ANALYSES OF WELL, SPRING, MINERAL AND ARTESIAN WATERS. 107 
of saline matter. Horses and cattle will drink from five (5) to 
twelve (12) gallons a day, sheep from one (1) to two (2) gallons 
a day. 
“Drovers could be cautioned at saline drinking places of the 
danger of permitting stock to drink too freely, until they have 
been accustomed to the medicinal properties of the water.” 
(Signed) Epwarp Stan ey, Govt. Veterinarian. 
Value of water for Irrigating purposes. 
The value of a water for irrigation purposes depends not simply 
on the nutrient matters in solution, but the sediment in suspension 
must also be taken into account. The ingredients contained in 
water and valuable for this purpose are mainly the nitrogen, 
potash, and phosphoric acid. Large quantities of alkaline salts 
excite a serious influence on the soil, and injure all useful vegeta- 
tion, their action being a corrosive one; chiefly upon the root 
crowns and upper roots of plants. The alkaline carbonates, (car- 
bonates of aoda and potash) damage the soil if present in excessive 
quantities, by the dissolution of the humus, which is often shown 
by the dark colour of the water and the black rings left were such 
waters have evaporated. This can to some extent be remedied 
when the salts consist chiefly of carbonate of soda, by the addition 
of small quantities of gypsum (plaster of Paris) to the soil prior 
to leaching, which renders the humus soluble again, and thus 
prevents waste. The neutral salts 7z.e., chloride of sodium (com- 
mon salt), sulphate of soda (Glauber’s salts), sulphate of potash, 
etc., are only injurious when present in large quantities, and relief 
can only be obtained by washing them out of the soil by under 
drainage, ete. 
“ According to (A. Stood, Chem. Journ. Aug. 1889) water con- 
taining more than one gramme of common salt per one thousand 
damages vegetation, and even if the amount be only 0°5 grammes 
per 1000, the germination of seeds is destroyed (383%). A further 
action which is also detrimental to plant growth is that by the 
reaction of zeolites, tricalecic phosphate, etc. with chloride of 
sodium, the valuable constituents are rendered soluble and washed 
