A Soil Study : 
Part 1. The Crop Gpoom: SUGAR BEETS 
By william P. HEADDEN, A. M., Ph. D. 
Among the many questions arising in the practice of irrigation, 
is the one in regard to the prevention of tim alkalizing of low and 
poorly drained land. 
The accumulation of water may not be so rapid that the land 
becomes waterlogged, though this, in many instances, actually oc- 
curs ; yet the supply of water, laden with salts, dissolved out of the 
soil through which it has passed, is sufficient to cause, by its evap- 
oration, a deposition of large quantities of these salts on, and in, the 
upper portion of the soil. This concentration of the salts is not al- 
ways indicated by an effiorescence, though this frequently occurs. 
The condition upon which the poor drainage depends, is usu- 
ally the configuration of the surface, but the character of the land 
and of the strata underlying the soil contribute materially in bring- 
ing about this condition. 
The difficulty is met with, mostly in limited areas, it is true, 
but so frequently, and that in otherwise good land, that it becomes 
a question whether we caijiiot ameliorate it in some way. Perfect 
drainage would answer afl questions, but this is frequently difficult 
to obtain, or altogether impracticable. It is, however, not to be in- 
ferred that alkalized land is necessarily swampy land, or has such a 
supply of water that irrigation is unnecessary. Neither of these con- 
ditions obtain in general, or when they do, particularly the former. 
