50 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



THE PRIMER OF IRRIGATION. 



COPYRIGHTED, 1803, Y D. H. ANDERSON. 



CHAPTER XX. 



IRRIGATION OF PROFITABLE CROPS. 



The crops a farmer should raise on his land with 

 profit to himself depend iipon numerous conditions, 

 many of them variable. No matter what his desires 

 may be, no matter what his neighbor may do or raise, 

 or how much he may succeed, every farmer is a tub 

 that must stand on its own bottom. He must say to 

 himself: "What is my land fit for? What are my 

 means of cultivation, my water supply ? What does 

 the market demand, and how can I reach that mar- 

 ket without paying out all my profits in transporta- 

 tion?" 



If all the conditions are unfavorable to the raising 

 of crops with profit to himself, the author's advice to 

 him is to raise nothing in the way of crops for mar- 

 ket, but raise all the produce possible on your land 

 and feed it to stock cattle, sheep, hogs, poultry. There 

 is always an unvarying demand for these products of 

 the farm, and though the market may be glutted some- 

 times, yet on the whole, all the year 'round, the farmers 

 always come out something ahead. 



It appears to be the destiny of a farmer to al- 

 ways try experiments, put seed into his ground, and 

 then toil and perspire to make it grow to maturity, 

 and then get nothing for his pains. A farmer will ..put 

 certain seeds into his ground, and, as this appears to 

 be inevitable, the only thing that can be done is to 

 help him realize on his expectations. 

 CEREALS. 



Every farmer plants wheat. He is bound to do 

 so or feel that he is not really a farmer. 



MR A. L. KLANK, 

 Vice-President lor Illinois, 13th National Irrigation Congress. 



or beginning of December, the wheat may be plowed 

 under after sowing the surface, and this at any time 

 during September and October. It is good dry farm- 

 ing to do so, and even if the grain is to be irrigated 

 the effect is to have a good stand by the time water is 



^^rr-i":! ft ji 



I TOT 



View of Proposed Convention Hall, El Paso, Texas. 



This grain should always be sown on high ground 

 and not in a deep, mellow soil, for it is not a deep- 

 rooted plant. In the arid and semi-arid regions, 

 where the rains do not fall until late in November 



put upon the land. The first rain that comes sprouts 

 the seed and sends it up three or four inches, where 

 it is ready for another rain or for an irrigation. It 

 is the same with all other cereals. 



