8 
The: Colorado Expe:rime:nt Station 
Grand Valley is well adapted to the different kinds of fruit, local 
soil problems have arisen that need special attention from the 
growers. The most important problem is that of niter accumulat¬ 
ing in the orchard soils. For a technical discussion of this prob¬ 
lem, see Bulletin No. 193 of the Colorado Experiment Station. 
A full discussion of the niter problem from the orchardist’s 
point of view will be given under the head of “cover crops.” 
DRAINAGE 
While the natural drainage of the Valley is good, yet, due to 
liberal irrigation, much of the land occupying somewhat depressed 
portions of the Valley is suffering from seepage and standing 
water. The water-table, on the whole, for a considerable portion 
of the Valiev has been raised to within 10 feet of the surface, and 
in some parts of the fruit sections it is less than 5 feet from the 
surface. This raising of the water-table has a decided influence 
upon commercial fruit growing in the Valley, but the difficulty 
bids fair to be eliminated by a system of drainage to be installed 
through the whole length of the Valley. 
ALKALI 
Like most irrigated sections, the Grand Valley has a consid¬ 
erable acreage of what might be termed alkali land. These alkali 
areas are not uniformly distributed, but occur in different sections, 
especially where there has been a large amount of seepage water, 
which upon evaporation deposits the alkali on the surface. These 
alkali areas are particularly noticeable east and west of Grand 
Junction and on the low-lying land close to the river. Many of 
these alkali areas are unsuited for fruit growing, and some of them 
are so heavily impregnated with alkali as to make them useless for 
all agricultural purposes. Undoubtedly the larger portion of these 
alkali lands could be reclaimed by heavy washing, if sufficient 
drainage is provided for them. The alkalis are all white ones, ex¬ 
drainage is provided for them. The alkalis are all white ones. 
Black alkalis or carbonates, so far as is known, do not occur in 
the Valley. 
DISTANCE FROM STATION 
For the purpose of learning the average distance fruit had to 
be hauled in shipping, the distance to the nearest shipping point 
was recorded. It was found that the average distance to the sta¬ 
tion for all orchards of the entire Valley was 1.55 miles. For the 
districts separately it was as follows: Palisade 1.2 miles, Clifton 
1.25 miles, Grand Junction 1.8 miles, Fruita 1.85 miles. The ship¬ 
ping points used were Palisade, Bridges’ Switch, Clifton, Fruit- 
