DRIVEN MACHINES 119 



crops yield splendidly when watered. An apple or- 

 chard properly cared for and irrigated just at the right 

 time will pay from five hundred to a thousand dollars 

 per acre. Small fruits are just as valuable. These 

 successes account for the high prices of irrigated land. 

 In the East and in the great Middle West, valuable 

 crops are cut short or ruined by drouth when the fruit 

 or corn is forming. It makes no difference how much 

 rain comes along at other times in the year, if the roots 

 cannot find moisture at the critical time, the yield is 

 reduced often below the profit of raising and harvest- 

 ing the crop. Strawberry blossoms shrivel and die 

 in the blooming when rain fails. Irrigation is better 

 than rain for strawberries. Strawberries under irri- 

 gation may be made to yield more bushels than potatoes 

 -under humid conditions. One hundred bushels of 

 strawberries per acre sounds like a fairy tale, but it is 

 possible on rich land under irrigation. 



The cost of pumping for irrigation, where the well 

 and machinery is used for no other purpose, must be 

 charged up to the crop. The items of expense are in- 

 terest on the first cost of the pumping machinery, de- 

 preciation, upkeep and running expenses. On East- 

 ern farms, however, where diversified farming is the 

 business, this expense may be divided among the dif- 

 ferent lines of work. Where live-stock is kept, it is 

 necessary to have a good, reliable water supply for 

 the animals. A reservoir on high ground so water may 

 be piped to the watering troughs and to the house is a 

 great convenience. Also the same engine that does the 

 .pumping may be used for other work in connection 

 with the farm, so that the irrigation pump engine, in- 

 stead of lying idle ten or eleven months in the year, 

 may be utilized to advantage and made to earn its keep. 



