VOL. L. NO. 2148. NEW YORK, MARCH 28, i89i. pr ££'per “KiT 8, 
ARTESIAN WELLS FOR IRRIGATING. 
T Fig. 85 is shown a photo-engraving of the first 
artesian well sunk for irrigation, in this part of 
the State. The first artesian well around here 
was sunk by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Rail¬ 
road Company, in Aberdeen, in 1881-2. It is something 
like 970 to 980 feet in depth, the pipe is six inches in 
diameter and the pressure 150 pounds per square inch. 
In 1883, the City of Aberdeen finished one well for supply¬ 
ing the town with water. It is 986 feet in depth and there 
is a pressure of 150 pounds and upward to the square inch 
in a pipe six inches in diameter. In 1888 the city dug a 
second well for furnishing motive power for sewer pumps, 
and is at present engaged in sinking a third, all three to 
be connected with the water mains in the streets, of which 
there are several miles. 
The well of which I send a view was commenced in July, 
and the first part of October it had reached a depth of 1,030 
feet. The pipe is six 
inches and the pres¬ 
sure about 150 pounds 
to the square inch. 
It is located about 
two miles east of 
Aberdeen. From it 
the owner expects to 
irrigate his farm of 
800 acres. The advo¬ 
cates of artesian wells 
claim that we get 
rain enough here dur¬ 
ing the growing 
period to develop a 
good crop, if the 
ground is moist 
enough in the spring 
to give the plants a 
good start. Some of 
the fields on the above 
farm were flooded to 
such an extent last 
fall that a team could 
not venture on them. 
Several parties are 
reported to be at work 
throughout the coun¬ 
try at present, sink¬ 
ing wells for the same 
purpose. They expect 
to have them ready 
before spring. 
E. C. 
Aberdeen, S. D. 
R. N.-Y.—A com¬ 
pany has been organ¬ 
ized to continue the 
work of sinking arte¬ 
sian wells for irrigat¬ 
ing purposes, and the 
outlook seems good 
for success. The sup¬ 
ply of water appears 
permanent and boun¬ 
tiful, and if half the 
expectations of the 
people be realized a 
new era will dawn upon Dakota. Already a number 
of farms, level and well located, are watered by means of 
artesian wells, and give excellent results. Of course, 
all farms cannot be irrigated. A farm must be smooth 
and with a gentle slope, with the water at the highest 
point in order to give the best results; still there are 
many such that could be made very productive with 
abundant water. Water will not run up hill in Dakota or 
anywhere else, and there will doubtless be many disap¬ 
pointed men who may try to irrigate rolling or rough 
farms. It will not do to be carried away by the glowing 
predictions of those who want to sink artesian wells, but at 
the same time there can be no doubt that for some parts 
of Dakota this plan of irrigation will prove a great blessing. 
The ancient Carthaginians, and some of the other most 
civilized races of northern Africa, made extensive use of 
artesian wells for irrigating purposes, with marvelous re¬ 
sults, so that the region which is now mainly a desert, was 
wonderfully productive. Is a revival of this ancient usage 
to produce similar results in the Northwest ? 
THE TREATMENT OF ALKALI LANDS. 
Some of the land in this vicinity is badly impregnated 
with alkali. What will counteract this t R. w. h. 
Wheatland, N. D. 
A Discussion of the Matter. 
This question is one of growing and vital interest to 
many farmers in Dakota. I arrived too late in the fall to 
familiarize myself with the character of the soils and so 
can only speak in a general way. I hope, however, to give 
some attention to the subject in the near future. 
Alkali soils are of two general classes known as “black 
alkali” and “white alkali” soils. The “black alkali” 
soils result from an excess of sodium carbonate—salsoda— 
at the surface of the ground. The sodium carbonate forms 
with the organic matter of the soil—humus—a dark- 
colored solution that, on evaporating, leaves on the sur¬ 
face of the mud, in low places, black rings. The “ white 
alkali ” soils are due to an accumulation of sodium 
chloride (common salt) and sodium sulphate (Glauber 
salts). The “ black alkalies ” are the most harmful, as 
sodium carbonate is particularly harmful to plant 
growth, besides rendering clay soils almost untillable. 
