Excessive 



Soils which contain as much as 2.5 per cent of alkah are regarded as 

 excessive, and will produce only a few useful plants. Chief among these 

 are native and foreign salt bushes, certain native grasses, notably salt 

 grass which offers a very inferior pasture. While sugar beets can be 

 grown in the presence of as much as 2.5 per cent of alkali, they are very 

 small, and the sugar content is low. 



Very Strong 



Soils which contain from 1 to 1.5 per cent are regarded fairly favor- 

 able for sugar beets, provided an abundance of organic matter is used 

 and a sufficient amount of water to keep the alkali in the deeper soils. 

 The date palm is the only fruit tree which is profitable on such a soil. 



Strong Alkali 



Such a soil contains about 1 per cent of salts. A fair crop of sugar 

 beets, western wheat grass, brome grass and tall meadow oat grass 

 can be grown. 



A Medium Strong Alkali 



containing not more than .8 per cent, will grow meadow and pasture 

 grasses, wheat grass, brome grass, rye grass, meadow fesene, sugar beets 

 and common fox-tail millet. It will also produce fair crops of rape, 

 kale and barley hay. 



A Medium Alkali 



which contains .6 per cent or less of salts, will grow millet, rape, red- 

 top, timothy, orchard grass, barley, rye and asparagus and fair crops of 

 milo, kaffir corn, wheat, oats, emmer, alfalfa, field peas, vetch and flax. 

 It is also very desirable for sugar beets. 



Weak Alkali 



containing .4 per cent or less of salts, will grow all kinds of truck, 

 rapes, sugar beets, alfalfa, etc. 



Seeding 



In view of the fact that water carries alkali down, seed should be 

 planted just after rains or after irrigating. If the farmer can secure a 

 quick tap root before the alkali reaches the surface, he is reasonably 

 sure of a good crop. The reason that alfalfa does so well in alkali soil is 

 because of its deep tap root which penetrates far below the alkali. In 

 irrigated sections, if the water contains a per cent of alkali, the farmer 

 should place underground tile for the purpose of carrying off the salts in 

 solution; otherwise, the accumulation will increase from year to year, 

 and, finally, the soil will be absolutely worthless. 



