126 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Irrigation is often accomplished by flooding or inundating the lands for a few days, 

 when they are so situated that this is practicable. A good illustration of this means is seen 

 in the Grand Pie Marsh in Nova Scotia, which contain the most fertile lands in the province, 

 and is often called the garden of Nova Scotia. These marsh lands are enclosed by dikes, 

 and whenever it is found necessary to enrich the soil, that may become exhausted by constant 

 cropping, the sluicegates are opened and the tide is allowed to overflow the meadows, 

 which leaves a rich deposit of alluvial matter to the depth of one or more inches on the 

 surface, by which means they are kept in constant fertility. 



Any field of a moderate descent can be irrigated by open ditches with but slight expense, 

 where the water is available on an elevation. In Europe, the quantity of water supplied to 

 crops ordinarily cultivated on tilled lands, is from twenty to forty inches during the season; 

 though the rice-fields of Lombardy require a considerably larger amount than this. Expe 

 rience alone can best determine the proper quantity for certain soils and crops. Much, also, 

 depends upon the season and the amount of rain-fall, etc. 



When to Irrigate. Evening, as a general rule, is the best time for irrigating all 

 crops. Constant watering under a hot sun is not only unnatural to all vegetation, but will 

 often prove very injurious to many plants. All plants require more water in the early part 

 of their growth than when nearly mature. Many crops, such as grasses, and some of the 

 grains, for instance, would be injured by an excess of irrigation when approaching the 

 ripening process, and it should be at this time carefully avoided. Light, porous soils, accord 

 ing to best authority, are most benefited by artificial watering; sandy and gravelly soils re 

 quiring it most. Clays, being naturally moist and heavy, are less benefited by it, though are 

 said to be improved by this means when made porous by under-draining. Irrigation often 

 greatly increases the quantity of grass for cattle in pastures that would otherwise, from the 

 condition of the soil, be almost worthless. After a crop of grass has been cut, irrigation 

 will greatly improve the quantity and quality of the aftermath, besides preventing the drying 

 up of the grass-roots by evaporation in the hot sun. The process of irrigating should begin on 

 grass lands very early in the spring, in order to give the herbage a good start. The quantity 

 of water thus supplied to any crop should be adapted to the kind of soil and the crop pro 

 duced, which can only be determined by experiment, since soils vary so greatly that only 

 general rules can be given in this respect. 



