84 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



goes fully eleven inches deep, thus leav- 

 ing eighteen inches of well pulverized 

 and manured soil, which would when 

 finished be again irrigated, so that the 

 manure is rotted before the crop is 

 planted. 



As regards the cost, this will depend 

 upon the texture of the soil and the class 

 of labor employed. A man accustomed to 

 the use of the spade will do fifty per cent 

 more work in a day than a novice. I have 

 employed native Mexican labor, paying 

 them seventy-five cents per day and I find 

 that when they get used to the work two 

 men will trench an acre of land in twenty- 

 four days, bringing up the cost to $36 per 

 acre. This does not include the cost of 

 manure, and the hauling and spreading of 

 same, nor the first plowing. 



Of course, only expensive crops, like 

 garden truck, strawberries, and other 

 berries, will pay for this intense culture. 

 In the case of strawberries the farmer will 

 take three crops off the land before it 

 again needs trenching, and I think anyone 

 will admit that land thus cultivated will 

 easily produce 1,000 quarts per acre more 

 than land treated in the ordinary way; or 

 a total crop of 4,000 quarts instead of the 

 usual average of 3,000 quarts. Reckoning 

 the strawberries at five cents per pound 

 on the vines you have a gain of $150 

 per acre during the three years to pay for 

 the cost of trenching. 



On many soils it would pay to bring the 

 bottom spit to the top and so have virgin 

 soil in which to plant. The trenching is then 

 done in the following manner: First, dig 

 a trench twenty inches wide and eighteen 

 inches deep. Then dig twenty inches 

 wide and one spade deep and throw the 

 soil into the bottom of the trench. Then 

 dig the bottom spit of the second trench 

 and throw it onto the top of the first 

 trench. In following this system of 

 trenching, manure the top of the land as 

 already described. This top soil will be 

 placed at the bottom of the trenches and 

 the soil brought up by the second spading 

 will need manuring after the land is all 

 trenched. This can be done by hauling 

 the manure onto the land, spreading and 

 plowing it in. 



I believe it will pay to trench land for 

 all crops like cabbage, cauliflower, straw- 

 berries, raspberries, blackberries, goose- 

 berries, and currants, that need a very 

 $eep and rich soil. No deep plowing can 



in any way approach it. One hears of 

 plowing ten inches deep, but take a foot 

 rule and measure it and you will generally 

 find only about seven inches of soil culti- 

 vated. Of course, cultivation with a plow, 

 followed by a subsoiler, is much cheaper, 

 but you will want four very good horses to 

 stir the soil eighteen inches deep, and then 

 you only have the top half manured, whereas 

 by trenching you have eighteen inches of 

 cultivated and manured soil. 



IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZERS, 



BY E. M. SKEATS. 



C ARMING under irrigation and farm- 

 1 ing in an arid climate with artificial 

 water supply are generally synonymous, 

 but the two phrases suggest distinct trains 

 of thought. Very much has been written 

 on farming under irrigation and its advan- 

 tages have been eloquently set forth 

 by many. The advantages are usually 

 summed up in abundant sunshine, abun- 

 dant water and therefore abundant crops. 



But has experience in irrigated districts 

 corroborated these claims? In a few 

 instances no doubt it has, in more in- 

 stances it has not, and why ? Chiefly, I 

 venture to say, because the peculiarities 

 of an arid climate are not sufficiently rec- 

 ognized by the farmer from the rain belt. 



Every district has its own peculiarities 

 of climate, water and soil, but there are 

 certain things common to nearly all arid 

 countries and these are: 



1. Abundant bright sunshine. 



2. An abnormally dry atmosphere. 



3. Clear, cool nights with excessive 

 radiation of heat into space. 



4. Soil rich in inorganic plant food but 

 almost destitute of nitrogen except in a 

 few favored spots. 



To make the most use of the sunshine 

 the water and the inorganic riches it is 

 absolutely necessary to supply nitrogen to 

 its full amount. It is desirable to render 

 the atmosphere more humid for most 

 crops, and for many plants it is impera- 

 tive to take the night radiation into ac- 

 count; any overshadowing will lessen this, 

 such, for instance, as the proximity of a 

 tree. 



Time and diversified farming over large 

 areas will do all we want, but we cannot 

 afford to wait, and need not. 



To get big results from the land 