Alkali soils occur only in regions of low rainfall, generally 
in soils containing an abundance of plant food, but the 
low rainfall and excessive evaporation have allowed those 
soluble salts to accumulate at or near the surface until 
finally they have become so abundant as to be poisonous to 
plants. They are the results of centuries, maybe ages, of 
accumulation, and once removed, there would be no 
further trouble from alkali lands. 
How Removable. 
Drainage and Irrigation. —Heavy rains and good 
drainage would soon wash this excess of alkali out of the 
soil and render the lands productive. With poor drainage 
and lack of rainfall there remain but two courses open for 
improving their condition, one or both of which must be 
adopted before these lands can be brought under success¬ 
ful cultivation and profitable crop production. 
In California in many places similar alkali lands have 
been underdrained, and irrigation has produced phenome¬ 
nal results. Underlying these lands the subsoil is, quite 
generally, a heavy, almost Impenetrable, clay or marl and 
clay, and for successful irrigation underdraining is an ab¬ 
solute essential. To irrigate without underdraining often 
only aggravates the trouble. By underdraining and irri¬ 
gation the excessive accumulation of soluble salts will be 
washed out of the soil, and', moreover, water is furnished 
at the time when plants are suffering most from lack of 
moisture. Some of the most productive lands in Califor¬ 
nia to-day are said to have been, a few years ago, consid¬ 
ered almost barren wastes; but they have been made 
enormously productive by Irrigation. 
This is an Interesting problem for Dakota, and I shall 
watch with much interest the experiments now being 
made with irrigation from artesian wells. Improvements 
along this line must come slowly, and we must also be 
sure that the waters 
used for the purpose 
of irrigation are not 
impregnated with al¬ 
kali salts, which 
would be detrimental 
to plant growth. 
Gypsum for Alkali 
Lands. 
Another means of 
improving alkali 
lands Is by counter¬ 
acting the harmful 
influences of the al¬ 
kali in the soil by the 
application of gyp¬ 
sum (land plaster). 
In case of “ black al¬ 
kali ”—sodium car¬ 
bonate—the gypsum 
converts this salt into 
the less harmful form 
of sulphate, or Glau¬ 
ber salts, and this 
conversion is often 
sufficient to insure 
the growth of abund¬ 
ant crops for a long 
time, provided there 
are rains enough to 
insure good crops. 
My advice to the 
above correspondent 
is to experiment in a 
small way. Let him 
apply from 800 to 700 
pounds of land plaster 
per acre, and see if 
the crop is not there¬ 
by improved. Cul¬ 
tivation after the 
application of the 
plaster would con¬ 
tinue to improve the 
tilth of the land, 
rendering it more 
friable and less 
lumpy. The opening 
up of deposits of gypsum and the supply of cheap land 
plaster would be of great benefit to the farmers of Dakota, 
especially In the alkali regions. E. f. ladd. 
E. F. S., Glover, N. D .—We have a pretty dry climate, 
especially in the spring. Now, will it pay to haul fresh 
manure to the field, spread it quite thick, and after seed¬ 
ing is over, burn it before plowing the ground ? There is 
a considerable lot of straw In the manure which is quite 
wet with urine when handled, but by the time I am ready 
to plow the ground the whole is as dry as a bone, and if 
plowed down, it will dry out the ground and be in the way 
in cultivating. I don’t know how it can do much good to 
haul it as made during the winter and then burn it in 
May. “ How is it ?” If we pile it up in a heap it will not 
rot but dry out if from cattle, and burn up if from horses, 
so I do not see how one is to recieve the full benefit of 
manure here unless it leaches Into the ground when hauled 
as made, and this I doubt when we have no snow or rain. 
R, N.-Y,—-This question is submitted to our readers. 
