AUGHET.] 



NEBRASKA — THE BAD LANDS. 



261 



examined they are found to vary a great deal in chemical constituents. 

 Generally, however, the alkali is largely composed of soda compounds, 

 with an occasional excess of lime and magnesia or potash. The follow- 

 ing analysis of these soils shows how variable they are. The first is 

 taken from the Platte bottom, south of North Platte ; the second from 

 near old Fort Kearney, and the third two miles west of Lincoln. 



Insoluble (siliceous) matter 



Ferric oxide 



Alumina 



Lime, carbonate 



Lime, phospbate 



Magnesia, carbonate 



Potash 



Soda, carbonate and bicarbonate 



Sodium, sulphate 



Moisture 



Organic matter , 



Loss in analysis 



74. 00 



3.80 



8.C8 



6.01 



1.70 



1.89 



1.68 



0.17 



.70 



.99 



1.20 



.78 



100. 00 



73.10 



3.73 



2.29 



4.29 



1.40 



1.29 



1.80 



7.33 



.89 



.98 



2.10 



.80 



73.90 

 3.69 

 2.10 

 3.90 

 1.49 

 1.47 

 3.69 

 4.91 

 .89 

 .98 

 2.10 



100. 00 



The specimens for analysis were not taken from soils crusted over 

 with alkaline matter, but from spots where the ground was covered 

 with a sparse vegetation . 



Many of the alkali lands seem to have originated from an accumu- 

 lation of water in low places, where there is an excess of alumina in 

 the soil or subsoil. The escape of the water by evaporation left the 

 saline matter behind, and, in the case of salt (sodium chloride), which 

 all waters are known to contain in at least minute quantities, the chlo- 

 rine, by chemical reactions, separated from the sodium ; which latter, 

 uniting immediately with oxygen and carbonic acid, formed the soda 

 compounds. 



These alkali spots are often successfully cultivated. The first steps 

 toward their renovation must be drainage and deep cultivation. The 

 next step is the consumption of the excess of alkali, which can be 

 effected by crops of the cereal grains in wet seasons. In such seasons 

 these alkali lands, if deeply cultivated, often produce splendid crops of 

 grain. Wheat is especially a great consumer of the alkalies ; and these 

 being partly removed in this way, and the remaining excess mingled 

 with the deeply- cultivated soil, renders it, in many instances, in a few 

 years capable of being used for the other ordinary crops of Nebraska. 

 Treated in this way, these alkali lands often become the most valuable 

 portions of the farm. There are comparatively few alkali lands in the 

 State that cannot be reclaimed in this way. 



THE BAD LANDS. 



The bad lands do not really belong to the surface-deposits, as they 

 constitute a peculiar formation, where most of the soil capable of being 

 cultivated has been removed by denudation. As they, however, comprise 

 nearly all that there is of the surface in a part of the northwest corner 

 of the State, they deserve mention in this place. They are mostly found 

 between Spoon Hill Creek and the Niobrara Eiver, and tbey extend 

 down from the White Eiver in Dakota Territory. They belong to what 

 Hayden calls the White Eiver group of Tertiary rocks. They are be- 

 lieved to be of Miocene age. This region has long been known as the 

 bad lands — mauvaises terres, or, in the Dakota language, ma-koo-si-tcka, 

 which means a difficult country to travel, because the surface is very 

 broken, and there is little, if any, good water, wood, or game.* The 



* Hayden United States Geological Survey, 1870. 



