270 



FARM DEVELOPMENT 



I 



tion with carrying on other work on the farm, all make 

 the problem one which requires constant thought and 

 must be solved at the time with all the facts in mind. 

 Where it is known there will be a scarcity of water for 

 irrigation in midsummer, as in some parts of Oregon and 

 Arizona, the practice of filling the subsoil with water 

 in winter and spring and making this serve as a reserve 

 supply has been largely followed with great success. 



The time of day to apply water is relatively of greater 

 moment when applying small amounts, as with the water- 

 ing pot or sprinkling 

 hose, than where the 

 farmer places several 

 inches of water on a 

 growing crop. Water 

 applied in the morning 

 with the sprinkling pot 

 penetrates only an inch 

 or two into the soil 

 and the hot, dry air of 

 the sunshiny day will- 

 evaporate a large por- 

 tion of it. The same 

 amount of water ap- 

 plied in the evening has 



Figure 172. Ditch at the foot of an irrigated field * . < 



which catches and carries off the seepage water a lOllSfer time in WnlCh 

 which otherwise would seep into the low area and upon 



evaporating would leave so much of salts as to make Q penetrate the Soil in 

 it too alkaline for crops. 



response to the force 



of capillary attraction, and a less amount is left at the 

 surface to be taken up by the atmosphere the following 

 day. But where several inches of water are run upon 

 land from ditches, less attention can be given to the time 

 of day of its application, and, indeed, there is very little 

 difference since the soil is kept wet at the surface for some 

 time while water is slowly percolating downward, under 

 the influence of capillary attraction aided by gravitation. 





