ALKALI.
In the preceding chapters there have been considered the phenomena
which obtain under humid conditions. Under exceptional conditions of
prolonged drought there occurs an accumulation of soluble mineral
substances at or near the surface of the soil. This phenomenon is
pronounced in arid and semi-arid regions,[124] and the accumulations
of soluble salts occurring in such regions is known in the United
States as “alkali,” in India as “reh,” in Africa as “brak,” and in
other countries by various local designations. The study of the extreme
conditions producing alkali has added materially to the present
knowledge of the processes taking place in soil of humid areas.
Moreover, alkali-infested areas are themselves becoming of so much
importance with the growing needs for further new lands, that it seems
wise to give here an outline of the chemical principles involved in
their soil solutions.[125]
Alkali is sometimes a single salt, but usually a mixture of some
two or more of the chlorides, sulphates, carbonates, bicarbonates,
and occasionally the nitrates, phosphates and borates, of sodium,
magnesium, potassium, and calcium, and occasionally strontium and
lithium. In the United States, when the carbonate of sodium is
present to an appreciable extent, the salt mixture is known as _black
alkali,_ in contradistinction to _white alkali_, which latter does
not contain sodium carbonate.[126] Generally, but not always, soils
containing alkali also contain accumulations of the less soluble
salts, calcium carbonate, or calcium sulphate, or a mixture of the
two. These substances, sometimes cementing the less soluble mineral
components of the soil, sometimes almost pure, are found in layers more
or less continuous, and from a fraction of an inch to several feet in
thickness, in a position approximately parallel to and at a moderate
depth below the surface of the soil. In such cases these layers form a
“hard-pan” and frequently the treatment of this type of hard-pan is the
most difficult and vexing problem in the management of alkali-bearing
soils.
[124] Occasional occurrence of alkali in humid regions, by Frank K.
Cameron, Bull. No. =17=, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dept. Agriculture,
1901, p. 36-38. This phenomenon should not be confused with the surface
deposition of various kinds of saline material from springs, which is
fairly common in both humid and arid regions, the world over.
[125] Alkali soils of the United States, by Clarence W. Dorsey, Bull.
No. =35=, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, 1906.
[126] Black alkali is so called because the caustic solution containing
sodium carbonate, in rising to the surface of the soil, dissolves
and carries with it organic matter which is subsequently left on
the surface in more or less blackish deposits, often ring-like in
appearance. It is by no means uncommon, however, to find deposits of
“black alkali” which are not black at all, and it is quite common to
find “white alkali” so dark in color as to suggest the presence of
sodium carbonate, although the latter be absent.
The origin of alkali is often uncertain. In some cases the geological
evidences in the area make it certain that the alkali came from the
desiccation of former bodies of sea water which had become isolated
from the ocean. In other cases the alkali appears to come from the
desiccation of lakes which are the depositories of the drainage of a
surrounding area, and which have no outlet to the sea. In still other
cases it has been supposed that the alkali is derived from wind-borne
sea-spray. Various explanations of a more or less special character
with regard to particular localities or circumstances are to be found
in the literature.[127]
The chemical principles involved in the desiccation of a body of
sea water are now pretty well understood, owing mainly to the
investigations of van’t Hoff, Meyerhoffer, and their coworkers.[128]
The salts in sea water and those constituting “white alkali” are mainly
the chlorides and sulphates of sodium, potassium and magnesium.
Calcium is also present, appearing in deep deposits as anhydrite, and
at the surface as gypsum.
[127] An interesting case is the Billings Area, Montana, where the
alkali seems to be derived from the oxidation, solution and subsequent
hydrolysis of the pyrites and marcasite of the neighboring Pierre
shales. The sulphuric acid thus formed, leaching through shales and
sandstones, takes up various bases and the predominating salts in the
alkali of this area are the sulphates of sodium and magnesium.
[128] Zur Bildung der ozeanischen Salzablagerungen, von J. H. van’t
Hoff, Braunschweig, 1905-09. For a detailed discussion of these results
with reference to alkali deposits see: Calcium sulphate in aqueous
solutions, by Frank K. Cameron and James M. Bell, Bull. No. =33=,
Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, 1906.
From the results of this work it is possible to predict the order
in which the different salts or minerals will separate from the
evaporating solution. At ordinary temperature (25° C) the first salt to
be deposited from the dilute solution is _gypsum_ (CaSO₄.2H₂O) followed
by _halite_ or _sodium chloride_ (NaCl) in quantity. Sodium chloride
continues to separate at all higher concentrations. Next will be
deposited _kainite_ (MgSO₄KCl.3H₂O). At the concentration then reached,
the stable sulphate of calcium is _anhydrite_ (CaSO₄), which continues
to separate from solution as desiccation proceeds. Consequently, if the
gypsum previously deposited is yet in contact with the solution, it
tends to be transformed to anhydrite and at all higher concentrations
the deposition of anhydrite may be expected. As evaporation proceeds a
point is reached where _kainite_ and _kieserite_ (MgSO₄.H₂O) separate.
Further evaporation brings a concentration at which _kieserite_ and
_carnallite_ (MgCl₂.KCl.6H₂O) are precipitated, and as the process
proceeds, finally the point is reached where _kieserite_, _carnallite_
and _bischofite_ (MgCl₂.6H₂O) all three separate with sodium chloride.
The final products separating at a higher temperature, 83° C., are
the same four solids, sodium chloride, kieserite, carnallite and
bischofite.[129] The alternate layers of anhydrite and sodium chloride
noticeable in some desiccated sea beds is probably the result of
alterations in temperature, anhydrite being less soluble, and sodium
chloride somewhat more soluble in hot than in cold water. During warm
weather there would be a greater tendency for anhydrite to separate and
in colder weather for sodium chloride to be precipitated. Anhydrite at
the surface would gradually absorb water vapor from the atmosphere and
be transformed to gypsum.[130]
[129] It will be interesting to compare with the above the following
brief description of the Stassfurt salt deposits, taken from Ries’s
Economic Geology of the United States, (1905), p. 127. “At the bottom
is the main bed of rock salt which is broken up into layers 2-5 inches
thick by layers of anhydrite. Above this come 200 feet of rock salt,
with which are mixed layers of magnesium chloride and polyhalite....
