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THE GENESEE FAEMEB. 11 



IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE. 



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Nothing will contribute inpre to the advancement of agriculture in this country, than 

 the proper use of water. It forms nearly half of the organized soHds in all plants, and 

 is the grand solvent of every element of their food, and the medium through which 

 alimentary substances are conveyed into all living systems. Experience teaches that all 

 cultivated plants are damaged, or destroyed, either by too little or too much water. 

 Irrigation is the remedy for the first named evil, and drainage the proper curative 

 means applicable to the last named malady. 



Hitherto, neither irrigation nor drainage has received a tithe of the attention in the 

 United States, which it deserves. New York alone has nearly a thousand miles of 

 canals that might be very profitable in part for enriching all the improved lands near 

 them. In the water of these artificial rivers there are millions of tons of the most desi- 

 rable organic and inorganic elements of crops, now wasted, that might be turned to a 

 profitable account. In many countries, canals are constructed exclusively for purposes 

 of irrigation, and pay a large income from the investment. The correspondent of the 

 London Morning Chronicle describes one in the valley of the Rhone, in France, where 

 " the increase of production in the first season more than equalled the cost of the work." 

 He adds : " The influence of this excellent canal is prevented from being extended to 

 another barren plateau, by the obstinacy of two individuals, who refuse to allow the 

 works to be carried across their lands, although they have been ofi'ered double the estima- 

 ted worth of their entire estates." Farmers pay $1.30 per acre per annum to canal compa- 

 nies for the use of water. Irrigation pays a high profit in the moist climate of England 

 — giving two and three heavy crops of hay in a year, where only one was cut before 

 water was used for manuring as well as . moistening the earth. Manure is but the cream 

 of the soil extracted in grass, grain, and roots ; and all river, lake, and spring water, 

 holds more or less of this cream, or manure, in solution. Why then not use rivers, 

 lakes, canals, and springs, for manuring purposes ? Is it a lack of enterprise ? a lack of 

 capital ? or a lack of knowledge ? 



Farms so situated that they can not be irrigated by natural streams nor canals, may 

 be watered in seasons of drouth nevertheless. Upon every square foot of gi'ound in the 

 United States there falls water and snow equal to 180 pounds on an average per annum. 

 So much of this invaluable element as is needed for agricultural purposes, ought to be 

 stored up in capacious reservoirs on elevated places where it falls, to be used, as in the 

 Alps, and many hilly districts in Europe, to water all thirsty fields in summer and 

 autumn. A farmer is not half a husbandman who has not sufficient forethought to 

 husband a reasonable quantity of the most indispensable food of all his growing crops, 

 for a few weeks or months. Providence drops down from the clouds from two to six 

 thousand tons of water in a year on every acre of land. The excess that falls in one 

 month should be kept on the farm, to make good any deficiency that may exist in 

 another. So valuable is artificial irrigation found to be in Great Britain, that steam 

 power and iron pipes are used for elevating and distributing water over hundreds of 

 acres. This can be done at a cost varying from $20 to $35 per acre for permanent fix- 

 tures. After these are constructed, the cost of irrigation is but a few shillings per acre, 

 as two hands irrigate by hose and jet-pipes ten acres a day — literally raining down 

 seven or eight hundred tons of water a day, into which all needful manure has been 

 thrown for solution. The water is propelled through iron pipes and gutta percha hose, 

 and issues from a metallic nozzle which is wide and flattened, that the continuous stream 

 may spread out and fall in drops like a shower. The suction and force-pump resembles 

 a fire engine used in cities, only it is worked by a small steam engine instead of men. 

 In the north of England, Mr. Kennedy irrigates 400 acres of improved land, and has 



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