iRRIGA TIOM. 3 i 3 



*' When only a limited area is to be watered, — less than an 

 acre, — the wind-mill furnishes a cheaper source of power than 

 the steam pump. To make it available, large storage of water 

 must be provided at a high level, so that the mill may work dur- 

 ing stormy weather and store the water until needed. A wind- 

 mill, costing with pump and tank about $500, will furnish water 

 enough for one or two acres of land, provided storage can be 

 provided for 200,000 gallons of water. To provide this storage 

 might cost as much as a steam pump. Where elevated reser- 

 voirs can easily be made, and the amount of water needed is not 

 over 10,000 gallons daily, the wind-mill is, without doubt, cheaper 

 power than steam." 



Mr. Philbrick shows conclusively that where a gardener 

 pays at the rate of twenty-five cents per 1,000 gallons, or 

 even much less, only crops approaching ^1,000 per acre in 

 value will warrant the outlay. When land can be easily 

 graded, and irrigated through canals and ditches, the yearly 

 cost has been reduced, in some cases, as low as from one to 

 three dollars per acre per year. 



" Wherever drainage is not perfect, it must be made so before 

 irrigation can be safely practised ; otherwise, if a heavy fall of 

 rain should occur just after application of water, the plants miight 

 suffer seriously from being too wet." 



In the discussion which followed the reading of this paper, 

 Mr. John B. Moore said, among other things : " No crop 

 takes the moisture out of the soil more quickly than straw- 

 berries, and, for these and other crops which soon suffer 

 from dryness, he lets the water run down the rows all night 

 from half a dozen large pipes." 



Hon. Marshall T. Wilder then remarked that " the secret 

 how Mr. Moore produced his large strawberries had now 

 come out." 



(In a letter recently received, Mr. Moore further states ; 