Resting on this is 180 feet of rock salt, with alternating layers of
sulphates chiefly kieserite, the sulphate of magnesia. These layers are
about 1 foot thick. Lastly, and uppermost, is a 135-foot bed consisting
of a series of reddish layers of rock salts of magnesia and potassium,
kainite ... kieserite ... carnallite ... tachhydrite ... as well as
masses of snow-white boracite.”
[130] As examples, some of the gypsum deposits of Kansas may be cited,
according to Haworth, Mineral resources of Kansas, 1897, p. 61, and the
classical case at Bex, Switzerland, described by J. G. F. Charpentier,
Uber die Salz-Lagerstätte von Bex: Ann. Phys. Chim., =3=, 75-80,
(1825), and by G. Bischof, Elements of chemical and physical geology,
London, 1854-58, Vol. I, p. 350-1.
Besides the principal salts just described, there may separate at
one concentration or another other various double salts including
_langbeinite_ (2MgSO₄.K₂SO₄), _polyhalite_ (K₂SO₄.MgSO₄.2CaSO₄.2H₂O),
_glauberite_ (CaSO₄.Na₂SO₄), _syngenite_ (CaSO₄.K₂SO₄.H₂O), _potassium
pentasulphate_ (K₂SO₄.5CaSO₄.H₂O), _krugite_ (4CaSO₄.K₂SO₄.MgSO₄.2H₂O),
and possibly others. These are all stable over very restricted ranges
of concentration, however, and if formed, probably seldom persist, but
pass over to more stable salts as the desiccation proceeds, and have
little more than a passing theoretical interest.
The addition of carbonates to the system introduces some further
modifications.[131] In this case lime carbonate is the first salt to
be precipitated, followed probably by the same order of deposition
as outlined above. As the mother liquor becomes more concentrated,
it apparently loses its alkaline character, for the addition of
an alcoholic solution of phenolphthalein does not produce the
characteristic red color. That the solution does actually contain
dissolved carbonates is shown by the appearance of the red color on
diluting a portion of the mother liquor with distilled water. An
interesting example in nature is furnished by the Great Salt Lake,
Utah. A test of the water of this lake in 1899 gave no alkaline
reaction with phenolphthalein, but the reaction appeared promptly when
distilled water was added, and further examination showed the water
to contain about 0.012 per cent. sodium carbonate.[132] Slosson has
reported similar cases in Wyoming.[133]
[131] The action of water and aqueous solutions upon soil carbonates,
by Frank K. Cameron and James M. Bell, Bull. No. =49=, Bureau of Soils,
U. S. Dept. Agriculture, 1907.
[132] Application of the theory of solutions to study of soils, by F.
K. Cameron, Report No. =64=, Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils,
1899, p. 149.
[133] Alkali lakes and deposits, by W. C. Knight and E. E. Slosson,
Bull. No. =49=, Wyoming Agr. Expt. Station, 1901, p. 108.
One “black alkali” system has been studied with some approach towards
completeness.[134] In this case magnesium and potassium salts are not
present, the system being composed of water, carbon dioxide, chlorides,
sulphates, sodium and calcium salts, with the condition imposed, that
the bases are present in amounts more than equivalent to the sulphuric
and hydrochloric acids. On desiccation at 25° C calcium carbonate first
appears followed by gypsum and then sodium sulphate decahydrate. Next
appears a double salt (2CaSO₄.3Na₂SO₄) followed by anhydrous sodium
sulphate, the Glauber’s salt which formerly crystallized being no
longer stable. Sodium chloride then precipitates and the concentration
finally reaches a point where gypsum is no longer stable, and the
final group of salts in contact with the evaporating solution under
conditions of stable equilibrium consists of calcium carbonate, the
double sulphate of soda and lime, anhydrous sodium sulphate and sodium
chloride.
[134] The solubility of certain salts present in alkali soils, by Frank
K. Cameron, J. M. Bell and W. O. Robinson, Jour. Phys. Chem., =11=,
396-420, (1907).
The desiccation of a lake which serves as the final repository
of a regional drainage involves essentially the principles just
discussed.[135] The constituents involved are the same. A serious
problem involved in the consideration of this source of “alkali” is
the high ratio of chlorine to the other constituents, in view of its
very low ratio in the rocks from which it comes. The explanation
undoubtedly involves the fact that the carbonates and sulphates are
constantly being removed as calcium salts from a body of water which is
more or less continuously receiving the drainage of any considerable
watershed, and is at the same time subject to a relatively high rate of
evaporation. The chlorine forming only very soluble salts under such
conditions would be segregated and concentrated in the residual mother
liquor. Most difficult is it to account for the relatively high ratio
of sodium to potassium in alkali from such an origin. Some light is
thrown on the subject by the progressive changes in concentration of a
lake water which receives a regional drainage under arid conditions.
To this end are given the following results of analyses of the waters
of Utah Lake, made at different times[136] over an interval of twenty
years, and showing that there is a segregation of chlorine and sodium
taking place, although in this case the lake has an outlet in the
Jordan River.
[135] It has been suggested that the fact that shales or similar
geological deposits are frequently to be found near alkali areas,
indicates that the shales are the principal sources of the alkali. It
is supposed that the constituents of the alkali salts were formed by
the action of water on the shale minerals at or about the time the
shales were deposited, and carried down with the latter. Subsequently
the alkali has been leached out to appear at the surface of soils,
generally at a lower level than are the shales.
[136] The water of Utah Lake, by F. K. Cameron: Jour. Am. Chem. Soc.,
=27=, 113-116, (1905).
ANALYSES OF THE WATER OF UTAH LAKE.
RESULTS IN PARTS PER MILLION
=========+========+=========+=======+=========+=========
| Clarke | Cameron | Brown | Seidell | Brown
| 1883 | 1899 | 1903 | 1904[137] | 1904[138]
---------+--------+---------+-------+---------+---------
Ca | 55.8 | 67.6 | 80 | 67.7 | 67
Sr | — | — | — | 1.7 | —
Mg | 18.6 | 13.8 | 92 | 73.5 | 86
---------+--------+---------+-------+---------+---------
Na | 17.7 | 233.7 | 247 | 207.2 | 230
K | ? | ? | 30 | 25.8 | 22
---------+--------+---------+-------+---------+---------
Li | — | — | — | 0.7 | —
SO₄ | 130.6 | 236.7 | 365 | 332.9 | 378
Cl | 12.4 | 316.5 | 336 | 288.5 | 337
HCO₃ | — | — | 266 | 205.5 | 194
CO₃ | 60.9 | 23.7 | — | 24.0 | 11
SiO₂ | 10.0 | — | — | 22.6 | 28
| ————— | ————— | ————— | ————— | —————
Total | 306.0 | 892.0 | 1416 | 1250.1 | 1353
---------+--------+---------+-------+---------+---------
[137] Sample collected May 18. Lake unusually high.
