246 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



We pump from an ordinary well, and the pump throws an 

 inch and a quarter stream. First we pumped directly to the 

 field, which worked very well except that it is too hard on the 

 engine and pump. We now use an elevated tank and find that 

 works better. I prefer to have the water come directly from 

 the well rather than have it pumped up and allowed to stand 

 in the tank and grow warm. It is better for irrigating, and the 

 pickers can drink the water, there being faucets all over the 

 patch. We find that the plants like it better; the cooler the 

 water the better they will respond and the more effective it 

 is on insect pests. You can't hurt the plants on a hot day with 

 this water if you do not strike them with a heavy stream but 

 use a sprinkler. 



We divide the patch into two sections and run a pipe through 

 the center, placing a bib or faucet about every sixty feet, and 

 then use common garden hose and lawn sprinklers, watering 

 half the patch daily, which is also the part we pick each day. 



We plan to water as soon as they have been picked, using 

 just water enough to revive the foliage. An inch and a quarter 

 stream of water for an acre of strawberries is as much as we 

 have had to use in the driest season, and I think we nearly 

 doubled the size of the fruit through the entire season. The 

 last berries, as a rule, are small, but I think with irrigation 

 they are fully as large as the first; at any rate, they are no 

 smaller and usually command a better price. 



Mr. Hoyt: How many crops do you pick, and can you 

 keep up with irrigation a continuous picking of crop from your 

 strawberry bed? Will they bear continuously, year after year? 



Mr. Rasmussen: We have never had a loss since we 

 have started to irrigate. We planted berries this year, and as 

 we were short of land we grew spinach and radishes between the 

 rows. We pick a bed only one year, and after having been 

 watered the land is in good shape for plowing. We plow im- 

 mediately after the picking season is over and plant to beans, 

 cabbage or cucumbers. 



Mr. Gardner: I did not quite understand your statement 

 of the amount of water you use. 



Mr. Rasmussen : We have an inch and a quarter stream 

 pumped with gasoline engine into an elevated tank. This is suffi- 

 cient for an acre and a quarter of strawberries. 



Mr. Gardner: How big is your tank? 



Mr. Rasmussen : About thirty barrels. 



Mr. Gardner: Would you lay that pipe right along the 

 row? 



Mr. Rasmussen: Yes, sir, we lay it right on the ground, 



