Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 85, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1919 — To Make Land Fertile. [ARTICLE]

To Make Land Fertile.

In the San Luis valley of Colorado there is an area of from 400,000 to 500,000 acres, which has almost completely been deprived of fertility in a seemingly mysterious manner. This condition has been Investigated by Dr. W. P. Headden of the Colorado agricultural experiment station, and he attributes this condition to so-called “black alkali,” composed largely of sodium carbohydrate. This carbonate Is carried in the waters of the valley, including the rivers and. the artesian wells, and the practice of sub-irriga-tion has brought It to the surface by capillarity and evaporation. Doctor Headden suggests that the remedy Iles in a conversion of the carbohydrates into sulphates by the use of a liberal amount of gypsum to one pound of black alkali —and downward washing by means of surface irrigation with furrows or by flooding.