[138] Sample collected Aug. 31. Lake still high for that season of the
year.
The third general origin of alkali supposes that wind-borne sea-spray
carries into the air salts which are left in very fine particles on the
evaporation of the water, or are deposited on the ordinary atmospheric
dust and carried over the land; and that this dust is precipitated here
and there as may be determined by the various meteorological conditions
which it encounters. All the land surface is supposed to be receiving
more or less of it from time to time, but in arid regions the rainfall
and drainage is not sufficient to return to the sea as much as is
received therefrom.[139]
[139] For a recent interesting and valuable discussion of this subject
with reference to a particular area, see: The origin of the salt
deposits of Rajputana, by Sir Thomas H. Holland and W. A. K. Christie,
Records of the Geological Survey of India, =38=, 154-186, (1909).
It is very probable that wind-borne salts from the sea are being
carried over and to some extent being deposited on all the land
surfaces of the earth. To what extent this process is taking place, and
whether it is sufficient to account for the alkali of any particular
region, available data fail to answer satisfactorily. Probably it is
always associated with one of the origins of alkali already discussed
and is in itself generally of secondary importance.
An argument frequently advanced against the validity of the hypothesis
that wind-borne sea-spray is the origin of alkali is that the relative
proportions of the several constituents in “alkali” are seldom if
ever those obtaining in sea water. This argument does not take into
consideration, however, that the several salts in the spray probably
separate into crystals of widely different size and specific gravities,
and there may well be taking place a selective or sorting action by
the wind. More important, undoubtedly, is the selective action taking
place in the soil itself; it can only be an accidental coincidence
that the constituents of alkali in any particular occurrence should
have the same quantitative relations as in the material from which it
originated, no matter what may have been the nature of its origin.
In the field, alkali is found in a bewildering array of forms and
types. Quite different combinations of constituents may be found in
the same field within a few rods or even a few feet, and each case
appears to have a distinct origin, to be in fact a law unto itself.
Each alkali deposit represents generally the resultant from a mixture
of salt which has been dissolved and reprecipitated a number of times,
and which while dissolved has been seeping through the soil under
gravitational forces, or has been moving through the soil as film
water under capillary stresses. In either event the salt mixture has
been subject to the power for selective absorption peculiar to the
particular soil mass through which it has been moving. Re-solution
is seldom an instantaneous process, and different rates of solution
necessarily involve some separation of salts. Finally the alkali
deposit is usually so mixed with other soil material that there cannot
be recognized the characteristic solid phases (such, for instance,
as the double sulphates of calcium and another base) which serve
as guides in laboratory studies and in certain salt mines. Even if
the characteristic salts are deposited in surface soils, it is very
doubtful, owing to their hygroscopicity, if any but gypsum, halite and
Glauber’s salt can persist for any length of time. The alternations
of temperature from night to day characteristic of arid regions, with
precipitation of dews, might easily be expected to make noticeable
and rapid changes in the characteristics of any given alkali or salt
mixture.
It is not surprising, therefore, that attempts to account for the
genesis and present appearance of an alkali deposit by comparison
with artificial depositions of salt mixtures, as worked out in the
laboratory, have generally been disappointing. On the other hand,
laboratory studies have been quite fruitful in elucidating the
phenomena taking place on the leaching of alkali from a soil, or
so-called “alkali reclamation.”
Whatever the origin of the alkali, its segregation at or near the
surface of the soil is everywhere much the same; that is, there is a
translocation and segregation of soluble salts in the below-surface
seepage waters, determined mainly by the topographic features, but
partly by the texture and structural properties of the soil and
subsoil, with a subsequent rise as capillary water consequent upon
evaporation at the surface. Precipitation of the solutes may take place
at the surface; more commonly it takes place a few inches below,
owing to the fact that under conditions of rapid evaporation, there is
ordinarily a discontinuance in the capillary columns or the film water
at a point below the surface of the soil, the water diffusing thence
into the above-surface atmosphere as the vapor phase.
The composition of alkali is varied. In the vast majority of cases, the
world over, the predominating compound is sodium chloride. When calcium
carbonate is a conspicuous component of the soil, as a hard-pan or
otherwise, sodium carbonate or black alkali is also generally present,
or apt to appear when the land is irrigated. When calcium sulphate or
gypsum is likewise present, there is less probability of appreciable
amounts of black alkali, and where gypsum predominates or the calcium
carbonate is present in relatively inappreciable amounts, black alkali
is generally absent, and sodium sulphate is an important constituent
of the alkali. Relative rates of diffusion, selective absorption, and
sometimes other factors are prominent, however, and the character of
the alkali in different spots within a few yards of one another may
differ greatly. One of the most interesting manifestations of alkali is
the occasional occurrence of a predominating amount of calcium chloride
which, as a result of its unusually high hygroscopicity, renders the
soil damper, and therefore darker in color than the surrounding soil,
and frequently causes even experts to suspect the presence of black
alkali. Its true nature can, of course, be determined by a simple
chemical examination.
The effect of alkali on the physical properties of the soil is often
very marked, aside from the cementing action or hard-pan formation
by the carbonate or sulphate of lime. Black alkali, by dissolving
and segregating the organic matter at the surface, removes from
the lower soil layers the “humus” compounds which are of enormous
importance to the maintenance of a soil structure favorable to plant
growth. Moreover, black alkali is one of the best of deflocculating
agents, and consequently soils where it is a noticeable component,
frequently puddle with great readiness and are reclaimed with the
utmost difficulty. Most of the other constituents of alkali, however,
are flocculating or “crumbing” agencies, and if not present in too
large amounts tend to increase the readiness with which the soil can
be brought into good tilth. In this latter case, by separating in the
solid phase, or in forming a viscous soil solution, near the saturation
point, they sometimes produce a condition in the soil simulating
puddling, and where it occurs below the surface, called an alkali
hard-pan.
