.124 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



The same applies to water from a gravity project. A stream must 

 furnish water throughout the season to be of the greatest value. 



Many of the products from an irrigated farm are bulky, and trans- 

 portation from the place where they are grown to the railroad or boat 

 and the cost of sending them to market must be figured for a term 

 of years. It is possible for the cost of hauling heavy crops to a load- 

 ing point to be a large percentage of the total cost of production. 



Unless the prospective purchaser is familiar with soil, crop adapta- 

 tion, the labor and cost of preparing land for irrigation and the cost 

 of water under different systems, he should secure advice on these points 

 from some one who does; for a place well selected and well bought is 

 Avell started toward success, while some otherwise good prospective 

 producers of crops are so handicapped by wrong selection of land that 

 it takes years for them to surmount the handicap, if they are ever 

 able to. The average person does not hesitate to pay for medical or 

 legal advice. Why should he hesitate to obtain the best possible counsel 

 on a matter that concerns his future success in so vital a way as the 

 selection of land for a farming business? 



OBJECT OF IRRIGATION. 



The fundamentals of irrigation practice are based on the object of 

 irrigation. Irrigation is practiced to supply to the soil, in the area in 

 which roots take plant food, a sufficient supply of moisture for the best 

 possible development of the plant. Many different methods of applying 

 water are necessary to accomplish this result with the different kinds 

 of soil. This is what makes every successful irrigator a student, and 

 is the reason that an ingenious, thinking person gets better results than 

 one who simply "irrigates" without knowing what the water is doing. 



There is no Ijetter way to learn what the condition of the soil is than 

 to dig holes in it, before and after irrigation, to find out how dry the soil 

 is and whether or not the moisture has penetrated to the proper depth. 



On one large deciduous orchard in Glenn County we have just dug 

 good sized holes in every part where there are apt to be different soil 

 conditions. This was done to find out how fast the moisture is drjdng 

 out, how well the mulch is holding the moisture and how far down the 

 tree roots extend. The trees were planted last year. We found that 

 wherever we were able to disc the land and get a good mulch before the 

 soil became hard and dry, there was plenty of moisture ; in one place 

 an irrigation now will connect the lower moisture up to a place where 

 the greatest root development is (two to three feet) before it gets 

 so low that the tree will suffer. To irrigate now and carry these few 

 trees through without a check is Avartli many times the cost of digging 

 all of the holes. 



While the water is running, the depth of penetration can be deter- 

 mined with a sharp pointed steel rod, and every irrigator should use 

 one of these rods frequently. It can be shoved into the ground easily 

 to the depth that the moisture has penetrated. 



Until we have more definite data as to the moisture requirements of 

 plants, and some easy method by which the irrigator can test the soil 

 for moisture content, the condition of the plant and the soil as observed 

 by the operator, is one of the best guides as to when irrigation is 

 required. It is difficult to tell just what to look out for in the plant 

 when it begins to need moisture ; but the careful, observing man readily 



