112 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



opened in order to winter the fall seeds safely and to 

 dry the fields still unsown as soon as possible in spring. 

 In the first case, the valves are closed soon after thaw- 

 ing, in the latter they stay open, until the tillage is 

 finished or until the surface is dried so much that 

 teams can enter the acre, after that the valves' are 

 closed directly. 



"That part of the winter humidity which is in 

 the soil still, is prevented from running off through 

 the drain tiles and is saved for the plants. Neither the 

 water of the summer rains is lost and is retained for 

 producing crops. If, however, heavy showers occur in 

 the summer months and, on that account, the water 

 rises too high in the tubes standing above the valves 

 higher than 28 inches below the surface for more than 

 seven days the valves are opened half an hour or one 

 hour or few hours, until the surplus is run off. 



"Laying out the ventil drainage, some important 

 facts are to be considered. The main drains must ob- 

 tain sufficient fall, therefore they must be located 

 usually along the direction of the greatest fall. Only 

 in this case it is possible to store the groundwater up 

 symmetrically; besides it is to be considered that some 

 fall is lost by fitting the drains with valves. 



"The laterals must flow into the main drain from 

 above, because on this method quicksand and other 

 settled matter are washed away by the water most 

 easily. 



"The whole system of the valve drainage must be 

 laid out with the greatest carefulness, because it is not 

 destined to be emptied regularly and entirely, but to 

 conditions very alternating between storing up contin- 

 ually and running off unhindered. 



"It is advisable to cover by plates of clay the 

 upper part of the joints made by abutting the ends of 

 two tiles together. These plates are about 3.6 inches 

 long, 2.4 inches wide and 0.6 inches thick. They are to 

 be not too soft but nevertheless pliable in order to 

 cling to the tiles. The plates prevent the roots from 

 creeping and the particles of soil from being washed 

 into the pipes from above. 



"Concerning the valves, the pressed valves of 

 Raumer (made by August Niemann, manufacturer of 

 clay products, Flensburg, Germany), are most suitable 

 for this purpose, because only little fall is lost by them. 

 It is to be taken care that the valves close perfectly. 



"It is very important to connect the valves strongly 

 with the drain trace, the joints must be made tight by 

 cement or similar substance. Upon the valve is set a 

 clay tube and upon the tube is set a wooden box stand- 

 ing out over the surface 5 to 15 inches and supplied 

 with a cover which can be locked. Only the main drains 

 are fitted out with valves, not the laterals. 



"The number of the valves is dependent from 

 the fall conditions of the field to be drained, the greater 

 the fall the greater the number of the valves. Laying 

 out the first valve drainage in Germany, one valve was 

 sufficient for about three acres. 



"The valve drainage has only the one disadvantage 

 that the wooden boxes of the valves standing out over 

 the surface of the field make trouble in tilling and 

 harvesting with machinery. But this small disad- 

 vantage disappears, considering the immense profit. 



"Very large is the number of the fields which are 

 too wet in winter but dry up in summer. On all these 

 sandy or loamy-sandy soils, the valve drainage secures 

 the fall seeds to winter safely. 



RAISING POTATOES BY IRRIGATION. 



At the New Mexico Experiment Station a prelim- 

 inary test in potato growing was conducted by Fabian 

 Garcia during the past season with the idea of find- 

 ing out something about the best time to plant, best 

 method of culture, as well as testing a large number of 

 varieties. Two plantings were made, the first one on 

 March 30, and the second on April 30. In each case 

 part of the potatoes were planted in furrows and part 

 of them on ridges. Those in furrows were planted 

 about four inches deep and the furrow was plowed 

 back on them, while those on ridges were put in with 

 a garden trowel about the same depth. A few of the 

 potatoes planted in furrows were covered with straw 

 and then with dirt. Immediately after planting all were 

 irrigated to start them to sprouting. The potatoes 

 on ridges sprouted first and a good stand as well as 

 a fair growth was secured. Those planted in furrows 

 were slow and irregular in coming up and, on the whole, 

 the stand was poor. In fact, the results from these 

 potatoes were very unsatisfactory. The small-sized 

 tubers and poor yield were due, to a large degree, to 

 the soil packing so much around the plants after each 

 irrigation. The cultivations given between the irriga- 

 tions did not seem to help very materially to keep the 

 soil loose in the middle. On the other hand, the po- 

 tatoes on the ridges ripened earlier, during the first 

 week in July, and the tubers grew to a fair size and the 

 yield was good. The early planting did the best. On 

 the whole the results of the early planting and ridge 

 system of culture were very satisfactory and encour- 

 aging. 



Out of the thirty-nine varieties planted the Eose 

 Seedling, Triumph, Early Six Weeks, Early Ohio, and 

 New Vermont Gold Coin did the best. * These are all 

 early varieties. 



It seems from these results that early planting, 

 ridge culture, and a suitable early variety are among 

 the more important points to be considered in potato 

 growing, at least in the Mesilla Valley. 



BLOW AT SCRIP SYSTEM. 



We are glad to see, after all these years of mis- 

 directed prerogative, that a resolution has been intro- 

 duced in the Senate directing the stay of all proceed- 

 ings now pending on any application to enter or patent 

 even numbered sections of public lands in lieu of odd- 

 numbered sections owned by any railroad within the 

 limits of forest reserves created by legislative order. 

 Railroad companies and individuals have been compelled 

 to surrender public lands within the territories set aside 

 by the President for forest reserves, and are selecting 

 land outside of such reservations in place of the land 

 surrendered. The resolution declares that railroad com- 

 panies shall not receive as grants any even numbered 

 sctions of public lands, and that all such sections shall 

 be reserved for individual settlement. This is a whack 

 at the scrip system that has been creating such havoc 

 in equitable settlement of the West. Denver Field and 

 Farm. 



A New Jersey inventor has discovered a plan to 

 utilize mosquitoes. He calculates that one mosquito ex- 

 erts fifty times as much suction power proportionately 

 as the most powerful steam pump. All he needs is a 

 mosquito big enough, and there you are. 