The management of soils infested with alkali is possible in accordance
with a few well established principles. Substantial progress has been
made in selecting and breeding plants and strains of plants adapted
to such soils. Extreme cases are the use of the so-called Australian
salt-bushes as forage crops, and the growing of date-palms which
through generations of breeding in the oases of the Sahara can thrive
in lands so salty as to destroy most of the halophilous plants. More
interesting is the unwitting development of the farmers of Utah of
strains of wheat and alfalfa which easily withstand three or four
times as high a salt content in the soil as do corresponding crops
in other alkali regions, such as New Mexico and Arizona.[140] Black
alkali, or one in which sodium carbonate is a prominent constituent, is
especially destructive to vegetation, not alone on account of a toxic
action on plants, but because in any considerable concentration it has
a corrosive action on the plant tissue. Not only on this account but
also because of its unfortunate effects on the physical properties
of the soil, black alkali has received unusual attention from soil
investigators. Hilgard[141] has repeatedly urged the use of gypsum as
an “antidote” to black alkali, assuming that under conditions of good
drainage and aeration a reaction takes place in accordance with the
following equation,
Na₂CO₃ + CaSO₄ = CaCO₃ + Na₂SO₄.
[140] Some mutual relations between alkali soils and vegetation,
by Thomas H. Kearney and Frank K. Cameron, Report No. =71=, U. S.
Dept. Agriculture, 1902; The date-palm and its utilization in the
Southwestern states, by Walter T. Swingle, Bull. =53=, Bureau of Plant
Industry, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, 1904; The comparative tolerance of
various plants for the salts common in alkali soils, by T. H. Kearney
and L. L. Harter, Bull. =113=, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept.
Agriculture, 1907; Tolerance of alkali by various cultures, by R. H.
Loughridge, Bull. =133=, California Agr. Expt. Sta., 1901.
[141] Soils, by E. W. Hilgard. 1906, p. 457-458.
Furthermore, it has been shown that calcium salts and especially
calcium sulphate exercise a marked ameliorating effect on the action
of other salts upon growing vegetation.[142] On the other hand, the
reaction indicated by the equation just given does not run to an end
with complete precipitation of the carbonate, and the total amount
of alkali is increased in the soil by the addition of the gypsum.
Unfortunately, Hilgard’s suggestion has not yet acquired the sanction
of satisfactory field demonstration, although it would seem to merit
more consideration than has been given it. Inasmuch as lime is
generally a prominent constituent of soils containing black alkali, it
is possible that the maintenance of good drainage and aeration in the
soil is itself the best corrective of black alkali.
[142] With the salts occurring in alkali, it is a generality that
the effects produced on higher green plants are relatively less with
mixtures than with an equivalent amount of a single salt. It has
recently been shown, however, that the contrary is true for at least
some kinds of bacterial flora. See, On the lack of antagonism between
certain salts, by C. B. Lipman, Bot. Gaz., =49=, 41-50, (1910).
The best use of alkali soils involves irrigation, and it is in the
application of irrigation waters that management of alkali soils finds
its most highly developed and most important expression. With light
sandy soils it has sometimes been found practicable to add sufficient
water to carry the alkali down into the soil to such a depth that the
crop is well advanced toward maturity before the alkali again rises in
sufficient amounts to prove seriously detrimental to the more advanced
crops which are generally far more “alkali resistant” than the young
seedlings or the germinating seeds. In some cases this procedure can
be practiced for a number of years without greatly increasing the
seriousness of the alkali conditions, and it may be justified, for a
time at least, by economic considerations. Ultimately, however, and
more quickly with heavy than with light soils, increasing amounts
of alkali must be brought into the surface soil, and this method of
irrigating should not be considered as anything more than a temporary
expedient. The only procedure which should be seriously considered
as a permanent system on an alkali soil, no matter what the texture,
is the installation of underground drains, for which purpose, so far,
cylindrical tile drains commend themselves as giving the best results.
With a well established system of tile drains, the alkali and all
excess of soluble salts can be removed from the soil above the drains;
and alkali rising from the soil below can, at least very largely, be
prevented from rising to the upper soil layers. The reclamation of an
alkali tract by underdrainage is not, however, a necessarily quick
operation. Generally it must be a matter of several years persistent
and careful effort, but once attained should readily be maintained. The
reclamation of an alkali tract by flooding and underdrainage involves
the reverse process to the crystallization of salt from a brine. If
the water in percolating through the soil were long enough in contact
with the salts present to become a saturated solution in equilibrium
with them, then the composition of the resulting solution or drainage
water would depend upon the particular solid phases or salts which are
present in the soil, but not on the amounts of these salts; and the
relative proportions of the mineral constituents in the drainage water
should remain constant until some one of the solid phases in the soil
permanently disappears.
In practice, however, the water passes through the soil at different
rates from time to time, the flow from the tiles being copious after a
flooding but gradually diminishing as time goes on. One or both of two
processes can therefore take place. The water may dissolve some of the
salts without at any time or place becoming saturated. As the different
salts have different rates of solution as well as different absolute
solubilities, it would be expected that not only the concentration of
the drainage water, but the composition of the dissolved salts would
change from time to time. On the other hand, a part of the water may be
imagined to percolate slowly through the finer openings, thus forming
a saturated solution with respect to the alkali salts which solution,
however, will be diluted on entrance to the drains by a part of the
water going through the larger soil openings and dissolving but little
salt in its passage. In this case, it would be anticipated that the
concentration of the drainage water would increase as the amount of
flow diminished but the composition of the dissolved salts would remain
practically constant until some one or more of the alkali salts was
completely removed. There are, unfortunately, but few experimental
data by which these can be tested. In the accompanying table are given
the results of an investigation on the reclamation of an alkali tract
near Salt Lake City, Utah, where observations on the composition of
the drainage water were made at frequent intervals for more than three
years.[143]
[143] See, Calcium sulphate in aqueous solution, by Frank K. Cameron
and James M. Bell, Bull. No. =33=, 1906, p. 10 and 70, and Reclamation
of alkali land in Salt Lake Valley, Utah, by Clarence W. Dorsey, Bull.
No. =43=, 1907, p. 13, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dept. Agriculture.
