— 5 — 
The soil varies from a loam, with some gravel, and having a 
clayey and somewhat calcareous subsoil, to a fine alluvium, which 
owes its origin partly to the washings from the immediately sur- 
rounding country, and partly to the action of former water courses. 
It can scarcely be said that there is a true hardpan underlying our 
experimental plot; but the whole soil, to a depth of five and a half 
feet, is very retentive of water, and there is a stratum of clay imme- 
diately above the gravel, which is quite as efficient in preventing a 
free passage of the water into the ground flow as a hardpan would 
be. The gravel below the clay is filled with water, and I believe that 
the ground water from the higher land to the west finds its way 
through this to the river. 
The water' in the alkalized basin and in the gravel stratum are 
quite independent of one another, so far as I have been able to dis- 
cover by sinking holes or wells through the soil into the gravel and 
examining the water. Subsequent study may disprove tliis, but up 
to the present I have no reason to doubt it. 
Portions of this plot are so rich in soluble salts that incrusta- 
tions one-half inch in thickness form on the surface of the soil after 
irrigation, or other favorable conditions. Such are the general con- 
ditions of the soil in which I endeavored to grow a crop, in order to 
stud v, first, theetfects of these conditions upon the crop, and, second, 
the efiects of the cultivation and crop upon the soil. 
It is my purpose to record, in this bulletin, the results obtained 
in regard to the first subject, reserving the further consideration of 
the second question for a future bulletin. 
Several considerations led me to choose the sugar beet as the 
crop to be studied in this experiment : The whole crop is usable ; 
the weight of the crop is fairly large ; its culture has been made fa- 
miliar to the public by numerous bulletins, and is commanding a 
large amount of public interest ; but the most important one was that 
the beet is more tolerant of alkali than most of our culture crops. I 
shall follow the developement of the plant and its sugar content, but 
this is not the chief object had in view. 
Directions for the cultivation of the crop form no part of my plan ; 
besides, they have been given in great fullness by many others. 
The first question which suggests itself in this study, is : What is the 
effect of the alkalies on the germination of the seed ? 
GERMINATION EXPERIMENTS. 
I had every reason to expect difficulty in getting a good, or in- 
deed, any stand at all in parts of the plot. The character of the soil 
and the experience of others justifie(l this expectation. As the gen- 
eral composition of our alkali had already been determined, a series- 
