IDEAL IRRIGATION METHODS IN NEW MEXICO. 



water stops all the pores in the soil, cutting off the air 

 from the roots and, as it were, taking the life out of 

 them for a time. Aquatic plants excepted, no plants 

 can live without air, and that air must envelop the 

 roots as well as the plant itself to give them vitality. 

 Corn, vegetables and all hoed crops should be irri- 

 gated by the furrow system, if it is not possible to use 

 underground irrigation. By this system the water is 

 conducted in furrows between the rows, so deep that 

 it is made to come up to the roots in the soil and 

 never so high as to touch the stalks, as it, together 

 with the hot sun, often kills tender plants and also 

 makes a crust on the surface that has a tendency to 

 shut off the air from the roots. 



WHY IT IS NECESSARY TO IRRIGATE. 

 In this dry climate rain is very good for crops when 

 it comes at the right time and in proper quantities, 

 and, furthermore, it is applied in the most scientific 



AVENUE 



method, but that happens only once in a hundred 

 times; hence irrigation is altogether better at all 

 times, because the water can be applied when the 

 crops need it and be kept off when they do not need 

 it. The quantity also can be regulated as the crops 

 demand. As the roots are the main avenues through 

 which the plant gets its food and the water the main 

 agent to carry that food to and into the plant, the 

 reasons why we irrigate are very evident. Irrigation 

 is carried on to promote the growth of plant life in 

 making soluble all plant food in the soil and in reduc- 

 ing it to a condition capable of being taken up by the 

 roots. It is reduced by chemical action to an in- 

 finitely attenuated condition and goes into the roots 

 in a very fine hygroscopic form, all through the 



agency of water. When the water is put on crops in 

 too great quantities and permitted to stand too long 

 around them, the pores of the soil become choked up 

 and the roots refuse to act and death to the plants is 

 the result. 



We come now to the consideration of the request of 

 the editor of THE AGE for a "description of the 

 methods used in this station and the results obtained." 

 The method used by us in the orchards is unique and 

 is not practiced by anyone elsewhere to our knowl- 

 edge. It is peculiarly well adapted to our climate 

 and soil, and I might say to all sections of the arid 

 regions. The results are highly gratifying, and I 

 think are much better than any I have ever tested. 



UNIQUE METHOD USED IN ORCHARDS. 



In the first place for an orchard, the land is well 

 plowed, pulverized and graded on an incline of one 

 inch to the hundred feet east and west and on a level 

 north and south. Deep furrows are then run off at an 

 angle of 45 degrees to the avenue and with two heavy 

 teams and a subsoiler its point is put 18 inches deeper 

 into the subsoil leaving in clay and heavy soils a drain 

 that will carry off all surface water and retain moist- 

 ure for the roots quite a long time. 



In these rows holes are dug so as to have the trees 

 stand in the quincunx or hexagonal order as seen on the 

 plats enclosed. This method of planting fruit trees is 

 the most satisfactory way, because the land can be 

 cultivated anyway, the weeds can be much more 

 easily subdued, and the roots will receive the water 

 much more uniformly. 



When the water is let in to irrigate the trees, it 

 comes through a box from the main ditch at the 

 northwest corner and made to run east and south, a 

 part flowing into each furrow along its line, entirely 

 encircling the trees in it and then on to the next, 

 until all the furrows are filled and the trees well irri- 

 gated. This constitutes the duty of water on this 

 orchard and in no case is the water allowed to run 

 over into the middles to encourage the growth of nox- 

 ious weeds. As the trees grow larger the circular 

 furrows round them are necessarily made larger, not 

 only for convenience but the water reaches the roots 

 in better shape. 



CULTIVATING THE TREES. 



So far as cultivation is concerned, I might state that 

 the orchard is plowed twice a year, once in the fall 8 

 inches deep and then again in the spring at the same 

 depth, but across the other way, and during the sum- 

 mer the middles are cultivated all the time for the 

 purpose of absorbing the atmospheric moisture and 

 keeping the soil in good tilth. By actual experiment 

 I find that three or four cultivations crosswise and 

 shallow are equivalent in effect to an irrigation so far 

 as moisture is concerned; in fact, they keep the soil 

 in a moist condition when executed at the right times. 



