The; Waters oe the Rio Grande ' 5 
• 
carbonate, and in their place we find sulfates, with a very great in¬ 
crease in the amount of the bases present in this form. The total so¬ 
dium present in various forms also has been increased very greatly. 
The water of the Cache la Poudre is typical of all of our mountain 
streams in its composition and the changes in its composition due to 
its use in irrigating our lands are typical of those produced in the 
waters of other streams when used for this purpose. These changes 
bave been studied for the Arkansas and the results justify the state¬ 
ment just made. The results obtained were: 
ANALYSES OF ARKANSAS RIVER WATER 
I 
II 
Taken at Canon 
City 
Taken about 120 miles below Canon 
Salts Grains per im- 
City 
perial gallon 
Salts Grains per im- 
Calcic sulfate . 
2.037 
perial gallon 
Calcic carbonate. 
3.733 
Calcic sulfate . 
64.942 
Magnesic carbonate... 
1.856 
Magnesic sulfate. 
27.994 
Potassic sulfate . 
0.138 
Potassic sulfate . 
0.942 
Sodic chlorid . 
0.659 
Sodic sulfate . 
32.449 
Sodic carbonate. 
0 .;p 7 ? 
Sodic chlorid . 
12.044 
Sodic silicate . 
1.280 
Sodic carbonate. 
7 0A7 
Ferric & Alum, oxids. . 
0.023 
Sodic silicate . 
1.358 
Manganic oxid (br).... 
0.011 
Excess sodic oxid . . . . 
3.832 
Excess Silicic acid. 
0.216 • 
Ignition . 
6.797 
Ignition . 
0.273 
• 
Total . 
. 157.363 
Total . 
10.799 
SANITARY 
ANALYSIS 
Parts per million 
Total solids 
. 2,234.290 
Chlorin . . . . 
. 103.971 
Nitrogen as 
nitrates .... 
. 1.500 
Nitrogen as 
nitrites . . . . 
. 0.040 
Saline ammonia . 
. 0.065 
Albuminoidal ammonia 
. 0.140 
Oxygen consumed . 
. 2.000 
This sample of Arkansas River water was taken at Canon City, 
a little way below the Royal Gorge, and while it carries more salts in 
solution than the Poudre water, it remains in its essential features a 
mountain water. This is more remarkable than the fact that it car¬ 
ries nearly four times as much solid matter in solution as the Poudre 
water, for the course of the Poudre River, up to the point where the 
sample was taken, is wholly within a granitic area, with but little 
meadow land along its borders and with an exceedingly sparse popu¬ 
lation. 
The Arkansas at Canon City has already traversed a long course, 
some of the way through meadow lands. It received) during a por¬ 
tion of the year the sluicings from placer workings and its drainage 
