Irrigation and Its Effect on Vegetables and Small Fruits* 



W. T. Macoun, Horticulturisti Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa 



THERE were few places in Canada 

 during the growing season of 1908 

 where the weather was not very 

 dry for a longer or shorter period. In 

 some parts of the country, and particu- 

 larly in eastern Ontario, the weather 

 was too dry to obtain average returns 

 from vegetables and small fruits from 

 early in June until October 17th, when 

 the drought was broken. At Ottawa 

 the rainfall was about four inches be- 

 low the average from April to October 

 during that time. Not for many years 

 has the need for a regular supply of 

 moisture been so impressed upon vege- 

 table and small fruit growers as this 

 year, when thousands of dollars were 

 lost to them through an insufficient sup- 

 ply of moisture during the growing 

 season. In eastern Ontario the potato 

 crop was, in places, almost a failure 

 owing to the continued dry weather. 

 Cabbage and celery suffered badly, the 

 latter where it can be used at all being 

 very short. Onions were much affected, 

 the crop being greatly reduced, and 

 other vegetables suffered also. Straw- 

 berries were scarcely more than half a 

 crop, and raspberries the same. The 

 time seems opportune, therefore, to find 

 out whether in the province of Ontario 

 it is likely to pay to supplement the rain- 

 fall with artificial irrigation. 



The droughts in the province of On- 

 tario are usually of short duration and 

 in an average season rain will come be- 

 fore the effect of the dry weather is ap- 

 parent, although the growth may have 

 been checked, but so gradually that it 

 is not noticed. This probably accounts 

 for the fact that irrigation has not re- 

 ceived much attention in this province, 

 but if we think of the marked improve- 

 ment which rapidly takes place after a 

 rain, is it not suggestive that moisture 

 might be given artificially a few days 

 sooner and thus ensure a continuously 

 rapid growth of the crop? 



In arid regions, where practically no 

 rain falls during the growing season ir- 

 rigation is, of course, absolutely neces- 

 sary to ensure a crop, but it is quite a 

 different matter in Ontario, where the 

 average rainfall is a fairly liberal one 

 during the growing season and where 

 the number of times during the sea.son 

 when it is desirable to irrigate is lim:. 

 ed, and where in some seasons it may 

 not be necessary to irrigate at all. Such 

 conditions would not apparently be con- 

 ducive to the establishment of expensive 

 irrigation plants which in some seasons 

 might be altogether idle. The point to 



•A portion of a paper read at the last con- 

 vention of t^e Ontario Vegetable Growers' Ab- 

 Booiatlon. The construction of Irrigation plant* 

 will be dealt with in the next issue 



consider, therefore, is how can the vege- 

 table and small fruit growers maintain 

 a sufficient supply of moisture, available 

 to the growing plants, to ensure maxi- 

 mum crops each year? 



The soil must, first of all, be in the 

 best possible condition to retain what 

 moisture falls as rain during the grow- 

 ing season and to conserve the ground 

 water. If the surface soil be shallow 

 with a hard sub-soil, moisture which 

 comes in the form of rain will not sink 

 fast enough and it may be evaporated 

 again in a short time. The ground 

 water also will be evaporated quicker 

 than if the subsoil were broken up, 

 thus lowering the water table and also 

 permitting the rain water to go down to 

 a reasonable depth. Good tillage and 

 good drainage also will ensure the quick 

 disappearance of surface water. Thor- 



pumped either by a gasoline, electric or 

 steam engine, by wind power, or by 

 horse power. 



There are several methods of apply- 

 ing water to the growing crop, and we 

 cannot do better than quote from Bul- 

 letin 87 of the Oflfice of Experiment 

 Stations, Washington, D. C, on "Ir- 

 rigation' in New Jersey," for descrip- 

 tions of methods used there, where there 

 has been some attention to irrigation : 



PUEEOW IRRIGATION 



"Irrigation by furrows consists sim- 

 ply in allowing water to flow between 

 rows when the plants are large enough 

 to fill the ground with roots, or in mak- 

 ing a furrow in which to run the water 

 next the row on one or both sides of • 

 small plants. Furrow irrigation has 

 been most successful on potatoes where 

 there was just enough slope to make the 



A Movable Sprinkler for Irrigating Vegetables 



ough cultivation is essential, both for 

 the conservation of moisture and the 

 aeration of the soil. But it is scarcely 

 necessary to bring these facts before 

 vegetable growers who practise such in- 

 tense methods that they could not obtain 

 the crops they do unless their soil were 

 worked to a good depth and the sur- 

 face soil kept loose. Notwithstanding 

 the intensive cultivation practised by 

 vegetable and small fruit growers, their 

 soils do become too dry at certain times, 

 some soils becoming drier than others. 



Vegetables and small fruits may be in- 

 jured by too much moisture, the crop 

 suffering both from the direct effect of 

 the excess of moisture and from the in- 

 crease of disease favored by moist condi- 

 tions, some kinds of vegetables suffer- 

 ing more than others, just as certain 

 kinds suffer in dry weather more than 

 others. 



In the province of Ontario' water may 

 be obtained for irrigation purposes from 

 streams, surface and artesian wells and 

 from ponds and reservoirs constructed 

 for holding the rainwater. Sometimes it 

 may be possible to obtain water from 

 the city or town supply. Water may be 



water flow slowly when a large volume 

 is started down the row. With greater 

 slopes irrigation washes the soil in pro- 

 portion to the steepness of the slope. 



"When the ground has too little slope 

 to make the water flow well, several 

 lengths of tarred hose may be laid down 

 the row, and when the water has flowed 

 nearly the length of the first piece a 

 connection is made and the water let out 

 at the end of the first length, and so 

 on. This plan should be followed when 

 the row is so long that the upper end 

 gets too wet before the lower gets wet 

 enough. 



"Where the land slopes so much that 

 a large volume of water washes the 

 land, the difficulty can be partially over- 

 come by dividing the water into small 

 streams and running it' down several 

 rows at once. This is done by making 

 .small ditches or furrows with the hoe 

 to carry the stream to the different rows, 

 or it may be done with a distributor. A 

 small hose is attached to the openings 

 and carries the water to the row desired. 

 With these pieces of small hose, about 

 twenty-five feet long, there is no need 

 to change the position of the distribu- 



