234 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



above ground 12 or 15 inches. We dis- 

 tribute the water in surface ditches or fur- 

 rows from their T's. Cost of engine $350. 

 I bought second-hand pipe of the Chicago 

 House Wrecking Co,, cost 9 cents and 1 

 cent freight, $100. The fixtures, valves, 

 etc., cost $30. The reservoir will cost over 

 $100. It is worth to put in the plant $20. 

 It will take 28,000 gallons of water to irri- 

 gate an acre "one inch depth of water." 

 My reservoir will cover about 12 acres at 

 each time, the repetition of which will de- 

 pend upon the dryness of the soil and at- 

 mosphere and the condition of the growing 

 plants. I will have blackberries, raspber- 

 ries, strawberries, vegetables, etc. You 

 may say to your readers that I use my en- 

 gine to grind feed, meal and graham, and 

 to make peanut butter in the winter when 

 I can't use it to pump. Nut butter is a 

 toothsome, wholesome, nutitions, health- 

 ful product, and is used just as other but- 

 ter, without the danger of tubercular in- 

 fection or possible uncleanliness or adult- 

 eration attending the manufacturing or 

 sale of cows' butter. We will have it for 

 sale and can furnish it in any quantity. 

 W. D. GILLIHAND, Atchison, Kan. 



VALUE OF WINTER IRRIGATION. 



The value of winter irrigation was ap- 

 parent even in April. Fields of alfalfa 

 unirrigated up to that time were almost as 

 brown as in midwinter, while the fields 

 that were winter irrigated were in fine 

 growing condition. 



The difference in the growth of alfalfa, 

 with winter irrigation and without it, is 

 strikingly illustrated with plots of alfalfa 

 under experiment on the Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station Farm. Two plots were 

 selected of as nearly the same type of soil 

 as possible. One plot was winter irrigated 

 while the other was not. The unirrigated 

 plot was at that time apparently almost 

 lifeless, while the plot receiving winter 

 irrigation has made a fine growth of from 

 six to eight inches. 



The late frosts have injured the growing 

 alfalfa slightly, but this damage is insig- 

 nificant when the two plots are compared. 

 One year ago we had severe late frosts and 

 the alfalfa receiving winter irrigation wrs 

 damaged considerably, yet the field of hay 

 was decidedly in the favor of the plots 

 which received winter irrigation. 



There is, however, another point which 

 should be carefully considered when weigh- 

 ing the value of winter irrigation. That 

 is, the benefit derived from re-establishing 

 capillarity with the ground water. Capil- 

 lary action is the name given to the pas- 

 sage of moisture up through the interstices 

 of the soil, which is nicely illustrated in 

 the the passage of oil up through the in- 

 terstices of the lampwick. Evaporation 

 carries moisture off from the surface of the 

 soil much as oil is burned off from the 

 lampwick. The loss of moisture from the 

 surface soil is replaced by the movement 

 of moisture through capillarity from the 

 soil below and this, in turn, is replenished 

 from still lower layers of soil, until, finally, 

 the draft upon the moisture may roach the 

 ground water. Drouthy spells dry out the 

 soil to quite a depth, sometimes several 

 feet deep, and, therefore, the capillary ac- 

 tion is broken and will not reach the sur- 

 face again until it is re-established by 

 making the soil wet from the surface down 

 to moisture. 



This wetting of the soil seems to be a 

 sort of priming of nature's pumps which 

 she attends to herself in rainy belts by fre- 

 quent showers, but leaves to the care of 

 man in all irrigation sections. The re- 

 establishment of capillarity can best be 

 done in winter when evaporation from the 

 surface soil is at a minimum and at a time 

 when water is abundant. If the soil is 

 well charged with water for several feet in 

 depth during winter, much of the water 

 will be available for the crop during the 

 growing months of spring and summer. 

 The root of the plants will push down into 

 the moisture and capillary attraction will 



