August, 191 1 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



19.1 



The Skinner System of Irrigation 



E. E. Adams, Leamington, Ont. 



I have been using the Skinner sys- 

 tem of irrigation on some two and a 

 quarter acres of my ground for about a 

 year, and have obtained very satisfac- 

 tory results. Last year it gave me great 

 satisfaction with my cabbage during a 

 drought when rains were few. The cost 

 of installing the system was about $550. 



I have not as yet enough water supply 

 to obtain the best results, but with what 

 I have I am able to carry over through a 

 dry time a considerable quantity of truck, 

 and thereby increase the profits. I use 

 a gasoline engine and pump combined 

 on one base for pumping the water 

 through the pipes. It goes out of small 

 nozzles with a hole in them about the 

 size of a pin, and with forty pounds 

 of pressure the water is broken into a 

 fine mist which, falling on the soil does 

 not pack it as rains do. 



IT IS USED IN FLORIDA 



Before installing the system, I looked 

 over considerable ground at Tampa and 

 Bradentown, Florida, where it was being 

 used. I have since looked over some 

 ground at Grand Rapids, Michigan, 

 where lettuce was being grown. In 

 Florida, I found twenty acres of cel- 

 ery in one block covered by this system, 

 and when the water was being applied 

 (after four o'clock in the afternoon) the 

 sight was grand. We could see just about 

 what was going to happen to that crop. 

 Almost no rain falls in Florida during 

 January and February vi-hen celery, let- 

 tuce and other truck crops are growing, 

 and when they need la-ge quantities, of 

 water. Some of the finest celery grown 

 in Florida comes from Manatee County, 

 near Bradentown. 



I found in Florida that the system is 

 installed under contract to firms who 

 make a business of selling systems. The 

 cost is said to be about three hundred 

 dollars per acre, which is too much 

 money. My plan was to purchase r.ll 

 my galvanized pipe at wholesale, and 

 also all valves and other fixtures, except 

 some patent unions and nozzles which 

 must be procured from the manufactur- 

 ers. These nozzles are very small, ha\'- 

 ing a small hole, about the size of a pin, 

 so that under the pressure the water is 

 broken up very fine in passing out. I 

 purchased a combined gasoline engine 

 and pump at a cost of two hundred dol- 

 lars, and galvanized pipes, three-quarter, 

 one inch, one and one-quarter and two 

 and a half inches, and fittings. 



WATER IS PUMPED 



Not having a running stream or lake 

 to draw water from, I am forced to pump 

 from a deep well to a storage tank, con- 

 taining nine thousand gallons, which cost 

 about eighty dollars set up, made of 

 southern cypress. Water is pumped into 

 this tank by a windmill, but I cannot say 

 that this is the best method, as the wind 

 does not always blow. In prd^r to over- 



come this, one should have a small en- 

 gine to attach to the pump when no wind 

 is blowing, in order to keep the water 

 coming into the storage tank for emer- 

 gency use. The water is forced into a 

 two and a half inch main, which runs 

 down the centre of my field. Laterals 

 are taken from the main and can be 

 placed fifty-four feet apart. With the 

 patent union previously mentioned, the 

 lateral pipes may be turned to throw 



Many berry growers this season alone 

 lost enough on their berry crops to pay 

 for a small system. For vegetables we 

 must have water, and plenty of it, when 

 cabbage are heading, when roots are 

 making also we must have it, in order to 

 get the best results from our labor. 



Fertilizers for Potatoes 



Does it pay to use fertilizers for pota- 

 toes, and if so, how much and what 

 analysis? The above questions are fre- 

 quently asked, and the answer is more 



The Irrigation System of Mr. E. E. Adam* of Leamington as it appears in his Pepper Field 



Mr. Adams, whose system of irrigation is described in the adjoining article, grows about 

 one and one-quarter acres of green and red peppers each season. An illustration of his crop 

 last season is here shown. The peppers are sold mostly in Ontario, Quebec and New Bruns- 

 wick. Mr Adjuns finds a market for his product by sending out circulars containing quota- 

 tions of the different goods he has to offer. As yet he has never grown enough to supply 

 his trade. 



water— say, east or west — twenty-seven 

 feet, thus covering the ground complete- 

 ly by turning to any desired angle. The 

 nozzles are placed in the lateral pipes 

 about four feet apart. My system has 

 mains running east and west, with later- 

 als running north and south. It is used 

 to water early cabbage, cucumbers, pep- 

 pers, and this season some Gibraltar 

 onions. The results are most marked. 

 When we have a dry spell we turn on the 

 water, and one watering in some in- 

 stances is all that is necessary, as we 

 have at times quite sufficient rain. For 

 cucumbers we must have water at least 

 twice a week, as the crop is forced, in 

 order to have cucumbers when the price 

 is high, which is usually three weeks in 

 July, although this year we shipped from 

 the ground during the last week in June. 

 This system should be used by every 

 vegetable or small fruit grower. Take 

 strawberries, for instance, this season in 

 some parts of Es.sex county, as well as in 

 the Niagara district, where owing to a 

 dry spell in May the crop was practically 

 ruined, it would have been a great thing 

 to have had a rain to apply when needed. 



easily given by learning what is used 

 in the great potato growing districts. 



On Long Island there is a co-opera- 

 tive association of farmers who buy 

 about 6,000 tons of fertilizer, and the 

 analysis they demand is 5-8-8; the fact 

 that they grow very largely early pota- 

 toes accounts for the high per cent, of 

 nitrogen in this mixture. This is also 

 true of the truckers of the Norfolk dis- 

 trict, who grow potatoes for the early 

 New York market, and who use as a 

 standard a 'J-'J-'J — seven of nitrogen, 

 seven of phosphoric acid, and seven of 

 potash. 



The Ohio Experiment Station in some 

 recent fertilizer experiment^ obtained 

 the largest yield from an application of 

 160 pounds of acid phosphate, 100 

 pounds muriate of potash and 80 pounds 

 of nitrate of soda. This material would 

 be equal to about 340 pounds of a .^n.- 

 6j/^p.-iSk. goods, which is about the 

 same analysis as Mr. T. E. Martin, 

 West Rush, used, 1,800 pounds to the 

 acre, to produce his yield of an average 

 of 418 bushels on 18 acres — a yield 

 which has probably never been equalled. 



