IRRIGATION, 71 
SUB-IRRIGATION. 
FE. H. NUTTER, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, MINNEAPOLIS. 
One of the beauties of the jury system as often administered in 
our courts is the fact that no one is considered competent to pass 
judgment ona matter until he has confessed to total ignorance, 
in that direction at least; and so, at the outset, I will prove my capa- 
bility to treat this subject without prejudice by saying that I know 
nothing atall about it from a practical standpoint. 
From my experience the past years with parks and other im- 
provements, the necessity for some system of applying water both 
abundantly and economically to lawns and trees and shrubs be- 
comes very apparent, and the idea struck me of utilizing tile or other 
drains for that purpose by a sort of reversion of their usual duty; 
‘and for a while I nurtured my mental offspring with considerable 
pride and a hope of a glowing future for it; imagine then my horror 
when a little investigation proved that it was not my child at all, 
but already boasted as extended a list of progenitors as the sewing 
machine or electric telegraph. But the thought had become attrac- 
tive to me, sol haunted your secretary’s office, examining different 
reports and magazines to see what light they could throw on the 
matter, till that worthy official invited me to confide my thoughts to 
paper, probably hoping by this vicarious suffering on your part to 
get a respite himself; but for yourcomfort I can assure you that his 
scheme was a total failure. However, by correspondence and study 
of what literature I have been able to obtain I have investigated the 
subject, and what I here present is more in the way of a compilation 
than an original article. 
I have concluded that there are two reasons for the ill success 
which has attended many attempts at irrigation in this section of 
the country. The first is,that good irrigation does not require so 
much water as we think,and the second is, that it requires a good 
deal more. To explain this apparent paradox, I will say that the 
usual practice is to apply asmall amount of water daily, which toa 
certain extent may have the effect on vegetable growth that a con- 
tinual indulgence in stimulants may have upon the human system, 
even if the party is never intoxicated. 
A California authority on irrigation states that for many crops 
one application of water in a season is all that is necessary, while 
none will require more than three; but these applications of course 
are thorough soakings. In the meantime, thorough cultivation of 
the top soil is practiced to maintain the soil mulch. 
To return to the special subject of sub-irrigation. As is evident, 
this refers to application of water below the natural surface of the 
the soil. In California this term is sometimes applied to tracts of 
land which reap the benefits of adjoining or former irrigation; a 
forty-acre tract surrounded by irrigated lands is sometimes re- 
claimed itself, or if neglected after having been irrigated for some 
years, the saturated sub-soil will for a while maintain it in bearing. 
But the division of the subject of which I speak refers to the direct 
application of the water by means of tile or other appliances buried 
