CHAPTER XV 

 IRRIGATION 



EVERY ONE nowadays is talking about "irriga- 

 tion." Those who live in certain parts of our West 

 and South know well enough what it means, for 

 without it there would be no food, nor flowers; but 

 some of my Eastern and Northern friends may not 

 know that it means giving to the earth water that 

 does not come directly from the clouds. We usually 

 call it "watering the garden." 



You see, some parts of the earth have frequent 

 rains or snows all through the year and this is stored 

 up in the soil for plants to use. Other parts of 

 the earth have rain every day for part of the year 

 and no rain at all for the rest of the year. Still other 

 parts almost never have rain, so it is necessary to 

 give the earth water somehow and this we call "irri- 

 gating." 



Where I live we have 54 inches of moisture a 

 year, which is a good deal, and it comes usually once 

 every week or so, sometimes as rain, sometimes as 

 snow. But sometimes it does not come for several 



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