224 [Senate 



E. D. Andrews, of Pittsford, N. Y., says— ''In the hilly country of 

 Termont, I owned a farm, over which I carried the water of a small 

 stream, in artificial channels, more than a mile. Lands that did not 

 yield half a ton to the acre, were thus made at once to yield two tons ; 

 by which means I added to my crop six or eight tons." E. Wilbur, for- 

 merly of Yates county, N. Y., while a resident of that county, watered, 

 artificially, a very dry and unproductive seven acre lot, by means of side 

 channels from a stream which passed through the centre. About one 

 day's work was needed in arranging and plowing these furrows. " The 

 effect was such, " said he, " that it paid me a hundred fold for the seven 

 acres, after the first year. It produced for several years, while I owned 

 it, from two and a half to three tons of hay to the acre ; and the man 

 I sold it to, told me last year that he hardly ever saw such grass — there 

 was hardly room on the ground to make the hay after it was mowed." 



In the vicinity of Philadelphia, irrigation has been occasionally prac- 

 tised. Permanent meadows are selected on the two facing slopes 

 towards a stream, from which the water is diverted by successive 

 parallel channels, carried as high up the sides of the valley as the 

 head of the water will admit. Two and a half tons of hay to the acre, 

 are a common crop on lands thus treated. 



A brother of the writer, by spreading a small stream over the surface 

 of his meadow, tripled at least the product from the land. A successful 

 a barn on elevated ground, to spread over about five acres of meadowj 

 farmer of western New-York, by allowing the wash or liquid manurefrom 

 cut from a part of it no less than five tons of dried hay. Dr. Kirtland, 

 of Cleveland, says that during the past parching season, a field was 

 made to produce two tons of hay to the acre, by turning on it the 

 wash of the yards and road, and the water from two small springs. He 

 also states that an intelligent farmer purchased a farm consisting mostly 

 of barren side hills, and dry, sterile, sandy flats. " He discovered, with 

 the eye of an engineer, that a stream of some size might be turned 

 from a deep glen, by means of a dam, and conducted upon one side of 

 - the glen, so as to be accumulated upon the back part of the farm. 

 From this point it discharges at pleasure, upon different fields, in diffe- 

 rent directions. It is an interesting spectacle, to view his different dams 

 and canals, and to see the brook discharging from level to level, 

 dividing and subdividing, over many acres, spreading fertility through 

 all its varied meanderings. At this time, the farm sustains a flock of 