At first sight these results might appear to show that the composition
of the salts was remaining reasonably constant. This conclusion
must be received with caution, however. Variations do occur in the
constituents which are present in smaller amount, but the variations
are not systematic and may plausibly be explained by dilution of
saturated solution by unsaturated solution on entering the drains.
Confining attention therefore to the constituents occurring in larger
proportions, namely, sodium chloride, sodium sulphate and sodium
bicarbonate (including the normal carbonate) it should be remembered
that the percentage of sodium in these three salts does not vary much,
and the “constancy” may be more apparent than real. Indeed a close
inspection of the results indicates that while the sodium is remaining
practically unchanged, there is some decrease in the chlorine and a
corresponding increase in the sulph-ion. From this it would follow that
the sodium chloride was being washed out of the soil more rapidly,
proportionately, than sodium sulphate; and it would also appear that
the solution entering the drains was not in final equilibrium with the
salts in the soil.
COMPOSITION OF THE SALTS IN THE DRAINAGE WATER FROM
THE SWAN TRACT, UTAH
=================+=========+=========+=========+=========
Date | Ca | Mg | Na | K
|per cent.|per cent.|per cent.|per cent.
-----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
1902—September | 0.38 | 0.50 | 33.74 | 2.04
October | 0.23 | 0.78 | 34.73 | 1.49
November | 0.19 | 0.74 | 34.42 | 1.40
1903—May | 0.38 | 0.61 | 34.48 | 0.84
June | 0.45 | 0.85 | 34.18 | 1.09
July | 0.50 | 0.80 | 34.06 | 1.25
August | 0.35 | 0.90 | 34.40 | 1.12
September | 0.49 | 0.72 | 34.54 | 1.24
October | 0.47 | 1.02 | 33.43 | 1.52
1904—January | 0.15 | 0.75 | 33.93 | 1.26
February | 0.34 | 0.78 | 34.59 | 0.70
March | 0.29 | 0.77 | 34.57 | 1.28
April | 0.29 | 0.70 | 34.28 | 1.37
May | 0.71 | 0.74 | 26.92 | 4.01
June | 0.37 | 0.70 | 32.60 | 3.55
August | 0.37 | 0.86 | 33.85 | 2.13
September | 0.42 | 0.79 | 34.10 | 1.35
October | 1.04 | 0.60 | 33.01 | 1.86
December | 1.25 | 0.70 | 32.62 | 1.69
1905—February | 0.32 | 0.67 | 33.59 | 0.99
March | 0.31 | 0.66 | 33.46 | 1.30
April | 0.35 | 0.65 | 34.20 | 1.01
May | 0.45 | 0.86 | 33.43 | 1.20
June | 0.40 | 0.94 | 34.05 | 1.32
July | 0.32 | 0.69 | 33.67 | 1.30
August | 0.35 | 1.04 | 33.12 | 1.58
September | 0.42 | 0.82 | 33.39 | 1.26
1906—January | 0.55 | 0.84 | 33.12 | 1.11
=================+=========+=========+=========+=========
| SO₄ | Cl | HCO₃ | CO₃
Date |per cent.|per cent.|per cent.|per cent.
-----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
1902—September | 18.62 | 37.76 | 6.49 | 0.48
October | 19.14 | 39.52 | 5.06 | 0.29
November | 18.61 | 40.46 | 3.95 | 0.23
1903—May | 29.90 | 38.19 | 4.30 | 0.25
June | 17.52 | 41.00 | 4.23 | 0.42
July | 18.24 | 40.24 | 4.67 | 0.30
August | 17.15 | 42.37 | 3.48 | 0.16
September | 17.31 | 42.02 | 3.36 | 0.33
October | 16.08 | 43.28 | 3.33 | 0.30
1904—January | 20.08 | 36.64 | 6.94 | 0.25
February | 18.95 | 40.15 | 4.49 | ——
March | 16.31 | 42.28 | 3.81 | 0.19
April | 20.93 | 38.04 | 3.33 | 1.06
May | 21.26 | 40.93 | 4.05 | 1.38
June | 19.94 | 37.42 | 4.05 | 1.37
August | 17.12 | 41.31 | 3.20 | 1.16
September | 19.01 | 39.85 | 4.11 | 0.37
October | 21.42 | 36.63 | 4.68 | 0.76
December | 19.89 | 37.44 | 6.18 | 0.22
1905—February | 22.30 | 33.32 | 8.45 | 0.36
March | 21.60 | 33.86 | 8.46 | 0.35
April | 20.03 | 36.99 | 6.22 | 0.55
May | 20.59 | 36.04 | 6.96 | 0.47
June | 20.89 | 35.85 | 5.71 | 0.84
July | 21.17 | 34.94 | 7.23 | 0.68
August | 21.58 | 35.92 | 5.72 | 0.99
September | 21.18 | 34.85 | 7.41 | 0.67
1906—January | 21.10 | 34.35 | 8.57 | 0.36
-----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------
How long drainage must continue before there is a radical change in the
composition of the seepage water cannot be predicted, and unfortunately
data regarding this point are not available. It is certain that in
time some one or more of the salts in the soil would be removed and
the nature of the drainage water would be changed. Alterations in the
composition of the drainage water furnish the readiest as well as the
best guides as to the changes and the nature of the changes taking
place in the soil during the process of reclamation. As a practical
matter it should be borne in mind that the persistence of the several
salts of the alkali mixture does not mean necessarily that they are
evenly distributed in the soil; while yet determining the composition
of the water entering the drain, they may have disappeared from the
upper soil layers which then may hold a solution of quite different
character, suited to the support of crops. In the case just cited the
soil contained, before drainage operations were commenced, upwards of
2.7 per cent. of readily soluble salts and would not support any growth
other than salt-bushes and similar halophilous plants. Four years later
the soil contained less than 0.3 per cent. soluble salts and yielded
a very satisfactory crop of alfalfa. In such cases, however, the land
cannot be considered as finally reclaimed until a material change in
the composition of the drainage water shows that there has been a
complete removal of some of the solid salts from that portion of the
soil feeding the drains.
