108 Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



to the conclusion that it is evident that irrigation will soon dissipate the old 

 relations, and in view of the facts of the disappearance of the forests and 

 lack of rainfall, a higher culture will come in and the benefits of such a cul- 

 tivation will be fully realized. 



Thaer, the most noted German writer on agriculture, lays down the propo- 

 sition that irrigation "is one of the most useful and important of all the ope- 

 rations within the province of the agriculturist." Moisture is essential to 

 vegetation: and water, either directly or indirectly, or by decomposition, 

 contributes materially to the nutrition of plants. 



Von Lengerke, replying to sixteen questions proposed by the German 

 Royal College of Rural Economy, says that river or lake water which con- 

 tains a sediment is more advantageous than water from springs or wells. 

 The highest degree of heat that water can obtain in the open air, by means 

 of the sun, is the best; a warm rain being more beneficial than a cold rain ; 

 and, as a complete refutation of the argument against irrigation in western 

 Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, that the hot winds will prove injurious, he 

 says, "irrigated in the greatest Avarmth of the atmosphere, so the fields 

 receive the necessary quantity of water, properly distributed, such crops 

 have a more luxuriant growth than others." His experience is, that if there 

 is plenty of sand in the soil, irrigation on the surface is preferable. The ad- 

 vantages of irrigation are presented by many French writers on agriculture- 



In the south of France and Italy, and in Spain, six to twelve irrigations 

 are bestowed on gardens per month, six being more frequent than twelve, 

 meadows being watered once per week. One writer says the sole object in 

 the use of water is to keep up the moisture in the heat of summer, and es- 

 pecially is it valuable when the water contains a slight slime. 



The orange groves, orchards and vineyards of Southern California are only 

 made to yield bountifully by irrigation. Although living streams are few, 

 the whole country seems to be well supplied with vast reservoirs of water a 

 few feet below the surface of the ground. The farms are to be found on the 

 low lands, embracing from two to ten acres each. Wells are dug, windmills 

 erected and reservoirs for retaining water are built on the elevated lands ad- 

 joining. Iron pipes are laid irom the reservoirs through the orchards or 

 gardens. The wind furnishes the motive power, and each day some portion 

 of the farm is flooded with water. If a tree, an embankment six or eight 

 inches is thrown up around it twenty feet in diameter, and in this inclosure 

 the water is turned. Trees do not need, as a rule, but two applications of 

 water during the year. Potatoes and garden vegetables are watered by 

 trenches or with the hose. Thus every farmer is his own thunder shower. The . 

 fruit is rich and juicy, the grapes the finest in the world, while the vegetables 

 are as tender and crisp as those grown in the best gardens of the eastern 

 States. 



In New Mexico and Arizona water is applied in the cultivation of the soil 

 in the most primitive way. Windmills are not used, the cultivated lands 

 being found along the streams. The Pueblo or the Mexican digs an acequia 



