IRRIGATION OF CEREALS 



253 



If 12 acre-inches be taken as the quantity of water 

 amply sufficient for the needs of wheat, the subjoined 

 table shows that 1 second-foot, during a sixty-day irri- 

 gation period, will cover 120 acres; during a forty-five- 

 day irrigation period, 90 acres. If 7J^ inches be the 

 depth of water applied, the duty of a second-foot will 

 vary as shown below from 60 to 192 acres. In many 

 places in the West, the duty of water for grain has been 

 raised to 200 acres or more. For instance, under the 

 famous Bear River Canal of Utah, where irrigation prac- 

 tices have been worked out to great perfection, Wheelon 

 reports that there is a gradually Decreasing duty of 

 water for grain and for all other crops. At the present 

 time the duty of water there approximates 170 acres for 

 grain with a prospect of a rapid increase. 



DUTY IN ACRES OF SECOND-FOOT OF WATER CONTINUOUSLY 

 FLOWING 



158. Oats. Oats is another of the staple crops of the 

 irrigated section. It has almost always been sown hi the 

 spring, but the development of dry-farming has led to the 

 introduction of winter varieties. It is very probable that 

 oats, like wheat, will, in the future be grown chiefly under 

 dry-farming, although the crop will find an important 