The rate at which alkali can be leached from a soil is dependent in a
large measure upon the absorptive properties of the soil, and to some
extent upon the nature of the salts composing the alkali. The leaching
is more rapid from sandy than from clay soils, and white alkali is
leached more readily than is black. In general, however, the same laws
hold here as in any leaching of a solute from an absorbent, and it has
been shown that even in the case of black alkali, the rate of removal
under a constant leaching follows the law
_dx_
————— = K (A - _x_).[144]
_dt_
[144] The removal of “black alkali” by leaching, by F. K. Cameron and
H. E. Patten, Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., =28=, 1639, (1906).
In practice, the water does not percolate through the soil under a
constant “head,” but the flow is intermittent, so that the value of the
above formula is mainly academic. On the other hand, if the drainage
between floodings is thorough, this procedure should be more efficient
than any other for causing a rapid removal of the alkali salts, if, as
is generally the case, a limited quantity of water is available.
Finally, it remains to be pointed out that the use of excessive amounts
of water on alkali tracts is quite as unfortunate in its effects as the
use of too little. If water be added to an undrained soil or in excess
of the capacity of the drains to remove it, incalculable harm may be
done by enormously increasing in the surface soil the amount of salts
brought up from the lower layers as the capillary stream rises to the
surface in consequence of evaporation there. Should the wetting of the
soil proceed so far as to establish good capillary connection with the
permanent ground water, the harm may be sufficient to offset in a few
weeks or months expensive reclamation efforts of years. The harm to the
tract where the water is added may be far less than the harm done to
other areas. A large proportion of existing alkali deposits or “spots”
results from the evaporation of seepage waters coming sometimes from
considerable distances. The over-wetting of a soil means the production
of seepage waters which are to appear at the surface somewhere
else, generally at a lower level, and frequently means the more or
less complete ruin of the soils of the lower level. The experience
of India, Africa and our own arid states in the increase of alkali
spots following the introduction of irrigation, added to our present
theoretical knowledge, should make the planning of an irrigation
project without adequate drainage provisions, a stupidity, and its
accomplishment a public crime. Quite as important is the development
of a public opinion that the individual cultivator who deliberately or
carelessly uses excessive amounts of water on his tract is a serious
enemy to the body politic, and should be treated as such.
INDEX.
Absorbents, Influence on soil extracts, 38
Absorption by soils, 9, 59, 65
formula, 62
of dyes, 60, 61
rate, 63
selective, 61
Acid digestion of soils, 11, 12
Adsorption, 9, 60
Alkali, 110, 118
Effect on soils, 118
Order of deposition, 112
Reclamation, 117, 121
Source, 111, 117
Antagonism between salts, 120
Apophyllite, Crystallization from water, 35
Apple trees, Effect of grass on, 98
Appleyard, James R. _See_ Walker, James, and
Appleyard, James R.
Ash analyses, 11, 13
Association of Official Agricultural Chemists’ analyses, quoted, 12
cited, 12
“official method”, 10, 12
“Available” and “non-available” plant-food elements, 8
Averitt, S. D. _See_ Peter, Alfred M., and Averitt, S. D.
Bacteria in soils, 103
Bailey, Liberty H., cited, 5
Balance between supply and removal of mineral plant nutrients, 75
Barium in soils, 107
Bardt, A. _See_ Doroshevskii, A. and Bardt, A.
Becquerel, Antoine C., cited, 67
quoted, 68
Bell, James M., and Cameron, Frank K., cited, 28
Bell, James M. _See also_ Cameron, Frank K., and Bell, J. M.;
Cameron, Frank K., Bell, J. M.,
and Robinson, W. O.
Benedick, Carl, cited, 55
Birner, H., and Lucanus, B., cited, 70
Bischof, Gustav, cited, 113
Black alkali, 110, 114, 119, 124
Blanck, Edward, cited, 63
Breazeale, James F., acknowledgments, 80
cited, 71
_See also_ Cameron, Frank K., and Breazeale, J. F.;
LeClerc, J. A. and Breazeale, J. F.
Briggs, Lyman J., cited, 55
and Lapham, Macy H., cited, 41
and McLane, John W., cited, 26
Martin, F. O., and Pearce, J. R., cited, 31
Brooks, William P., cited, 5
Brown, Bailey E., cited, 46
quoted, 46, 115
Bryan, H. _See_ Davis, R. O. E., and Bryan, H.
Buckingham, Edgar, cited, 30
Burney, W. B., quoted, 98
Cameron, Frank K., cited, 110, 114, 115
_See also_ Bell, James M., and Cameron, Frank K.;
Kearney, Thomas H. and Cameron, Frank K.;
Whitney, Milton, and Cameron, Frank K.
and Bell, James M., cited, 31, 38, 50, 113, 122
and Breazeale, James F., cited, 62
and Gallagher, Francis E., cited, 24
and Patten, Harrison E., cited, 63, 124
and Robinson, William O., cited, 27, 53
Bell, James M., and Robinson, William O., cited, 114
Calcium nitrate, basic, 108
Carbon dioxide in the soil, 53
Charpentier, Jean G. F., cited, 113
Chemical analysis of soils. _See_ Soil analysis—Chemical.
Chesneau, G., cited, 68
Christie, W. A. K. _See_ Holland, Sir Thomas H.,
and Christie, W. A. K.
Clarke, Frank Wigglesworth, cited, 76, 115
Coffey, George N., quoted, 23
Concentration of mineral constituents, 39
Concentration, Plant growth and, 70
Cracking of soil, 22
Creep, 19
Creighton, Henry J. M. _See_ Findlay, Alexander,
and Creighton, Henry J. M.
