Irrigation of sandy desert soil with salt water has proven successful in Israel, it was reported here today by Dr. Hugo Boyko, Israeli Government ecologist, in a paper delivered at the New York Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Boyko reported that 180 species of plants were successfully introduced in the “completely vegetationless gravel-slopes which flank the Gulf of Eilat, where the soil consists of 96 per cent stones and sand, 3 per cent silt and, only 1 per cent clay.” After irrigation with salt water, there developed “in the course of a few years a luscious recreation park of six acres” that is now being used by the rapidly growing desert of Eilat, at the southern most extremity of Israel, he said.
Dr. Boyko said the experiments were carried out with 10 different plant species, food and fodder plants, as well as economic plants for industrial purposes, such as Israeli Esparto, an excellent plant raw material for paper pulp. The Israeli scientist stressed the global impact and significance of these experiments.
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