22 
SOILS AND ALKALI. 
ervoirs to store the water that now escapes during the 
spring and fall Should that ever be consummated, an¬ 
other question may arise, viz : Will this water get con¬ 
taminated with alkali ? This is a very pertinent question. 
Bulletin No. 82, of California Experiment Station, 
gives the total solids of Lake Tulare, in January, 1880, as 
81 grains to the gallon; in June, 1888, 204 grains; in Febru¬ 
ary, 1889, 303 grains, and that the fish in the lake were 
dying in large quantities It would seem that the lakes on 
the upper San Joaquin valley are being concentrated into 
a strong alkaline lye, too strong for animal life, as before 
described. In our case the water that is available for 
storage comes from our mountain streams, from the melt¬ 
ing of the snow, and rivals in purity the water of the Al¬ 
pine lakes of Switzerland, as is shown by the following 
analysis: 
The sample was taken May, 1889, where the river leaves 
the last foothills. Found 6.4 grains solid matter to the 
gallon. 
The solids contained moisture, at 100° C., 8.01 per cent. 
Iron and alumina (Fe2 03 — 
A12 03)_ 1.65 per cent. 
Lime (Ca O) 
38.45 
« 
Magnesia (Mg O) 
_16.60 
u 
Sulphuric acid (S03) 
2.75 
u 
Carbonic acid (C02) 
.. .38.09 
u 
Chlorine (Cl) 
— 1.20 
it 
Alkalies (Na2 O) 
__ 1.16 
u 
99.90 
<( 
With a view of ascertaining what changes had taken 
place in the river water by going down the stream, the 
water was analyzed about twenty miles lower down. Found 
68.8 grains of solid matter to the gallon. The sample was 
taken July 16, 1889 : 
