EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. YI. :N^o. 



The statement is made in a recent article tliat "statistics wonld prob- 

 ably show that the farmer's honse or barn is destroyed by tire much 

 less frequently than his crops are i^artiaJly or wholly devastated by 

 drought." Losses from this source are by no means confined to the 

 arid or semiarid regions of the Western United States, but aggregate 

 millions of dollars every year in the so-called humid regions of the 

 Eastern and Southern States as a consequence of thelong^dry si)ells" 

 which prevail in so many localities of those regions. A deficiency of 

 rainfall during a comparatively short period at a critical stage of the 

 growth of a crop, as for instance at the time of formation of seed, may 

 result in serious reduction in yield and quality of crop or in total failure. 



The most reliable safeguard against such a result is irrigation in sou;e 

 form. There is reason to believe that the systems of iri-igation now so 

 extensively and successfully practiced in the arid and semiarid regions 

 may be employed in modified form and on a smaller scale with marked 

 advantage on at least the more valuable farm lands of the humid regions 

 of the United States. 



In such regions there is usually little trouble in securing all the water 

 needed for purposes of irrigation. By impouuding the small streams 

 and utilizing the springs which occur on almost every farm sufficient 

 water might be stored at small expense to carry the crops safely over 

 the one or two " dry spells" which are likely to occur during the grow- 

 ing season. The construction of extensive reservoirs and canals of 

 course could not wisely be undertaken, but on a great many farms the 

 topographical conditions are such that the small streams might be col- 

 lected in reservoirs from which the water might be distributed by means 

 of open ditches over a large area of the farm, or a portion of the flow 

 of larger streams might be diverted and distributed by the same means 

 in time of need. In fact this kind of irrigation, especially in meadows, 

 is already practiced to a limited extent in the Eastern United States. 



Such a system intelligently practiced would very largely eliminate 

 the element of chance in farming operations and reduce the culture of 

 the soil more nearly to a science. Besides affording greater security it 

 would permit of intensive cultivation and the widest diversification of 



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