LAND AND OTHER AGENTS OF PRODUCTION 145 



time and caused a flooding of the markets and a lowering of prices 

 to an unprofitable figure. A later drought the same season caused 

 the celery crop, valued at $1,000 per acre, growing on peat lands near 

 Waupaca, Wisconsin, to develop seed sprouts, which ruined the crop 

 An abundant water supply was within a few feet of the surface and 

 a pumping plant could have been installed and the crop irrigated with 

 profits that would have been realized from one acre. 



On the other hand, ii acres of strawberries at Neenah, Wisconsin, 

 yielded berries valued at $200 after the unirrigated vines in the same 

 field had stopped bearing. An onion crop grown under irrigation in 

 the same locality yielded 483 . 8 bushels per acre and the onions took 

 first premium for quality at the Winnebago County fair. This crop 

 was irrigated six times during the months of June and July and 

 received 3 . 04 inches of water by irrigation and 5.77 inches by rainfall. 

 This seemingly large amount of water was made necessary, as most of 

 the rain came in one large storm and the balance in eleven small 

 showers, none of which moistened the soil to a sufficient depth. Good 

 results have also been secured from the irrigation of raspberries and 

 apples in the same section of Wisconsin. 



The states bordering the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Virginia 

 include a narrow strip of agricultural country wherein great possi- 

 bilities seem to exist for that intensive type of farming to which supple- 

 mental irrigation is adapted. Many thousands of acres of virgin 

 lands still lie idle awaiting the time when they will be reclaimed 

 by scientific farming and moisture control. The greatest demand 

 made by the markets upon agriculture in this region is for food crops 

 for human consumption. Great areas are adapted to the production 

 of these crops, and probably some of the most suitable lands are 

 untouched by the plow because of their lightness of soil and non- 

 resistance to the effects of drought. The Atlantic slope is well sup- 

 plied with water resources for irrigation. 



The climate of these states is tempered sufficiently by the ocean 

 to give longer growing seasons than are found in the north-central 

 states, thus enabling early summer and late fall vegetables to be 

 raised with irrigation; and all tree fruits, from the northern apple to 

 the temperate peach, thrive under care. Soil-improving legumes can 

 also be grown in these sterile, tillable, sandy sections if moisture be 

 assured. During a New Jersey drought in the spring of 191 1 the early 

 strawberry crop in many sections was completely ruined. The value 

 of this one year's crop would have paid the farmers affected thereby 

 250 per cent interest on a most expensive spray irrigation system. 



