FARM IRRIGATION 245 



of hydrant water for irrigation is confined to market 

 and home gardens near cities and large towns, 

 especially in the Atlantic States. It can usually 

 be bought in quantity at twenty to thirty cents per 

 1,000 gallons, at which price it may sometimes be 

 practicable to use it for forcing a high development 

 of crops on high-priced and heavily taxed land. 

 The market gardeners around Boston, New York 

 and other Eastern cities quite frequently resort to 

 hydrant irrigation; but this method is entirely out 

 of the question for the general farmer living within 

 city limits. 



THE CONSTRUCTION OF SMALL EARTH RESERVOIRS 



The construction of large irrigation canals and 

 reservoirs is a problem in engineering, not in 

 agriculture, and will not be considered here. 



A large proportion of the small irrigation plants, 

 especially in the humid states, make use of an earth 

 wall, as a dam to a small stream at the mouth of a 

 valley, or across a gully to catch and hold surface 

 drainage, or as the sides of a reservoir built upon 

 level land and filled by a windmill, hydraulic ram 

 or steam or gasoline pump. Such a reservoir 

 should be placed high enough to water all the land, 

 but if it is filled by power it should be as low as 

 possible so as to save the lift. Loosen the ground 

 with a plow where the walls are to stand and 

 saturate the soil with water. When it has dried 

 somewhat let the teams pass over it often. Repeat 

 the wetting and tramping as the wall arises. Al- 

 most any loam or clay soil will hold water if it is 

 puddled in this way. If the soil is fairly stiff and 

 the reservoir small this puddling may take the place 

 of the clay wall that is necessary for large reservoirs. 



