910 
of alkali by flooding when no under 
drains are provided. This method can 
never give more than temporary relief 
and may do a great injury. It should al- 
ways be remembered that alkali is very 
soluble in water and that the first water 
which touches it will dissolve the salt. 
When flooding is resorted to the first wa- 
ter added sinks into the ground carrying 
the salts down with it. The more water that 
is added the deeper the alkali is taken 
and the farther away it is from the 
very water that is expected to remove it. 
The black stain that is seen in the water 
used for this purpose is not all alkali, but 
is largely humus and vegetable matter 
from the soil and should not be removed. 
Aside from removing some humus the al- 
ready high water table in the ground is 
raised and conditions will soon be worse 
than before. If, however, the land is 
provided with underdrains the water 
which sinks into the soil is taken up 
by them and carried away, taking with it 
the alkali. This then suggests a means 
of removing the surface alkali from a 
tract that is provided with underdrains. 
To remove the surface alkali from a 
tract provided with underdrainage it 
should be irrigated freely to carry the 
alkali down and cultivated so as to re- 
tard evaporation from the surface which 
prevents it from returning. If it is de- 
sired to raise a crop on this kind of land 
a crop should be chosen which requires 
considerable water and constant cultiva- 
tion. There are difficulties encountered 
in the installing of drains in volcanic 
ash soils that are not found in most hu- 
mid sections. This soil when saturated 
with water becomes very difficult to han- 
dle as it flows into the ditch or trench 
almost as fast as it can be dug out. It is 
quite often necessary to line the trench 
with sheeting before any work can be 
done in it. This is accomplished by dig- 
ging down to the surface of the semi- 
fluid soil and from there driving down 
sheet piling of either lumber or metal. 
These must be made very tight and 
driven from two to five feet below grade. 
It is nearly always necessary to construct 
some kind of a box or flume in the bottom 
of open ditches which are constructed in 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
this soft material. After a drain has 
been in place for a time the soil becomes 
settled and the drain can be deepened or 
the box removed. 
On account of the fineness of the soil 
it is best never to use tile of less diameter 
than four inches, and six is often better. 
The soil entering a three-inch tile will 
soon fill it up, while the larger sizes can 
be cleansed by flushing. The small sizes 
are much more likely to be displaced 
than the larger and their efficiency de- 
creased. 
In summing up the drainage situation 
in irrigated sections the secret is to know 
your conditions and then proceed with a 
definite knowledge of what is going to 
happen. In this way costly failures may 
be avoided and successful systems in- 
stalled. 
DrRopPine or FRUITS. 
Setting and Dropping. 
Drought 
Curious Benefits 
Drought is dreaded by farmers and 
gardeners because it injures grass and 
grain, fruits and flowers; but scientific 
observers testify that it brings, as a com- 
pensation, subtle gifts which enrich the 
soil and increase future crops. 
Nature has stored in the earth a rich 
supply of phosphates, silicates, carbonates 
and other chemical salts essential to vege- 
table life. Those on the surface of the 
ground are soon exhausted, and the large 
supply at greater depths is often un- 
reached by subsoil plowing. 
But a drought is nature’s subsoil plow 
to bring up the rich nutriment below. 
When the surface is parched, the sun 
draws moisture from the deeper soil, and 
this moisture brings with it, in solution, 
salts of lime and magnesia, of potash and 
soda. The moisture evaporates, but leaves 
the salts for the use of plants and grain. 
Drought, therefore, does a double work. 
It parches the surface and lessens the 
present crop. It forces up rich nutriment 
from the deeper soil and enlarges future 
crops. 
Drought in Middle West 
In the Middle West perhaps no one 
thing causes greater loss to the fruit 
See under Fruits, 
