174 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Moisture in Oarde?i Crops — Concluded. 



[Jan. 



Mr. Washburn. I should like to inquire whether it will 

 do at all times to take water from an ordinary well and apply 

 it to growing crops, and if the temperature is not too cold 

 at certain seasons of the year for the application ? 



Mr. Rawson. I would say that at no time of the year 

 have I found well water that was pumped from twenty or 

 thirty feet below the surface that had not a temperature as 

 high as fifty, and I know of no crop grown that will not 

 stand a temperature of fifty degrees. Cucumbers are the 

 tenderest, and they will stand water at fifty degrees at any 

 time. I have tried the temperature a great many times, and 

 have never found it below fifty, and therefore recommend 

 pumping from wells instead of from rivers and ponds. 



Question. In that case water can be applied to surface 

 drains. How deep can those drains be laid, if deep enough 

 to escape the plough ? 



Mr. Rawson. You wish to ask about filling the tiles ? 



Mr. . Yes, sir. 



Mr. Rawson. It is according to the quality of your land, 



