1 82 



THE CANADIAN HORTlCtrLTURIST 



Aug^ust, ipm 



The pipe at the end of the lateral is 

 smaller than the pipe at the beginning on 

 account of the ever diminishing quantity 

 of -water flowing through the pipe owing 

 to the flow through the nozzles. This de- 

 crease in the size of the pipe towards the 

 end allows the water to be kept up to 

 the same pressure to the end. The water 

 is evenly distributed from these laterals 

 over the ground for the full distance that 

 the spray will reach and on completion 

 of the watering of one side the position 

 of the nozzles is reversed so that the 

 other side for a distance of thirty to 

 forty feet may be watered. These lat- 

 eral pipes are connected to the main by 

 a special valve which allows of the pipe 

 being turned in either direction to the 

 right or to the left so that either side may 

 be watered. By means of this valve the 

 water may be thrown high or low de- 

 pending on the direction and velocity of 

 the wind, and how far it is desired to 

 throw the water. This can easily be re- 

 gulated after a few moments of trial. 



A SIMPLE OPERATION 



Applying the water is not difficult, but 

 it requires some practice. The chief 

 difficulty in the way of prospective irri- 

 gation is the source from which to ob- 

 tain water and the best method of bring- 

 ing it to the land. If the water is to be 

 applied by gravity it must be brought 

 from a point higher than the land that 

 is to be irrigated. There should not be 

 any very low places over which the water 

 is to be carried as this adds to the ex- 

 pense of building ditches or wooden 

 flumes. There may be a few cases 

 where it is possible to get water under 

 pressure direct from mains, but these 

 cases would only Ijc near cities or towns, 

 and likely on very high priced land. 

 mlaking; ditches 

 In carrying the water through open 

 ditches, the ditches, in ordinary land, 

 may be opened with' a plow. Thus very 

 little shovelling of earth will be required. 

 The banks of ditches may also be built 

 over low places by means of the plow. 

 Some water will be lost through soaking 

 away, and in very sandy or gravelly soils 

 it may be difficult to carry water on ac- 

 count of this loss, but very few soils will 

 be as open as this. 



Probably the best method to adopt, 

 especially in the Niagara District, would 

 be to bring the water in sufficient quan- 

 tity to the land through open ditches and 

 then pump it into pipes to be distributed 

 from overhead. Pumps are now made 

 that will handle water containing con- 

 siderable quantities of fine sediment, but 

 of course it is desirable to have as much 

 of the sediment as possible removed. 

 This can be done by bringing the water 

 to a standstill in a large basin, construct- 

 ed after the principle of a silt-basin, so 

 that the sediment will settle to the bot- 

 tom. This water can then be handled 

 by the pumps without causing trouble in 

 the nozzle. 



There are a number of places, such 

 as the Welland Canal, which runs 

 through a part of the Niagara District, 

 where water could easily be obtained by 

 gravity. If,' however, a near- source of 

 water cannot be foutid from which the 

 water may be obtained by gravity, it 

 can be lifted to a height of fifty to one 

 hundred feet without great expense and 

 then carried through pipes direct to the 

 land. Of course, it costs money to lift 

 the water this height, but after the en- 

 gine and pump has been installed the 

 cost of power will be small. 



POWER NEK])EI) 



The power required to irrigate an acre 

 of land by the overhead method is about 

 three and a half to four horse-power. The 

 power required per acre decreases with 

 an incrase in acreage so that twenty-five 

 horse-power will supply enough water 

 for about twenty acres. The Skinner 

 Company, of Troy, Ohio, are the pion- 

 eers in this system of irrigation. They 

 issue several very complete bulletins on 

 the subject of irrigation, any one of 

 which is well worth reading by one in- 

 terested. The total cost of the equipment 

 necessary to irrigate from three to five 

 acres by this system is from two hundred 

 to two hundred and fifty dollars an acre. 

 Properly handled it would be a paying 

 proposition for many growers. The 

 method of irrigation to be adopted would 

 have to Ix; worked out by each person, 

 and would depend on the kind of crop, 

 the soil, the source of water, and the 

 capital required. 



