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[1 <br />Electrical conductivity (EC) is used to indicate the salt concentration of the soil (Brady, 1990). <br />' For plant growth purposes, an EC greater than 4 indicates a saline soil and conditions which <br />' limit plant growth (Richards, 1954) by reducing the availability of soil water to plants (Williams <br />and Schuman, 1987). All the soil horizons sampled here indicate no plant growth limitations <br />from salinity. <br />'~ Cation exchange capacity (CEC) of a soil is the sum total of exchangeable cations which a soil <br />can adsorb. CEC should be greater than 5 meq/100g to support plant growth (Schaller and <br />' Sutton, 1978). CEC values for analyzed samples ranged from 1.6 to 37.2 meq/100g. Soil <br />samples of gravel indicate an unfavorable CEC, but this will be corrected by adding fertilizer, <br />topsoil and mulch. <br />;~ <br />References <br />Brady, N.C. 1990. The nature and properties of soils, 10th Ed. MacMillan Publishing Co., <br />' Inc., NY. <br />Redente, E.F. 1988. Personal communication with Fred Charles, Dames & Moore. June 9, <br />1988. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. <br />Richards, L.A. (ed.). 1954. Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. Agricultural <br />L Handbook No. 60, U.S.D.A. <br />Schaller, F.W. and P. Sutton (eds.). 1978. Reclamation of drastically disturbed lands. Am. Soc. <br />' Agron.; Crop Sci. Soc. of Am.; and Soil Sci. Soc. of Am., Madison, WI. <br />Williams, R.D. and G.E. Schuman (eds.). 1987. Reclaiming mine soils and overburden in the <br />western United States-Analytical parameters and procedures. Soil Cons. Soc. of Am., <br />Ankeny, IA. <br />' USDA-SCS. 1977. Planting Guide for Critical Sites in Northwestern Colorado. <br />USDA-SCS. 1981x. Seeding Rates. Technical Notes -Colorado Agronomy Note No. 61. <br />1 USDA-SCS. 1981 b. Standards and Specifications -Critical Area Planting (342). <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Wrds.w <br />_,M <br />15 <br /> <br />