TALKS WITH PRACTICAL IRRIGATORS. 



POTATOES BY IRRIGATION. 



BY J. W. GREGORY. 

 '"""pHE ground, if to be irrigated, should be as mooth 



1 piece, and having sufficient slope to make the 

 water run freely between the rows. It should be 

 plowed eight inches deep, or more, and then har- 

 rowed and dragged or rolled until the soil is firm 

 throughout and thoroughly pulverized on the surface. 

 Now lay off your ground in rows some three and one- 

 half feet apart, with a corn-marker or a small shovel 

 which will make a shallow furrow, the rows running 

 the same way the ground slopes, if it is not too steep. 

 A slope of seven to ten feet per mile gives good 

 results. Drop the cut potatoes, one piece at a time, 

 one foot apart (or two pieces twenty inches to two 

 feet apart), in the mark or furrow, and cover by 

 throwing up from each side a good slice with a two- 

 horse stirring plow. This will cover the potatoes to 

 a good depth and leave the potatoes in ridges for 

 irrigation. The water can now be run between the 

 rows and must not be allowed to rise up over the 

 ridges nor to wet the vines. It should be applied as 

 sparingly as possible, only so the plants are kept 

 growing evenly, and the last and most abundant irri- 

 gation should be applied when the plants are in bloom. 

 The whole secret of potato-growing is to keep the 

 plants going at an even pace not by fits and starts 

 giving them water enough to accomplish this, yet not 

 so much as to make them " scabby," which too much 

 water will do. The ground must be kept clear of 

 weeds and it must be stirred soon enough after each 

 irrigation to keep the whole surface of the ground 

 between the rows as well as on top mellow and fine. 



The foregoing directions as to the method of laying 

 off the ground presuppose a dry spring and dry 

 ground which will have to be irrigated from the first. 

 If, however, the ground is moist and in good condi- 

 tion to begin with, or there is water enough on hand 

 to flood the ground the first thing, and especially if 

 there is to be a large tract planted, so that the matter 

 of cultivation cuts much of a figure, it is well to have 

 the ground well wet before plowing, taking care to 

 heep it harrowed down fine as fast as plowed, so as to 

 avoid drying out or forming clods ; then have the fur- 

 rows to plant in deep enough so that when the pota- 

 toes are covered the ground may be dragged smooth, 

 or nearly so. This will make the surface so fine that 

 the potatoes will need no more water until they have 

 come up and been harrowed at least once and then 



ridged up. In this way no irrigation would probably 

 be needed until the potatoes were in bloom. At any 

 rate, they should not be irrigated so long as they get 

 along well. If rains should come and set them to 

 growing at a thrifty rate, then the grower should 

 watch and keep up that rate of growth, so that the 

 potatoes may be smooth; not allow the growth to be 

 checked, and then, by putting on water, start out a new 

 growth, which will make the potatoes knobby. 



SMUT IN WHEAT AND OATS. 



It is well understood that grain smuts are parasitic 

 plants of a fungus character, and that they reproduce 

 themselves in uncounted millions by means of spores. 

 For many years it has been known to scientists, and 

 also to some wheat growers, that the same fungicides 

 employed to destroy fungus growths on other plants 

 may be used with advantage upon grain. It may be 

 here said that one of the recognized advantages of 

 our various experiment stations is that through their 

 agency we are often shown either new processes or 

 simplifications of old ones resulting greatly to the 

 benefit of agriculture. Relative to the treatment 

 for smut by the copper sulphate process bulletin 

 No. 32 of the Indiana experiment station gives 

 minute directions for preparing seed which in a 

 general way may be said to consist in soaking it for 

 a short time in a solution of blue vitriol. But farm- 

 ers interested in this subject (and who of them is 

 not'?) should send for this bulletin and retain it for 

 reference. In some States it is estimated that fully 

 twenty per cent, of the crop of oats is annually lost 

 through attacks of the smut fungus. By proper treat- 

 ment of the Seed before sowing, arid at slight expense, 

 this great loss can be prevented, and the same is true 

 to a great extent of the wheat crop. Some seasons 

 the corn crop also is greatly lessened in yield of grain 

 by the prevalence of smut, and the value of the fod- 

 der is also much diminished, besides being dangerous 

 to the health of animals consuming it even in small 

 quantities. By close attention to the bulletins of 

 the experiment stations farmers may be entirely 

 certain to profit in the course of the year. The cost 

 to the receiver is little or nothing except a postage 

 stamp, and every man who tills the soil should have 

 all of the bulletins issued from the station in his own 

 State, and as many more as he can conveniently get. 

 In these years, next to first-class journals treating 

 broadly all interests relating to agriculture, which 

 every farmer should diligently read, the bulletins of 