Critical moisture content, 24
Crop control methods, 7, 105
plants defined, 1
producing power and aqueous extract, 81
rotation, Natural, 97
Objects of, 4
yields increasing, 16
Crumb structure of soils, 25
Crumbing, 27, 119
Cushman, Allerton S., cited, 36
“Cut-off”, 22, 75
Cyanamid, 108
Czapek, Friedrich, Experiments on root etchings, 9
Criticism of Molisch, 101
Dachnowski, Alfred, cited, 88
Darbishire, Francis V., and Russell, Edward J., cited, 103
Darwin, Horace, cited, 22
Davis, R. O. E., quoted, 63
and Bryan, H., cited, 55
De Candolle, Augustin P., cited, 97
Degradation of rocks, 1
De Roode, Rudolph J. J., quoted, 98
Diaspore, 34
Dittrich, Max., cited, 13
Doroshevskii, A., and Bardt, A., cited, 35
Dorsey, Clarence W., cited, 110, 122
Drainage waters, Composition, 124
Drought limits defined, 29
Dunnington, Francis P., cited, 98
Dust, 20
Dyer, Bernard, cited, 40
method of soil analysis, 10
quoted, 6
Dynamic nature of soil phenomena, 18
Earthworms, 22
European soils, analyses, 16
Erosion, 20
Etchings, Root, 9
Ewart, A. J., cited, 18, 72, 73
Excreta, Toxic, 99, 100, 103
“Factors”, 11
Failyer, George H., cited, 107
_See also_ Schreiner, Oswald, and Failyer, George H. Smith,
Joseph G., and Wade, H. R., cited, 32
Fairy rings, 98
Feldspars, 35, 38, 55
Fertilizers, 4, 83, 105
Film water, 24
tenacity, Experiments, 25
Findlay, Alexander, and Creighton, Henry J. M., cited, 53
Fine a soil, to, 4
Fischer, Emil, and Schmidmer, Edward, cited, 61
“Fly-off”, 22, 75
Frear, William, cited, 5
Free, Edward Elway, cited, 20
Friedel, Charles and Sarasin, Edmond, cited, 34
Gallagher, Francis Edward. _See_ Cameron, Frank K.
and Gallagher, Francis E.
Gannett, Henry, cited, 76
Gaudechon, H. _See_ Muntz, A., and Gaudechon, H.
Geikie, _Sir_ Archibald, cited, 75
Gels, 36
Gilbert, Joseph H., cited, 98
Gonnard, F., cited, 35
“Good” and “poor” soils compared, 80
Graham, Thomas, cited, 67
Granulate a soil, to, 4
Grass, Effect on apple trees, 98
Gravitational water, 23
Great Salt Lake, Reaction of water, 113
Green manure, Effect on soil extracts, 87
Gypsum on alkali soils, 119
Hardpan, 111
Harter, Leonard L. _See_ Kearney, Thomas H., and Harter, L. L.
Hartwell, Burt L., Wheeler, H. J., and Pember, F. R., cited, 74
Haselhoff, Emil. _See_ König, Joseph, and Haselhoff, E.
Haworth, Erasmus, cited, 113
Heileman, William H., quoted, 65
Heterogeneity of soils, 1, 21, 32, 79
Hilgard, Eugene W., cited, 5, 6, 38, 40, 119
Method of soil analysis, 10
Hillebrand, William F., cited, 13
Hills, Joseph L., cited, 5
Holland, Sir Thomas H., and Christie, W. A. K., cited, 116
Hulett, George A., cited, 68
Humic acids, 55
Humus, 61
Hutchinson, Henry B. _See_ Russell, Edward J.,
and Hutchinson, Henry B.
Hydrolysis, 33
Imbibition, 59
Irrigation, 120
Johnson, Samuel W., cited, 40, 77
quoted, 2
Kahlenberg, Louis, and Lincoln, Azariah T., cited, 35
Kaolinite, 34
Kearney, Thomas H., and Cameron, Frank K., cited, 119
and Harter, Leonard L., cited, 119
Kentucky agricultural experiment station,
Method of soil analysis, 10
King, Franklin H., cited, 75, 76, 77
quoted, 46, 76
Knight, Wilbur C., and Slosson, Edwin E., cited, 114
König, Joseph, and Haselhoff, E., cited, 8
Kossovich, Petr. S., Experiments on root etchings, 9
Lagergren, Sten, cited, 26
Lake desiccation, 114
Lapham, Macy H. _See_ Briggs, Lyman J., and Lapham, Macy H.
Lawes, John B., and Gilbert, Joseph H. _See_ Gilbert, Joseph H.
Leather, J. Walter, cited, 23
Le Clerc, J. Arthur, and Breazeale, James F., cited, 14
Lemberg, Johann T., cited, 35
Liebig, Justus, cited, 8, 97
Liebrich, A., cited, 34
Liebreich, quoted, 68
Lieving, quoted, 68
Lincoln, Azariah T. _See_ Kahlenberg, Louis,
and Lincoln, Azariah T.
Lipman, Jacob G., cited, 72, 103
_See also_ Voorhees, Edward B., and Lipman, Jacob G.
Lipman, C. B., cited, 120
Litmus, Absorption of, 66
as indicator, 66
Livingston, Burton E., cited, 85, 88, 97
Loughridge, Robert H., cited, 28, 119
Lucanus, B. _See_ Birner, H., and Lucanus, B.
McGee, W. J., quoted, 22, 76
McLane, John W. _See_ Briggs, Lyman J., and McLane, John W.
Manure, Stable, Effect on soil extracts, 84
Martin, F. Oskar. _See_ Briggs, Lyman J., Martin, F. O.,
and Pearce, J. R.
Maxwell, Walter, Method of soil analysis, 10
Mechanical analysis, 31
Merrill, George P., cited, 9
Meyerhoffer, Wilhelm, cited, 111
Meyer, Victor, cited, 67
Minchin, George M., cited, 26
Mineral constituents of soil solution, 31, 37
Mineral plant nutrients, balance between supply and removal, 75
Mississippi River, Soil-carrying power, 21
Mixing of soils, 33
Moisture content, 24
Moisture movement into soil, 28
Molisch, Hans, cited, 101
Mooers, Charles A., cited, 10
Motion in soils, 19
Movement of soils, 20
Muntz, A., and Gaudechon, H., cited, 30
quoted, 24
Murray, _Sir_ John, cited, 75
Newell, Frederick H., cited, 75
Night-soil, 108
Nitrates in agriculture, 108
in soil solution, 103
Nitrogen carriers, 103
“Official method” of soil analysis, 10
Optimum moisture content, 24
Organic compounds, Effect on plants, 82
Organic constituents of soil solution, 54, 79
Orthoclase, Alteration of, 33
Ostwald, Wo., cited, 28
Oxidizing power of roots, 101
Oxygen in the soil, 53
Oxystearic acid, Toxic to plants, 96
Patten, Harrison E., cited, 24, 25, 60
_See_ Cameron, Frank K., and Patten, Harrison E.
and Waggaman, William H., cited, 9, 59
and Gallagher, F. E., cited, 59
Pearce, Julia R. _See_ Briggs, Lyman J., Martin, F. O.,
and Pearce, J. R.
Pember, F. R. _See_ Hartwell, Burt L., Wheeler, H. J.,
and Pember, F. R.
