208 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



inches in depth. After a good harrowing the seed 

 may be planted with a press drill, using from 60 to 75 

 pounds to the acre. The use of the press drill obvi- 

 ates the employment of a roller, which is really super- 

 fluous where the crop is to be irrigated. It is an 

 object to have the grain germinate as quickly as pos- 

 sible in order to outstrip the weeds. Here in Colorado 

 we plant wheat early in April and it comes up inside 

 of thirty days. If there is good moisture in the soil 

 no water is needed until the last week in May, and 

 some men make it a rule not to irrigate the first time 

 until the grain is five or six inches high. One good 

 reason for not irrigating a grain crop earlier than 

 the twentieth of May is because early in the season 

 the water is cold and consequently chills the crop. 

 Another objedlion to irrigating before the plants cover 

 the ground is that flooding bakes the soil and prevents 

 a free circulation of air. There is still another im- 

 portant reason. When the soil is moist near the sur- 

 face the plant does not send its roots down as deeply 

 as it would if the supply were stinted, and hence has 

 not abundant supplies from which to draw. A month 

 after the first irrigation the crop may need water 

 again, if there have been no rains in the interim, but 

 this matter can be determined by an examination of 

 the soil. The second irrigation will require not more 

 than half the water given in the first application. It 

 is a great advantage to keep the plants growing stead- 

 ily during the early period of growth. 



Some irrigators are in favor of giving a third wet- 

 ting — not a very heavy one, however — just as the grain 

 is heading, claiming that this pra(5lice makes larger 



