METHODS OF APPLYING WATER. 20I 



Fall and Winter Irrigation. — In many sec5lions 

 of the west the system of fall irrigation has been prac- 

 ticed with good success. After the crops are all har- 

 vested the water is turned on and the soil is given a 

 thorough soaking. Subsoiling greatly enhances the 

 value of winter irrigation, which furnishes moisture for 

 the starting of plant life in the early spring, and 

 causes the weeds and other remnants of the cropping 

 season to more easily decay and a<5l as a top-dressing 

 or fertilizer. The land is also put in good condition 

 for plowing early in the spring. But very few crops 

 should be irrigated from the time of planting till after 

 the plants have had several days' growth. Fall irriga- 

 tion supplies moisture sufficient to start the crops and 

 gives them a vigorous growth of a few weeks before 

 irrigation is necessary. It is better for young plants 

 to have the moisture come from beneath than from the 

 surface, especially in the early spring, when water for 

 irrigation is several degrees colder than that stored in 

 the soil by irrigating late in the fall. 



We have found in Colorado that irrigation may be 

 applied advantageously before the regular cold days of 

 winter set in, and this practice is adopted generally by 

 successful cultivators where water can be had at that 

 time of the year. The late irrigation is useful after a 

 dry fall, and is especially to be commended in the prep- 

 aration for crops which require the maximum amount 

 of moisture, and for orchards, or where the water-sup- 

 ply is likely to be short the coming season. It places 

 the land in the condition of a storage reservoir for the 

 succeeding season, and experience has shown that the 

 soil that has received a thorough irrigation in the fall 



