76 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



SEPT. 8, IS41. 



IRRIGATION. 

 The effects of running water llowinw over grass 

 lands, is so higfhly beneficial that every fanner 

 should ascertain whether there is not some portion 

 of his lands which may he cheaply irrigated. We 

 say cheaply, because the price of lands in this re- 

 gion is notiiigh enough to justify such outlays as 

 are often profitably made in England and on the 

 continent of Europe. The waters of many a siiiall 

 stream in our hill country, might by a few hours' 

 work with the plow, be carried along the hill-side 

 in such manner that they would percolate through 

 the slight embankment and nourish a vigorous 

 growtli of grass on all the eloping ground below 

 the ditch or canal. This is cheap manure — a|)ply- 

 iiig itself year after year— and long maintaining 

 the fertility ofithe soil unimpaired. At the base 

 of the hill it will often be necessary to open a 



drain for the water which finds its way down 



' Should it come to a flat and cold soil, as it often 

 would at the termination of the descent, that soil 

 would be injured. While (lowing water is favora- 

 ble to vegetable growth, stagnant water is baneful. 

 Wherever the farmer can cause water to flow over 

 his grass lands without stagnating upon them, he 

 will find great benefit from the operation. — The 

 following article from the Southern Agriculturist 

 will be read with interest, tliough it describes pro- 

 cesses more expensive than most cultivators will 

 be ready to adopt. — Ed. 



Washi:«cton, April 3d, 1S4I. 

 To the Xalional Institution for Che Promotion of Science : 



Since the brief statement of the advantages of 

 irrigation appeared in my discourse delivered be- 

 fore the institution in January last, I have received 

 so many applications for information on the manner 

 of watering land, that I am induced to believe a 

 more extended notice of the subject may be ac- 

 ceptable and useful. 



The numerous and abundant rivers, streams and 

 brooks which traverse our country in every direc- 

 tion, afford great facilities for irrigating the soil, 

 and thousands of acres of barren land might there- 

 by be rendered as productive as any in the United 

 States. 



The thin soils, which drain and dry easily, profit 

 most by the use of water, and are the least produc- 

 tive without it The gravelly, sandy land of Chile 

 produces by irrigation, upwards of thirty bushels 

 of wheat to the acre, and the poor lands in the 

 neighborhood of Mexico, are made equally produc- 

 tive by this process. The great advantage, how- 

 ever, to bo derived from the free use of water is 

 not 80 much in the increase of grain, as in that of 

 grass crops. A water meadow attached to a farm 

 gives the farmer an abundance of manure for that 

 portion of his land wliich he keeps in tillage; for 

 he may convert into dung the whole of the hay it 

 produces, while it requires nothing in return but 

 watering. 



In the Carolinas and Georgia the low lands bor- 

 dering on the rivers are irrigated as high up as the 

 influence of the tide extends for the cultivation of 

 rico. The water is admitted into ditches parallel 

 and perpendicular to the river, and thenco distribu- 

 ted by feeders over the whole surface, so as to 

 drown the land, by opening the sluices when the 

 tide is rising; and afler keeping it there as long 

 as is deemed necessary, it is lot off at low tide. — 

 This method might bo practiced wiili great advan- 

 tage on nil the tide-water rivers throughout our 

 country where the banks are low enough to admit 



the water at high tide. Flat lands that have not 

 the advantage of tide water, are the most ditficult 

 to irrigate successfully, for it is essential that when 

 the water is let ofl', the land should be drained per- 

 fectly dry ; otherwise it will produce coarse grass 

 of inferior quality. 



Lands that have a gentle slope, even steep hill- 

 side, are better adapted for irrigation, as they ad- 

 mit of the water flowing over them without cover- 

 ing the top of the plants, thus giving them the ad- 

 vantage of air and moisture. A gentle current is 

 considered more advantageous than stagnant water, 

 and the land thus situated will always drain dry 

 wlien the water ceases to flow. On level land it 

 is necessary to conduct the drain so far that it may 

 enter the river low enough to ensure a sufficient 

 fall to dry the land. 



Where the stream is rapid and the fall great, it 

 is not necessary to construct any dam ; but simply 

 to tap the river high enough up to lead the water 

 along the highest part of the field ; but where the 

 current is sluggish, the water must be raised by a 

 dain erected at the point where it is to be used. 



There are two lucthods of watering lands. The 

 one by dividing the field into regular beds, and the 

 other by what is called catch work, which is re- 

 sorted to where the form of the ground is irregular. 

 It varies therefore with the circumst£.nces of the 

 land it is proposed to water; but the conductors, 

 feeders and drains must be laid out so as to profit 

 by the natural movements of the soil both to water 

 and to drain it. 



