106 Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society. 



justice to all parties, it will require a premium list of at least :^5,000, and we have 

 reason to believe that the amount will be placed at our disposal. We further 

 recommend that the executive committee take the matter in charge, and arrange, 

 if possible, to hold in September next, or at such time as they may find most coij- 

 venient, at Louisville, Ky., the grandest exhibition of horticultural products ever 

 vet held anywhere. S. H. Nowlix, Chairman. 



T. T. Ia'ox. 



J. S. Beaty. 



The President — Our next paper considers a subject of growing 

 importance in all portions of this country — irrigation in horticul- 

 ture. You have already given some attention to it in the straw- 

 berry discussion, and I think you are inclined to consider this 

 question in its more general aspects. The Hon. F. P. Baker, of 

 Topeka, Kansas, who is the United States Commissioner of Forestry 

 for the Mississippi Valley, has given this matter much attention. 

 You will be glad to hear Mr. Baker. 



IRRIGATION IN HORTICULTURE. 



HY F. P. r.AKER. 



From the earliest dawn of primeval histoiy, in the opening records of the 

 life of man on earth, water has been artificially applied in the cultivation of 

 the soil. The earliest records of all nations, the poetical imagery, of every 

 people living, far back in the gray dawn of antiquity, indicate no mean ap- 

 preciation of their " larger and smaller streams "in the success of their til- 

 lage or grazing. No more beautiful description of this kind can, perhaps, be 

 found than the picture drawn by a Hebrew poet when he speaks of the pro- 

 vision God has made for the people of Eastern climes : " He sendeth the 

 springs into the valleys which run along the hills ; he watereth the hills from 

 his chambers and the laughing abundance by which the mountains are 

 crowned in consequence of it. The little hills rejoice on every side. The 

 pastures are clothed with tlocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn : 

 they shout for joy ; the}'' also sing." 



The cradle of the human race, and their tirst settlements being in the East, 

 where the temperature is similar to that of our great western plains, the care 

 of the tirst tillers of the soil was .to securing that supply of water for their 

 fields which might yield food to their families, flocks and herds. For this 

 purpose, in case the natural supply of water was scanty, they dug wells and 

 canals and sought to lead out streams and rivulets to spread over their lands. 



To guard against the effects of heat, in drying up their fields, was an object 

 of great desire. Artificial means of various kinds were adopted. Among 

 the ancient Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians a variety of methods wa.i 



