84 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



while it was soaking back to the roots. We also wet one end of the 

 fodder corn, but as the pond was small it was impossible to get the water 

 as we wished. We then repaired the first dam (or tried to). We had a 

 wooden spout in the bed of the stream that we thought would answer. 

 We packed in the dirt and left it to fill, which would take about three 

 days. When it was nearly full the water forced its way through by the 

 wooden spout, and out went the water into the second pond, causing it to 

 overflow, and away went water and trout over the potatoes again, which 

 was more than w^e had bargained for. But it couldn't be helped. We got 

 the trout into "the drink" again as quickly as possible, and concluded 

 to try again. I then got four-inch tile and placed it in the bed of the 

 stream, and built the dam again. When it was full the water was five 

 feet deep at the breast of the dam; the size of the pond fifty by seventy 

 feet. From the second pond we made a ditch across the potatoes, because 

 we were obliged to take it that way in order to get it on the upper side 

 of the corn. The whole distance I wished to take this water was forty 

 rods. I have irrigated from this stream in a small way several years, 

 but never undertook to carry the water so far as I did during the last 

 drouth, and it was a success. Letting the water out of the first pond 

 into the second raised the water and caused it to flow through this ditch, 

 and when it came to the corn, with my hoe I opened this ditch and let 

 the water run down through the corn until the pond was empty. The 

 ground was so very dry that I was obliged to let the pond fill three times 

 before I got the plants well irrigated. The corn, except that which had 

 been irrigated once, was about six inches high, and every leaf twisted 

 tight. This was the twentieth of July. It was a pleasure to see that 

 corn untwist and grow. It changed color almost immediately. The 

 corn that was irrigated twice during the drouth grew to be over six 

 feet tall, while that which was irrigated once grew three feet tall. If I 

 could have irrigated the whole of the corn twice it would have made 

 some difference in the amount of feed. The Souhegan raspberry canes 

 grew to be ten feet long, but as this was my first experience with that 

 berry I do not know but they generally grow that long. Among the rest 

 I had a few sunflowers that went up like Jack's bean, and the stalks were 

 so large my wife advised me to cut them up for firewood. I have turned 

 the water around blackberry bushes after the fruit had begun to ripen, 

 and they were large and juicy. I have also drawn water from this brook 

 up hill, to water 140 peach trees. We dug away the earth from the upper 

 side of the tree, three or four feet from the body, and used one barrel 

 of water for four trees. We did this three times during the season, and 

 it paid. The peaches were larger and of better color than those not 

 watered, but when we have 1,200 trees, and all up hill, it is certainly a 

 piece of up-hill work that I do not care to undertake. I am satisfied that 

 to raise crops and fruit successfully in this sandy soil, it is to our advant- 

 age to irrigate in some way if possible. I have endeavored to tell you 

 as plainly as possible how I handled this stream of water. My dams are 

 now in good condition, and if I have occasion to use the water another 

 season I think I can do much better than in the past. Any man who has 

 a stream of water on his farm can do as well as I did, and I hope better. 



