[268] 



On the importance of Irrigation, By Samuel Haim. 

 Philadelphia, August &th 1825. 



Read, August 16th, 1825. 



bir, 



The great scarcity, and consequent his^h price at 

 present of butter, vegetables, and other articles in our 

 market, reminds me agjain most forcibly, of the benefits 

 that would result both to town and country, if the prac- 

 tice of irrigation was introduced within the limits from 

 which these articles are chiefly collected. 



I have often wondered, since you and 1 first conversed 

 upon tliis subject, that among the numerous well written 

 essays on various subjects connected with agriculture, 

 no one has entered into an examination of the advantages 

 that would be derived from irrip^ation. 



Cast your eye upon a map of Pennsylvania, and within 

 a range of thirty miles around this city, you will see one 

 of the best watered districts in this country ; a district 

 closely intersected with numerous streams of the finest 

 water, most of which I know from actual levels taken in 

 various directions, have their sources at an elevation of 

 from 300 to 500 feet above the level of the tide. The 

 great elevation from which these streams flow, besides 

 being favourable to a great supply of water, afford an op- 

 portunity of spreading it over a great extent of surface. 



Within the limits above mentioned, and from which a 

 great portion of our small articles for market are produ- 

 ced, I have no hesitation in saying, there are 50,000 acres 

 of good arable land over which water might be com- 



