THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



85 



The salads and radishes require a good supply of 

 water and this may be given them by small furrow irri- 

 gation and hoeing or cultivating over, or the rows may 

 be sprinkled. If sprinkling is begun it must be con- 

 tinued, for the roots will come up near the surface for 

 the moisture. These plants, however, are short-lived; 

 a few weeks and they are ready to harvest. 



Sub-irrigation is better adapted to celery than any 

 other system. With rows of tiling ten or twelve feet 

 apart, or less, any number of plants can be grown on 

 an acre. By planting close, a few inches apart, and 

 irrigated plentifully they are self-blanching, though to 

 reap all the benefit of garden culture the old way of 

 planting in furrows and drawing the earth up around 

 the plant is the better method where flavor is desired. 

 If the celery patch is small, a circular or cylindrical 

 shade of cardboard or straw matting may be put around 

 the plant. Lettuce is treated in this way to make it 

 grow up long and blanched, which gives the well- 

 known "salade Romaine." 



. Beans and peas are deep-rooters, the former grow- 

 ing deeper than the latter. Both love a sandy loam and 

 may be planted in drills, the rows about twenty inches 

 or three feet apart. If the soil is dry they should be 

 irrigated between the rows when the first true leave 

 appear, and at least twice more before the flowers ap- 

 pear, at which period they should receive a plentiful 

 supply of moisture. Once a week is not too often for 

 irrigating these and all other leguminous plants. 



Tomatoes may be well soaked when young and 

 then left to themselves, giving them about three irri- 

 gations at regular intervals until the fruit sets. Too 

 much water will cause them to run to vines, and, 

 moreover, cause rot. Where there is any rainfall dur- 

 ing the period of growth after the first irrigation, cul- 

 tivate constantly and suspend water applications. 



Melons and cucumbers require warmth, and hence 

 if the water be cold the plants will be set back, par- 

 ticularly if young. Good soil moisture is all that is 

 necessary with thorough cultivation, and when the 

 vines cover the ground careful flooding will be bene- 

 ficial. Keep the earth up around the plants and the 

 water away from them, as they need plenty of air. 



In the case of cabbages and cauliflowers the young 

 plants should be puddled in and this followed by a 

 good furrow irrigation close to the -plants, followed by 

 cultivation, throwing the earth against the stalks. 

 After the plants show signs of heading, irrigate in, fur- 

 rows between the rows and the next day or so culti- 

 vate the moist ground over against the plant, or with- 

 out touching it if possible. 



It would require a volume to detail all the plants 

 useful as food that may be grown in the kitchen gar- 

 den. The main object of this book is to give the out- 

 . lines of irrigation, and not how to plant, or specify 

 varieties of plants. The rules to be observed are gen- 

 eral, but in every case they may be adapted by using 

 good judgment. Thus: When the sun is hot, if irri- 

 gation is necessary run the water in furrows, not so 

 close to the plants as to wet the stalks or crown of 

 the roots, then by cultivation the moist ground may 

 be thrown close enough to the plant roots to enable 

 them to reach it. If the day is cloudy and no indica- 

 tions of a hot sun, less care is required. Then it does 

 not make any difference whether the plants are wet 

 or not, but they must be hoed or the earth must be 

 loosened around them to prevent hardening or baking, 



which is always detrimental in the case of every plant, 

 whether hardy or tender. 



To ascertain whether there is moisture enough in 

 the soil, do not wait for the plant to tell you by droop- 

 ing or twisting its leaves. Then it may be too late 

 and the plant will have stopped growing, or the sub- 

 sequent crop will be poor. Bore or dig down into the 

 soil say one foot, and if the earth feels damp, or will 

 slightly pack in the hand when squeezed, there need 

 be no immediate application of water. But if com- 

 paratively dry, so that it will not soil a clean hand- 

 kerchief, water must be applied, and the best way is 

 to furrow the ground in small furrows and run the 

 water in rills, cultivating as soon as possible; or if the 

 plants are large, like sweet corn, cabbages, beets, par- 

 snips, etc., cut a large furrow between the rows and 

 run it full of water, permitting seepage, infiltration 

 and capillary motion to carry it to the right place, the 

 root zone. Whether it is doing its work properly can 

 be ascertained by thrusting the hand down near the 

 plant, the soil being supposed to be pulverized suffi- 

 ciently to reach at least three or four inches down; if 

 not, it must be made so. 



Nothing has been said about weeds, because the 

 supposition is that no farmer will permit a weed to 

 grow on his land. Two plants can not very well grow 

 in the same place, and in the case of the weed it will 

 destroy the plant as quickly as vice will a man of 

 good morals. , As the story goes : A man planted 

 pumpkin seeds with his corn, but the corn grew so 

 fast that it pulled up the pumpkin vines. ,The reader 

 is at liberty to doubt this story, but the idea of it is 

 to avoid trying to make two plants grow in the same 

 spot. 



ONTARIO, ORE., Nov. 3, 1904. 

 EDITOR THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. 



There is at this time existing here a very popular impres- 

 sion that the Reclamation Bureau of the Government is going 

 to make this section of country a veritable garden of Eden and 

 that it is going to make a millionaire out of every citizen of the 

 country and every one. opposing them in any respect is regarded 

 as a public enemy and so openly pronounced. An extensive 

 and active "press bureau" has subsidized the local press and 

 has kept constantly before the people the most glaring and 

 extravagant (and absurd) representations as to what the 

 Reclamation Service is going to do for the people of this sec- 

 tion of country. In this course they are assisted and encour- 

 aged by a coterie of land grabbing speculators who expect to 

 reap large personal benefits from the undertakings of the 

 Government in this field. While a large number of the citi- 

 zens of this section of country are misled and deceived by 

 these misrepresentations there are some of the more discerning 

 ones that realize the improbability, if not the impossibility, of 

 carrying out the imposing and .extravagant plans announced 

 by the Reclamation people. However, the worst feature of their 

 policy, so far as we that are on the outside are concerned is 

 their malicious interference and persecution which has seri- 

 ously interfered with our legitimate business. We have not 

 in any way interfered with their plans or business nor do we 

 wish to, but they do not act in that way with us, as they 

 have followed us into other branches of our work, that is, 

 work entirely outside of the irrigation field, and have used the 

 prestige that they enjoy by reason of official positions and the 

 free use of the columns of the local press, to seriously injure 

 and interfere with our business. My associate has come to 

 dread their opposition and does not wish to incur their fur- 

 ther displeasure. Personally I do not care and am disposed to 

 fight. 



The information conveyed to you in my former communi- 

 cation is relative to only one instance and there are at least 

 a half dozen others even worse in every respect that I might 

 cite. I am curious to know how long the people will stand it. 

 I am interested in your efforts to put this matter correctly 

 before the people and will gladly help you in any way that 

 I can. I am Respectfully yours. "ONTARIO." 



