224 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the once arid deserts are now the most productive lands on earth. 

 The method of raising crops by irrigation in the west was first prac- 

 ticed probably by the Mormons in Utah. It has extended over wide 

 areas. California, in L891, had something over 4,000,000 acres under 

 irrigation ; Colorado comes next with about 2,000,000 acres ; New 

 Mexico next, and so on, making a total in 1891 (the last statistics at 

 hand) of 8,026,526 acres in the once arid districts of the West under 

 actual cultivation, besides 10,000,000 more under ditch — a grand total 

 reclaimed of over 181 million acres— an acreage equal to one-half of 

 the cultivating land in this State. 



Mr. Allen says : 'The increase in the yield is often four-fold, 

 seldom less than double. If,only one acre in four could be reclaimed, 

 it would still bring the product of the arid districts up to the product 

 of the balance of the country." This irrigation is not all accomplished 

 by the streams from the mountains. In Colorado there were in 1891 

 4500 artesian wells ; in California, 3500 ; in Utah, 2524. Great labor 

 and expense are required to secure irrigation, but in the arid districts 

 it was absolutely necessary in order to grow crops. We can grow 

 crops in Missouri without it. The questions arising in the discussion 

 are two : First, would irrigation, if applied to our lands, prove bene- 

 ficial ?• Second, can it be done here, or is it practicable ? It has been 

 tried in an experimental way in some of the older states. In Louisiana 

 the director of the station reported (Bulletin 14) : "The irrigated fields 

 yielded thirty-four tons of sugar-cane to the acre ; the unirrigated, 

 eight. The value of the cane for sugar-making was about the same in 

 each case." Corn on irrigated soils yielded 100 bushels to the acre, 

 and sorghum, cotton and cow-peas responded readily to irrigation. 



Dr. Stubbs, the director, says : " Irrigation eliminates the great 

 element of chance from our farming operations, and with good drainage 

 makes the planter nearly independent of the freaks and idiosyncrasies 

 of the weather." 



So far as I know, irrigation has not been tried in Missouri except 

 in a limited way by gardeners. The value of irrigation is not in doubt, 

 provided of course the water could be applied when needed and upon 

 land sufficiently drained. But it must be borne in mind that it requires 

 an enormous quantity of water for crop production. Warrington (Chem- 

 istry of the Farm) gives the amount of water contained in an acre of 

 fresh mown grass as over four tons. When this was dried out there 

 was less than one and a half of hay. Prof. Harris (Talks on Manures) 

 says "an acre of clover will use over 8600 pounds of water daily." 

 Joel Shoemaker of Utah, in a letter recently published, gives an esti- 

 mate of the amount of water it takes for crops where the sole depend- 



