52 
BULLETIN 82 . 
§ 94. The sodic chlorid deports itself in the same manner. 
Again, using well A as an example, we have in an acre-foot of 
its water 925 pounds of sodic chlorid, or common salt, and 240 
pounds in an acre-foot of drain water. I have compared other 
well waters and find this to be the rule. The difference is not 
necessarily the same but it is always in the same direction. The 
only time that the percentage of sodic chlorid in the total solids 
of the ground waters approaches that of those of the drain waters, 
is when the water plane has fallen quite low, in other words, when 
it has approached the level of the drain. These statements do not 
seem to be in perfect harmony with the theory of absorption of 
salts by different soils, and the fact that, as a rule, there is an ex¬ 
cess of bases in the residues left by these waters, rather than acids, 
as would be required by the theories set forth in our text books, 
points to the prevalence of conditions entirely different from those 
under which the classical experiments, upon which our theories 
are based, were made. 
§ 95. Only two of these drain waters were submitted to san¬ 
itary analysis, with the following results: 
TABLE XLIII.-SANITARY ANALYSES OF DRAIN WATERS 
1. Drain water, Mrs. Calloway’s ranch, July 23, 1900. 
2. Drain east of beet plot, July 23, 1900. 
Total 
Ohio- 
Nitrates 
Nitrites 
Ammonia 
Albnminoidal 
Ammonia 
Oxy¬ 
gen 
Con¬ 
sumed 
Solids 
rin 
Nitro¬ 
gen 
Nitric 
Acid 
Nitro¬ 
gen 
Nitrons 
Acid 
Nitro¬ 
gen 
Am¬ 
monia 
Nitro¬ 
gen 
Am¬ 
monia 
1 
880 5 
40.7 
0.240 
1.0770 
0.1400 
0.4690 
0.0410 
0.0496 
0.1000 
0.1210 
1.3650 
2 
1047.1 
44.3 
0.480 
2.1540 
1.8000 
4.3550 
0.0720 
0.0871 
0.1900 
0.2299 
2.0500 
§ 96. I regret that these samples were not taken at the same 
time that the samples of irrigation water were taken, but they 
were not, and these will have to serve our purpose in such measure 
as they may. 
§ 97. It will be seen by referring to the table of analyses of 
irrigation waters that the well waters taken August 31, 1899, be¬ 
fore irrigation, were richer in nitric acid than these drain waters, 
as were also those taken after irrigation; but the drain waters are 
very much richer in nitrous acid. The ammonia, both saline and 
albuminoidal, is less in the drain water than in the irrigation and 
ground waters. The nitric acid removed per acre-foot by the 
richer of the two drainage waters is but 5.748 pounds. In the 
course of a year the amount of nitric acid in pounds avoirdupois 
transported by such waters, in the form of nitrates, is a compara¬ 
tively large number, but when we attempt to estimate the area 
from which this is collected and think of the scale on which na- 