TWO CROPS POSSIBLE 



Irrigation would be particularly valu- 

 able for strawberries, raspberries, and 

 vegetables, especially vegetables for the 

 early market, or vegetables planted late 

 in the season, such as late crops of cab- 

 bage or cauliflower, as the soil is usually 

 dry at the time they are planted. Again, 

 irrigation will enable the grower to gel 

 two crops of some things from his land 

 in one season, whereas if irrigation was 

 not practised he would obtain only one 

 crop. 



Irrigation prevents frost from injuring 

 such crops as strawberries and early 

 tomatoes, as on a frosty night irrigation 

 will prevent injury even when the tem- 

 perature is from three to seven degrees 

 below freezing point. Growers can thus 

 afford to push these crops without being 

 at the mercy of frosts. 



Irrigation, to be effective, requires a 

 large volume of water, especially when 

 applied by gravity, as this is a wasteful 

 method of applying water and should be 

 used only where there is an abundant 

 supply. The Ontario Vegetable Grow- 

 ers' Association have already become in- 

 terested in irrigation, and it will not be 

 long before growers of small fruits will 

 be adopting irrigation with a view to in- 

 creasing their returns. It is a question 

 rquiring careful study and thought and 

 those first to adopt it will be the first to 

 reap the benefits. 



Co-'Op^fation by Fruit Growers 



One of the most helpful bulletins deal- 

 ing with coooeration by fruit growers 

 yet issued is one distributed by the 

 University of Missouri Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station. It is Bulletin Number 

 ninety-seven. Besides explaining why 

 cooperation is necessary and the causes 

 which have led to the failure of many 

 cooperative associaitons, the bulletin 

 gives a history of various successful or- 

 ganizations and publishes copies of their 

 by-laws and regulations. 



The bulletin shows clearly the high 

 standards called for by some of the lead- 

 ing fruit growers associations notably 

 the Hood River Apple Growers' Union. 



ADVICE TO GROWERS 



Included in the advice given by the 

 Hood River Union to its members is the 

 following : 



The union will notify you by mail 

 when a variety is to be picked. Upon 

 receipt of such notice, pick, wipe and 

 sort the apples, and get everything ready 

 for packers as follows: Packing house, 

 boxes, paper, packing table, nailing 

 machine, nails, and so forth. Notify the 

 office or the field inspector when you are 

 ready for packers. The field inspector 

 will then tall on you, and if in his judg- 

 ment the job is ready for the packers, he 

 will arrange to put the packers at work ; 

 if not he will advise you how to pro- 

 ceed. 



If the weather is hot, pick during the 

 cool part of the day. Do not allow pick- 

 ers to pull off fruit spurs, nor bruise ap- 

 ples by dropping them into buckets or 

 boxes. Apples should be placed in the 

 baskets or boxes, and not dropped in, or 

 poured in. The stems of the apples 

 should not be broken off. Haul the ap- 

 ples from the orchard to the packing 

 house daily ; do not allow them to stand 

 in the orchard or in the sun. 



WIPING AND SORTING 



Wipe the apples just enough to make 

 them clean and get off the spray. Do 

 not polish them. Sorting should be done 

 when the apples are being wiped. In 

 sorting keep the fancy grades in boxes to 

 themselves, the choice grades by them- 

 selves and the culls separate. Put four- 

 tier apples and larger together, and four 

 and a half-tier and smaller together. 

 Fancy Spitzenburgs should always be 

 graded for fcolor, seventy per cent., or 

 more good red color. Keep the light 

 Spitzerburgs separate from the red ones. 

 Special advice will be given on other red 

 varieties for color as sold. 



Do not fill the boxes too full of loose 

 apples for piling in your warehouse, or 

 the apples will be bruised by the next 

 box placed on top. If boxes should be 

 too full, either take some out or place 

 cleats between the boxes. No box 

 should be placed on top of a box of ap- 

 ples so full as to cause pressure upon 

 the apples in the under box. 



