IRRIGATION OF FIKLD CROPS. 247 



and depend upon the land drying rapidly enough so 

 the moisture will not interfere with curing the hay. 

 Others even go so far as to run the mowing-machine 

 right along under a few inches of water. 



Various reasons are given for turning the water on 

 the meadows as early as possible in the spring. The 

 water draws the frost out of the soil, softening the 

 land so the grass can make an early start and produce 

 larger growth than if held back naturally by the cold 

 weather. Where the soil is covered with alkali the 

 white incrustations of salts interfere with the growth 

 of gravSS and keep the land cold by refledling the sun's 

 rays. If the water can be run over the land enough 

 to wash off the alkali or dissolve it and carry it into 

 the soil, the grass thickens up and makes a good crop. 

 Whatever the reason, it is evident that ranchmen, as a 

 rule, believe in irrigating native hay land as early and as 

 long as possible, and all use the most water when the 

 largest amounts can be obtained from the streams, 

 which is during May and June. The writer is not in 

 accord with this praAice, and has never advised such 

 extravagant procedure. 



In preparing to seed the land for a meadow the 

 ground to be irrigated should not only be fine in tex- 

 ture before seeding, but it should also have a smooth, 

 even surface to facilitate irrigation. Knough time 

 may be thus saved in a single seavSon's irrigation to pay 

 the extra expense of careful leveling. The better the 

 condition of the soil the less the quantity of seed re- 

 quired and the greater the certainty of a perfe(5l stand 

 and satisfactory vega. It is a mistake to expedl the 

 best or even good results from a single kind of grass. 



