CHAPTER XXX. 



IRRIGATION. 



'T^HIS is a topic on which a book might be written. The 

 "*■ reader will draw a sigh of relief, however, on learning 

 that I shall content myself with giving a few facts and sug- 

 gestions, since I am well aware that, in spite of its title, this 

 chapter will be dry to many. 



The first rays that fall from the lamp of history reveal vast 

 systems of irrigation in full operation. In many parts of 

 the globe artificial watering is absolutely essential, and there 

 are few agricultural regions which might not be rendered far 

 more productive if the supply of moisture could be regulated 

 in accordance with the needs of each crop. 



The question, as we shall consider it, is a practical one. 

 In California and other sections, the land must be irrigated ; 

 here, and wherever the rain-fall is more equally distributed 

 throughout the year, we can water if we find the practice 

 remunerative. 



The increased yield from the proper application of water 

 is often marvellous. Mr. James Neilson, in a paper read 

 before the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture, gives 

 some interesting facts obser\^ed abroad. In regions along 

 the Cavour Canal, the people were able to mow in one 

 season six heavy burdens of grass, and in the vicinity of 

 Edinburgh, by the use of sewage water, five or six crops of 

 grass annually. In Belgium, '' sandy, barren land (resem- 



