IRRIGATION IN HUMID CLIMATES. 459 



an acre, as a result of a few weeks' drouth, are not 

 uncommon. 



Utilizing the Water. — The sources of w^ater for 

 irrigating purposes throughout the east are mainly 

 from small natural streams, from ponds, wells, and 

 from springs. The water is usually stored either in 

 open ponds or in large tanks. One man in Michigan 

 utilized a five-inch spring brook on his place so as to 

 irrigate eighty acres of land. He estimated the value 

 of the spring to be worth more than $5,000 and cap- 

 able of paying 6 per cent, per annum on that basis. 



The means of making the water available are 

 through some form of power, such as a ram or wind- 

 mill, or, when the source is high enough above the 

 fields to be watered, it is condu<5led to and over the 

 fields through open ditches or pipes. There are many 

 instances where the water can be made available only 

 by some form of power, as the water is below the fields 

 upon which it is to be applied. Where the water is 

 supplied by means of a ram or other pumping appli- 

 ance it becomes necessary to economize in the use of 

 water and to prevent losses by evaporation in order to 

 reduce expense. For these reasons it has often been 

 thought advisable to apply the water from pipes dis- 

 tributed over the fields, but the author has always 

 deprecated this system as being too much of the clap- 

 trap order. Still the water is sometimes allowed to 

 flow between the rows from pipes laid along one end 

 of the field. In other cases it is applied by spraying. 

 The cheapest and simplest method of distributing water 

 is by condudling through open ditches, and there are 

 many instances where this is being successfully done. 



