86 



ARID AGRICULTURE. 



IRRIGATION 

 OF FARM 

 AND GARDEN 

 CROPS 



TIME TO 

 IRRIGATE 



Suggestions about the irrigation of different 

 crops will be found in the chapters dealing with 

 culture of these crops in another part of this book 

 and the methods of irrigation for different soils 

 and crops are discussed in chapter 7. Different 

 crops and each kind of soil requires particular 

 treatment and general rules are only of value in 

 so far as they throw light on the underlying 

 principles which may be made use of by the in- 

 dividual farmer who understands them and their 

 application. 



As a broad general statement, we believe the 

 time to irrigate is when there is no crop growing. 

 Nearly all crops should be irrigated before they 

 are planted. The soil should be put in the best 

 possible state of tilth and stored with enough 

 moisture, at least to germinate the seed and sup- 

 ply the early growth of the plants. Potato soil 

 should be irrigated in the spring before it is 

 plowed. Some crops, like potatoes and sugar 

 beets, require the most moisture in the later part 

 of the season. Wheat should be irrigated most 

 during the middle part of the time of its growth. 

 To be on the safe side, barley should be irrigated 

 when quite young. These things show the vari- 

 ation which must be practiced to produce the best 

 results and point to the importance of the farmer 

 looking up the culture for each crop he expects 

 to raise. Some few crops, like onions, should 

 be flood irrigated. Other crops give best results 



