CHAPTER XIX 

 IRRIGATION IN HUMID CLIMATES 



IRRIGATION should always be practised to supplement 

 the natural rainfall. Where there is much rainfall, either 

 during the growing season, or in the winter, that can be 

 stored, less irrigation is needed than where the rainfall is 

 low. Wherever the rainfall is not high enough to yield 

 maximum crops, however, irrigation is desirable; and 

 wherever the rainfall does not come regularly during the 

 season or from season to season, irrigation ensures steady 

 yields. Only over a small part of the earth's surface is the 

 rainfall large enough or regular enough to insure the high- 

 est or steady yields. The so-called humid regions are 

 often subject to droughts, and the soils of such sections are 

 usually unresistant to drought. The great centers of 

 population, with their splendid markets, usually located 

 in humid sections, make it especially desirable that large 

 and steady yields be obtained by the neighboring farmers, 

 particularly the truck-gardeners. For these reasons, 

 irrigation promises to become a large practice under humid 

 conditions. 



Irrigation in humid climates is not new. Much of the 

 European irrigation is done under a relatively high rain- 

 fall. Water meadows have been known for centuries in 

 England, and many have existed for a half-century or 

 more in New England. The practice of irrigation under 

 humid conditions has only recently, however, been con- 

 sidered seriously and extensively. 



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