“= Se 
, 7 
AN EXPERIMENT IN IRRIGATION. 3803 
’ 
ward ata right angle to form a handle, may be slipped in and thus 
form a gate to shut off the hole more or less at will. This device is 
tacked with clout nails to the inside of the trough so that the hole 
exactly coincides with the one through the board that forms the 
side of the trough. lf the attendant discovers that one row of 
strawberries is receiving more than its share of water, he partially 
closes the gate at the end of this row, and if another row is receiv 
ing too little, he opens its gate more. A sufficient length of trough 
should be used so that the holes can discharge all of the water de- 
livered without being open to their full capacity. 
We have found it more satisfactory to apply the water slowly 
over a large area at once,and thus give it ample time to soak into the 
_ ground, than to apply it faster over a small area. From ten to 
twelve hours of pumping were required to thoroughly wet the soil 
for one-fourth of an acre of strawberries, and the water gen- 
erally came through the two and a half inch pipe under consid- 
erable pressure. This will convey some faint idea of the large 
amount of water required for irrigation in dry weather. 
EFFECT OF IRRIGATION UPON THE YIELD. 
Our strawberries were irrigated for the first time June 11, just as 
the fruit was beginning to ripen. Atthis time no rain had fallen 
since May 23,a period of eighteen days, and the plants were just 
‘beginning to show the effects of the drought. The plants immedi- 
ately resumed their fresh and vigorous appearance and yielded a 
fine crop of excellent fruit. No further watering was needed until 
after the picking season, the drought having been relieved by rain 
on June 16. A portion of our strawberry plantation was left with- 
out irrigation as a check by which to judge the benefits received 
fromirrigation. One plat of eighteen rows of Warfield and Wilson 
was irrigated on Junell. (These rows were also irrigated August 2 
and 8, 1893.) A second plat of nine rows of the same varieties planted 
on the same day and with the same stock of plants, was not irrigated 
atany time. Therows were 50 feet long. Multiplying the yield of 
the rows not irrigated by two to make the area comparable, we have 
Bet Stli rt Ated oy Tele er coset sali ara cte Gatcjacme ate Oaanwele 496.6 quarts 
BELOW NOt Wriodted: YIClGed Figs oljs..01< 5.5 <isnie netics caves « 252.8 quarts 
Bimerence in favor OL Atri SattOn. mes cen os biel cba koe ds 243.8 quarts 
The effects of the irrigation appear conspicuously from the ac- 
companying graphic diagram. The difference in yield does not ex- 
press the whole benefit from the irrigation, since the berries from 
the irrigated rows were decidedly larger than those from the rows 
not irrigated, which much enhanced their market value. 
Irrigated....... A RA a 
Not irrigated .. . (agate 
From the limited trials thus far made it would be difficult to ac- 
curately estimate the cost of irrigation. <A fairestimate of thelabor 
required would be three men, working one day, for each half acre 
irrigated. This includes the labor of running the engine, of set- 
ting up and removing the troughs and the distribution of the 
