Reci^iming Nitre Soil in Grand Vaeeey 
5 
slowly. After the water had been taken off and the embankment 
leveled down, the strip was seeded to oats. A fine stand of oats 
was obtained without any further work on the land. (See Rig. 1.) 
This strip has now borne full crops for the last three seasons, 
and shows no indication of returning to its former condition. No 
crop has been taken off the land, but each has been plowed under. 
The balance of the land was seeded to oats, rye, rape, sor¬ 
ghum and winter vetch. After seeding, the land was corrugated, 
the furrows were placed close together to obtain the maximum of 
exposure, and then water was permitted to run in these furrows 
for thirty-six hours. (See Fig. 2.) The seed started to grow 
along the edges of the water, especially the oats and rye, but the 
ridges remained barren. The irrigation was continued at in¬ 
tervals of several days during the first season. The results ob¬ 
tained showed that a certain amount of the nitrates had been 
washed out by irrigation. However, the ridges remained barren 
and showed the characteristic brown color and powdery texture. 
At the end of the season the field was almost as barren as before. 
The rape, sorghum and winter vetch made a poorer showing than 
the oats and the rye, and were discarded as unsuited for the work. 
The corrugating method of washing the soil was continued 
during the last two summers, with the oats and rye as crops, and 
the field is now practically reclaimed, tho there are isolated spots 
which are still more or less barren. The crops on the reclaimed 
portions were very rank and dark green in color and showed that 
a large amount of nitrates was still present in the soil. (See 
Fig. 3.) 
Fig. 3. A crop of rye on reclaimed land 