The first thing to be done by the farmer who 

 desires to irrigate his fields, is to take an accurate 

 level of the ground which he intends to water, so 

 as to compare the highest part of it with the 

 height of the water to be used. The surface 

 of the water must be eight, twelve or twenty in- 

 ches higher than that of the land, according to the 

 distance of one, two or three hundred yards from 

 the one to the other. The main conductor is then 

 to be cut from that point as straight as it can be, 

 to lead to and continue along the highest side of 

 the field. Ifthe land has any swells on its sur- 

 face higher than the rest, it will he necessary to 

 give to each of them its own conductor, with feed- 

 ers branching from it, to convey the water over 

 that portion of the field. The width of the con- 

 ductors must depend upon the quantity of water 

 they are required to convey ; and be deep enough 

 to receive the muddiest portion of the stream; for 

 although the land will profit by being covered with 

 clear water, it is more enriched by the deposit of 

 turbid streams. Each conductor is to bo provided 

 with a sluice to regulate the admission of the wa- 

 ter. In case the river does not run in such a di- 

 rection ns to allow the water, after flowing the 

 land, to be discharged directly into it, a main drain 

 must be cut along the lower part of the meadow to 

 receive the surplus water and convey it into the 

 river. This should be of the same dimensions as 

 the principal conductor. The portion of meadow 

 to be watered by each conductor is next to be di- 

 vided into beds from thirty to fifty feet wide, the 

 feeders, which branch at right angles from the 

 conductor, running along the centre of Ihoin, ex- 

 cept where the ground fulls two ways, when it may 

 be necessary to make the feeders nearer to one 

 drain than the other. A bed two hundred yanls 

 long will require a feeder where it leoves the con- 

 ductor to be twenty inches wide, and grnduslly di- 

 minishing in width to twelve inches the extremity. 

 A drain is to be rnadc between every two feeders. 



and parallel to them of the same dimensions, but 

 reversed form ; the upper part being ten or twelve 

 inches, and the drain gradually widening to twenty 

 inches, where it terminates either in the main or 

 in the river. Supposing these works finished and 

 ready to go into operation, the manager opens the 

 sluice to admit the water into tlie conductor, where 

 he adjusts the stops in such a manner as to supply 

 the feeders. He next regulates tlie stops in the 

 first feeder, so that the water shall flow regularly 

 over its sides from one end to the other. He then 

 repeats this process in the second feeder, and so 

 on until all the feeders are adjusted. The stopi 

 may be of pieces of board or of turf pinned down, 

 if necessary, taking care to keep the heads of the 

 pegs below the surface of the water, otherwise 

 they are apt to collect weeds and trash. 



The rule in Europe is to flow the land through, 

 out the months of October, November, December 

 and January, letting the water run ten or fifteen 

 days at a time, and keeping the land perfectly dry 

 during the intervals. This can only be done in 

 situations where it is not liable to freeze hard; for 

 a sheet of ice forming over the soil would injure it. 

 In February it is recommended to water in the even, 

 ing and let the water off early in the morning:— 

 this practice is continued through March and April, 

 the water during that period being never kc]it oo 

 the land more than two or three days at a lime. 

 From the first week in May, the land is left dry 

 until the grass is cut and the hay harvest is over, 

 when it may be watered again for a short time, to 

 secure an abundant after-grass that may be fed oSl 

 The profits arising from irrigation are so rr^al 

 that they will justify a considerable outlay, 

 works, therefore, ought to be well and durab 

 striictcd ; the dams and sluices of the best n i- 

 als, and able to resist the sudden rising of t!:_ .. ,. 

 tcr. The beds which as already stated, an. i 

 from thirty to fifty feet wide, should be raised from 

 one foot to fourteen inches in the centre, so that 

 the water will fall gently off from the fecJcre 

 which run along their summits to the drains. 



Whore an old and well set meadow is to be wa. 

 tered, it is advisable to lift the turf and level and 

 prepare the subsoil, relaying the turf after the bodi 

 are made. This process of lifting the turf am! 

 laying it after plowing and manuring the subjcil of 

 old grass land.-*, is practiced in the best agricuku- 

 ral districts in Europe with great advantage, oven 

 when it is not 'intended to prepare them for irriga- 

 tion, but only to invigorate the growth of the grass- 

 es. If when the works are completed, the soil ill 

 to be plowed up and levelled, it will require twtfi 

 or three years before it will be sufficiently set i^ 

 grass to allow its being watered without working, 



I have endeavored to give such a description ( I 

 the process of irrigation as will at least enable I 

 farmer to judge of the practicability of watcrin I 

 any portion of his land, if not to execute the wor 

 liimself. Those who seek for further informatio 

 on this important subject, may consult the wor! 

 of IJoswell, Wright, Smith and Johnson, Loudori 

 Encyclopedia of Agriculture, and Stephen's Pra< 

 tical Irrigator. The construction of works for il 

 rigation belongs, however, to the civil engine^ 

 and it is to be hoped that those of the United Slatei 

 will turn their attention to the subject. Our ox- 

 tensive lines of canals may, for the most |>ari. bt 

 converted into conductors, and the water be ben* 

 ficially used to fructify the country through whicll 

 lliuy pass. If a blessing awaits the man who 

 makes two blades of grass grow where only on* 



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