No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 627 



Having briefly disposed of the preceding question of supply, we 

 are now confronted with the question as to what is the best method 

 of applying the water to the growing crops. There are three methods 

 being used here in the east, all more or less successful according 

 to kind of soil, lay of the land and crops grown. 



Around Boston we find many growers prefer the water through 

 large mains and then apply with large hose. The objections to this 

 method are, too much labor required, uneven watering and water 

 liable to be applied too rapidly, thereby having a tendency to pack 

 some soils and bieak down many tender plants. 



The furrow method is open to the same objections with the 

 addition that soils of uneven contour will not permit of its use. The 

 overhead system seems Lo be the best and the one that is rapidly re- 

 placing other methods. With this method the water is applied in a 

 fine mist-like spray from nozzles set in galvanized iron pipe arranged 

 on posts in rows at given distances apart. These pipes are capable 

 of being turned either by hand or automatically thus producing 

 an even distribution of water over the entire space. These nozzles 

 are usually placed four feet apart in the pipes and the pipes are 

 about 40 or 50 feet apart according to the water pressure at the 

 nozzle. 



This system, known as the Skinner System of Irrigation, costs 

 only from |90 to |150 per acre to install and will pay for itself in a 

 single season. 



When shall I irrigate and how much water shall I apply? are 

 other questions to be answered and indeed in most cases they are 

 the hardest ones of the whole practice. In order to determine just 

 when crops need water and when to apply it so they will not sutfer 

 from drought or, on the other hand be damaged by too frequent 

 or too generous applications requires practice and a knowledge of 

 the needs of the plants under irrigation. Plants may suffer as much 

 from having the soil kept too wet as too dry. Plants usually do not 

 show the need of water until a great deal of damage has been done 

 and therefore one should never wait for the plants to tell of their 

 need. Frequent sprinkling of the surface soil at irregular intervals 

 is not watering. The surface soil may look moist when the roots 

 of the plant are drying up. The rule seems to be not to water too 

 often but give a good soaking when you do Avater, if the surface 

 looks dry, dig down to a level with the roots and get a handful of 

 soil, squeeze it and if it holds together there is plenty of water 

 present, but if it falls apart quickly water is usually needed. The 

 amount of water to apply depends upon the kind of soil, crop and 

 climatic conditions. It has been stated that about 3-5 of the volume of 

 clay soils and 2-5 of sandy soils is open space, while good garden 

 loams may range between these figures. There is in all soils free 

 water and water around soil particles and as it is ihe free water that 

 plants depend upon it is a question of how much free water should 

 soils contain to produce vigorous growth in plnnts. An answer that 

 has been given to this question states that one {tound of water to ten 

 pounds of soil as it is taken from the field will sujqjly enough water 

 for the average crop. We can only approximate this, however, and 

 in practice must resort to other means of determining whether there 

 is sufficient water iii the soil for the growth of the plant. Cultiva- 

 tion must go hand in hand willi 'rrigation in order to conserve all 



