24 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Drainage and Irrigation. 



The acidity of the soil is also influenced very largel}^ by the 

 drainage. It is frequently said by good truck farmers that if 

 they were forced to choose between drainage and commercial 

 fertilizer they would probably select drainage as the more im- 

 portant factor in crop production. The amount of drainage 

 and the location and depth of drainage pipes are best deter- 

 mined by the local conditions. Drainage experiments con- 

 ducted on one type of soil under certain conditions throw 

 some light on the treatment under similar conditions; but if 

 the conditions are different, it is best to make the experiment 

 on the particular soil in question. It is well recognized that 

 drainage has a marked influence on the availability of plant 

 food added in the form of natural or artificial manures, but it 

 is not so well known under just what conditions the plant 

 may get the maximum quantity of these ingredients with the 

 minimum loss by leaching. The effect of drainage on the 

 relative earliness of market garden crops is obvious. 



Irrigation should be studied in connection with drainage. 

 It has been the general opinion that our irrigation problems 

 were limited to the arid and semi-arid districts of the west, but 

 we are -now fast realizing the importance of an abundant and 

 constant water supply for our eastern agriculture. The in- 

 tensive truck farmer in the upper south would no sooner think 

 of attempting to grow his crop without adequate drainage and 

 irrigation facilities than without the use of stable manure or 

 commercial fertilizer. The time, the quantity and the method 

 of application are still fruitful subjects of investigation. We 

 know that in a general way most of our truck crops should 

 receive at least an inch of water per week, but there are some 

 that will thrive better with one and one-half inches or even 

 two inches, provided the drainage facilities are adequate. The 

 ditch or furrow method of applying water has long been the 

 standard in many sections of the country, but a few years ago 

 the overhead system became quite popular. Now there seems 

 to be a trend toward the furrow method under certain trucking 

 conditions in the far south and the semi-arid west. There 