Penfield, Samuel L., cited, 13
Percolation experiments, 47
Peter, Alfred, cited, 54
and Averitt, S. D., cited, 10
Pfeffer, Wilhelm F. P., cited, 18, 72, 73, 101
Phlogiston theory, 17
Phosphates, 50
Picoline carboxylic acid, toxic to plants, 96
Plant-food theory, 16
Plant growth and concentration, 70
Plant nutrients, Supply and removal, 75
Plot experiments, 14
“Poor” and “good” soils compared, 80
Pot experiments, 14
Puddling, 25
Pyrogallol, 87
Pyrophyllite, 34
Ragweed, 97, 98
Rainfall, 22, 75
Rajputana, Salt deposits, 116
Rayleigh, Lord, cited, 26
Reed, Howard S. _See_ Schreiner, Oswald, and Reed, Howard S.;
Schreiner, Oswald, Reed, Howard S.,
and Skinner, J. J.
Removal of plant nutrients, Supply and, 75
Reversible reactions, 34
Ries, Heinrich, quoted, 112
River waters, Concentration of, 76
Robinson, William O. _See_ Cameron, Frank K.,
and Robinson, William O.;
Cameron, Frank K., Bell, James M.,
and Robinson, W. O.
Rodewald, H., cited, 24
Römer, Hermann. _See_ Wilfarth, Hermann, Römer, Hermann,
and Wimmer, G.
Root etchings, 9
Root growth mechanism, 19
Roots of growing plants, 18
Rotation of crops, 97
Rothmund, V., cited, 68
“Run-off”, 22, 75
Russell, Edward J., cited, 103
_See also_ Darbishire, Francis V., and Russell, Edward J.
and Hutchinson, Henry B, cited, 72
Sachs, Julius, Experiments on root etchings, 9
Salt as fertilizer, Common, 108
Sarasin, Edmond. _See_ Friedel, Charles,
and Sarasin, Edmond, 34
Schmidmer, Edward. _See_, Fischer, Emil, and Schmidmer, Edward.
Schreiner, Oswald, quoted, 102
and Failyer, George H., cited, 41, 47
and Reed, Howard S., cited, 100, 101
and Shorey, Edmund C., cited, 95
and Sullivan, M. X., cited, 100
Reed, Howard S., and Skinner. J. J., quoted, 89
Sea water, Desiccation of, 111
Seedlings, Growth of, 74, 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, 100, 102
Seedlings, Toxic action of acids and salts, 62
Seidell, Atherton, quoted, 115
Shaler, Nathaniel S., cited, 20
Shorey, Edmund C., cited, 95
_See also_ Schreiner, Oswald, and Shorey, E. C.
Shrinking of soils, 22
Skinner, J. J., quoted, 99, 102
Skinner, J. J. _See also_ Schreiner, Oswald, Reed, Howard S.,
and Skinner, J. J.
Slosson, Edwin E. _See_ Knight, Wilbur C.,
and Slosson, Edwin E.
Smith, Joseph G., quoted, 98
_See also_ Failyer, George H., Smith, Joseph G.,
and Wade, H. R.
Sodium chloride as fertilizer, 108
Soil, the, 1
Soil amendments, 105
analysis, Chemical, 8, 22
Methods, 10
atmosphere, 23
bacteria, 23, 103
control, 4
methods, 4
erosion, 20
fatigue, 100
heaving, 22
individuality, 2
management, 2, 3, 4
minerals, Chief, 32
moisture defined, 1
not a static system, 18
phenomena, Dynamic nature of, 18
shrinking, 22
solution defined, 1
Analyses, 39
Importance of, 2
Organic constituent of, 79
Survey Field Book, cited, 3
translocation by water, 20
wind, 21
Soils, Composition of, 1
Mineral constituents of, 32
Moisture content, 24
Water extracts of, 39
Solid solution defined, 59
Solubility of minerals, 52, 55
Spring, Walthère, cited, 67
Structure, 27
Subsoils, Infertility of, 88
Sullivan, Michael X., cited, 102
quoted, 68
_See also_ Schreiner, Oswald, and Sullivan, M. X.
Supply and removal of plant nutrients, 75
Surface effects, 67
Surface tension, 27
Swan tract, Utah, 123
Swingle, Walter T., cited, 119
Taylor, Frederick W., cited, 5
Tennessee agricultural experiment station,
Methods of soil analysis, 10
Thorne, Charles E., cited, 5
Tillage methods, 4
Objects of, 4
Tollens, Bernhard C. G., cited, 14
Toxic excreta of roots, 99, 100, 103
Udden, Johan August, quoted, 21
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Soils.
_See_ Soil Survey Field Book.
U. S. Geological Survey, cited, 13
Underdrainage, 121
Utah Lake water analyses, 115
Van Hise, Charles R., cited, 35, 36
van’t Hoff, Jakob H., cited, 67, 111
Voorhees, Edward B., and Lipman, Jacob G., cited, 72, 103
Wade, Harold R. _See_ Failyer, George H., Smith, Joseph G.,
and Wade, H. R.
Waggaman, William H. _See_ Patten, Harrison E.,
and Waggaman, William H.
Walker, James, and Appleyard, James R., cited, 60
Washington, Henry S., cited, 13
Water, Movement into soils, 28
vapor, Movement in soils, 29
Way, John T., cited, 9
Weeds, Analyses of, 98
Weinschenk, E., cited, 35
Wheeler, Homer J., cited, 74
Wheeler, Homer J. _See also_ Hartwell, Burt L., Wheeler, H. J.,
and Pember, F. R.
White alkali, 110, 111
Whitney, Milton, cited, 16
and Cameron, Frank K., cited, 26, 42
Wilfarth, Hermann, Römer, Hermann, and Wimmer, G., cited, 14
Willard, Julius T., cited, 5
Wimmer, G. _See_ Wilfarth, Hermann, Römer, Hermann,
and Wimmer, G.
Wind, 20
Carrying power of, 21
Wind-borne soil material, 21, 33
Wöhler, Friedrich, cited, 35
Wolff, Emil T. von, tables, cited, 77
Woburn, Experiments at, 98
Young, Thomas, cited, 26
Zeolites, 9, 34, 35
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=WYSOR=—Metallurgy, a Condensed Treatise for the
use of College Students and Any Desiring
a General Knowledge of the Subject.
Pages 308. 88 Illustrations $3.00