50 
Colorado Experiment Station 
portions of a soil without doing damage is so big that, unless there be 
other bad conditions, we need scarcely have any fear of them. This 
result of my observation is in keeping with the experience of large sec¬ 
tions of our State. 
“WHITE ALKALI” QUESTION PURELY ONE OF DRAINAGE 
Water in the soil very frequently involves the question of alkali 
As a general statement, we will all agree that our cultivated crops re¬ 
quire a soil comparatively free from water and well aerated. The prac¬ 
tice of sub-irrigation and the results obtained, even on strongly alkalied 
land, make one decidedly cautious in making very positive assertions. 
In this practice it seems never to be desired that the water-plane should 
fall lower than 24 inches below the surface; it is very generally main¬ 
tained at from 22 to 18 inches of the surface, and in some cases, with 
good results, too, as high as within 12 inches of the surface. I scarce¬ 
ly believed this last statement apd inquired regarding the reliability of 
the man making it. The man’s reputation for veracity was good and 
the party of whom I made inquiry stated that he had himself seen the 
man’s team mired in his potato field. These are peculiar conditions, 
but I am convinced that we must modify our views somewhat in re¬ 
gard to the height at which the water plane becomes dangerous to 
plants. In spite of such facts it remains entirely correct that, in large 
sections of the State, there is no considerable accumulation of alkali ex¬ 
cept in depressions which receive the run-off and seepage waters from 
higher lands. Drainage of such areas is necessary to remove the water 
and to prevent the accumulation of the alkalis. The chief deleterious 
effects of these conditions with us are upon the condition of the soil 
which, of course, may ruin the crop. In all such cases, and they are by 
far the majority of our cases, the alkali question resolves itself into one 
of drainage, a statement that I made 15 years ago or longer. 
“BLACK ALKALI” RESULT OF PERMANENT GEOLOGICAL CONDI¬ 
TIONS 
This is not the case with the “black alkali’’ or sodic carbonate. T 
believe that the geological conditions which have made the accumula¬ 
tion of this salt possible to be as permanent as the region itself and to 
be so serious that it is only by constant effort that we can in any suc¬ 
cessful measure ward off the practical destruction of the area as a pro¬ 
ductive farming section. A meagre agriculture will undoubtedly con¬ 
tinue for years to come but unless a more rational system of irrigation 
be followed and continual remedial applications be made the final re¬ 
sult can scarcely remain in doubt. 
I have stated the original source of our alkalis and while the ac¬ 
cumulations on the surface may be very heavy and may even impreg¬ 
nate the underlying strata to considerable depths, for more than 88© 
