of crops may be 

 called upon to aid. The farmer has been growing wheat, 

 barley, small fruits, corn, etc., and the soil has become so 

 impregnated with alkali as to prevent the growth of any more 

 similar crops. Now when he is leaching the alkalis out of the 

 soil he plants gross feeders, plants that have an affinity for 

 alkali. Sorghum and sugar beets are recommenede for 

 correctives of alkali soils, but there are many other plants 

 that may be used for the same purpose, such as asparagus, 

 onions, sweet clover, and among fruits, pears, figs, pomegran- 

 ates and date palms, all of which withstand the atcion of 

 alkalis which would kill cereals and small fruits. 



The reason is that all sugar-producing plants require 

 large quantities ;of alkali, particularly the carbonates, for 

 starch is produced by the decomposition of carbonic acid, 

 which the plant breathes in through its leaves, and takes up 

 from the soil through its roots. Now, taking the carbon 

 out of the alkalis renders them innocous, just the same as 

 does vinegar or acetic acid, which is also always forming in 

 plants that produce sugar. Not to be misunderstood, it may 

 be well to say here that this starch is transformed into 

 sugar, woody fiber and cellular tissue. When it comes to 

 raising 20 to 40 tons of sugar beets per acre, carrying 17 to 

 22 per cent of sugar, and reflect that 100 parts of the green 

 syrup of sugar beets carbonated show 9.18 per cent of alkali 

 ashes, and that the leaves and root fibers will show nearly 

 as much more, it is a simple sum in arithmetic to demon- 

 strate that it will not take many such crops to remove the 

 alkalis, and make it necessary to add more voluntarily as a 

 fertilizer. Indeed, in non-alkali soils it is' necessary to add 

 alkalis as fertilizers in cultivating beets. Within two or three 

 years the alkali-devouring plants will have removed so much 

 of the alkali from the soil that barley and wheat can be 

 introduced, and afterward a good stand of alfalfa secured. 

 All of these attempts at reclamation are, in the opinion 

 of the author, equivalent to a rotation of crops, since they 

 benefit and strengthen the soil by taking away elements that 

 certain plants do not require, as well as add those which they 

 need. 



The following generel rules to follow in reclaiming alkali 

 soil may be considered as a recapitulation of what has been 

 said in this chapter, and in all the authorities on the subject : 



First Insure good and rapid drainage to a depth of 

 three or four feet, in which case flooding the land with water 

 is a simple and sure method of washing out the alkali. 



Second Plow deep; say twelve inches. 



Third Furrow land and plant sorghum in the bottom 

 of the furrows-. Irrigate heavily, and gradually cultivate 

 down the ridges to uniformity. 



Fourth After two years in sorghum (or sugar beets, 

 etc.) deeply plowed each year and cultivated frequently 

 plant barley. Have the surface of the ground well leveled, 

 and flood heavily before planting. 



Fifth Seed to any desired crop, for if the land is at 

 all porous a stand of any ordinary crop can be secured, 

 except in the worst spots. 



What has been said with reference to the black and white 

 alkalis, is applicable to the other alkali salts, the chlorides 

 (common salt, etc.), nitrates, muriates, etc., most of which 

 are beneficial and necessary to plants in reasonable quantities, 

 but deleterious and destructive in excess, but, we repeat, 

 not so dangerous as the sodas. 



The processes of chemical transformations are always 

 going on in nature, and every soil, together with the plants 

 or crops growing upon it, constitute a vast laboratory, 

 in which materials of an almost infinite variety are in a 

 constant state of manufacture, and by acquiring even a super- 

 ficial knowledge of what nature is doing and trying to do, 

 man will be better able to divert nature in his direction to his 

 profit. Nature is perfectly willing that this should be 

 done, and if she is diverted from her purposes and does 

 too much or too little, it is because the man behind the 

 plow is looking the other way. 



Adobe soils and the hardpans have been reserved for 

 another chapter, as having a closer relation to drainage, 

 water, and cultivation, than to arid lands. Adobe is a peculiar 

 kind of clay of several varieties, and the hardpans, though 

 sometimes arable, in general resemble the cement plaster 

 which has been found unimpaired in the pyramids and tem- 

 ples of Egypt after thousands of years' exposure to the 

 elements. 



It is reasonable to suppose that plants which will grow 

 in heavily charged alkali soils, do so because they have an 

 affinity for the alkaline salts, and take up large quantities 

 of them. Whence it is clear that, by continually growing, 

 cutting and removing this "alkali vegetation," the excess 

 salts in the soil will be gradually eliminated, and thus 

 the soil be fitted for the growth of other desired plants. This 

 is the law and the gospel in the case of the commonly known 

 "salt meadows," of which there are estimated to be in the 

 United States over one hundred thousand square miles. 

 The attempt to reclaim these lands in this manner has proved 

 successful in Germany and Holland, and has passed beyond 

 the mere experimental stage in the United States. Where- 

 fore the query: Is not the same law applicable to the 

 overcharged alkali lands of the arid and semi-arid regions? 



FARM LEVEL. 



Among the minor equipment of the up-to-date farm are 

 many comparatively inexpensive tools which are fully as 

 necessary as the larger and more extensive implements. In 

 fact, it often happens that to the intelligent use of the 

 smaller tools in economizing in the way of labor and repairing 

 expense, the farmer is enabled to materially increase his 

 annual income. A very desirable and useful tool which is not 

 found on all farms is a level. Such an instrument often 

 comes in very handy and in many cases is a necessity if the 

 work in hand is to be properly done. In ditching some kind 

 of level must be used. Going "by guess" will never assure 

 the proper working of a land drain. Many a farmer who has 

 tried to get along without a good level because of a trifling 

 expense or trouble in procuring such an instrument has learned 

 this to his sorrow. 



With a reliable level the matter of proper drain construc- 

 tion becomes a very simple operation. One is assured at the 

 start that the grade desired will be had and there is no chance 

 of future trouble in its working properly. And it has very 

 many practical applications. In fact, its uses are so varied 

 and at the same time so important that even the farmer who 

 has no ditching to do cannot afford to be without one. They 

 are often wanted in extending a water pipe, locating a tank, 

 providing for surface drainage, land grading, laying cement 

 floors, stable gutters, yard paving, and constructing walks 

 and drives. It offers quick and reliable service in laying 

 out lands, dividing and measuring fields, and many other 

 little jobs about the farm. 



A good farm level costs little compared with its worth 

 and usefulness. Frequently it will pay for itself in one 

 using, as it admits of economy in both labor and time and 

 may save additional expense in providing the assurance that 

 the work will not have to be done over again. 



