THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



181 



(Continued from page 156.) 



upon the surface. The corn came up in four days and grew 

 strong and vigorous. The soil was plowed deep about every 

 ten days, fully turned over and followed with the cultivator 

 and harrow, until it became so soft and powdery that it was 

 difficult to walk in it. It was also hoed frequently, not a weed 

 being permitted to appear, and the soil stirred deep and 

 drawn well up over the roots. The land measured about an 

 acre. The corn grew to full maturity without a single set 

 back, or twisting of a leaf. The stalks measured an average 

 of nine feet and each bore from two to four perfect ears 

 of plump kernels, and made good roasting ears, and when 

 harvested in the middle of June, the ground still snowed some 

 moisture. 



Instances of this particular kind are abundant in every 

 locality in the arid and semi-arid regions. They are nothing 

 but experiments, or rather accidents, and prove nothing that 

 can be of general utility. They show, however, what may 

 be done by careful cultivation with a small amount of water 

 husbanded to the last drop. There was not a particle of 

 alkali in the soil above referred to, and it was very retentive 

 of moisture. It emphasizes what the author contends, and 

 what scientific investigation places beyond the pale of denial, 

 that cultivation and moisture are what may be considered 

 essentials, and not water in its liquid form. To borrow a 

 word from another profession : we are dealing with the homoe- 

 opathy of agriculture, and advocating water triturations pro- 

 vided they accomplish the purpose of growing a profitable 

 crop, where drastic doses will ruin. 



In every case, however, the supply of water diminished 

 by evaporation must be restored either by irrigation or by 

 rain fall, and the requisite amount must be continuous and not 

 intermittent ; that is, the plant must be kept growing. 



If it were not for the fact that water is a solvent of the 

 salts necessary to plant life, and as a medium for conveying 

 them in a state of solution to the plants, there would be no 

 necessity for water, and plants could grow in an absolutely 

 dry and rainless region without irrigation. 



It should be borne in mind that it is not so much "wet- 

 ness" that plants require, as a medium for dissolving the 



earthy salts and vegetable acids, so that the two may find 

 their affinities and form the various chemical combinations 

 which are necessary to make the plant. When that has been 

 accomplished all the rest is surplus, waste, useless expenditure 

 of the forces of nature, deleterious to plants by over feeding 

 them, and injurious to the soil by washing its reserve elements 

 out altogether, or driving them down into the subsoil be- 

 yond the reach of the plant roots, or forcing them to combine 

 in excessive quantities which leach out, or crystallize on the 

 surface and accumulate in masses that prevent the germination 

 oi seeds. 



More will be said upon this important subject in the 

 chapter on "The Relations of Water to the Soil," the second 

 bane of desert land, "alkali," being next in order. 



(Continued from page 168.) 



stantially increase the amount of water therein," or prevent 

 the decrease thereof by natural causes. Defendant's canal 

 was the only source of water supply for an arid valley some 

 30 miles long and containing 20,000 people, who were wholly 

 dependent thereon for water for domestic purposes and the 

 raising of crops. It appeared that in order to supply their 

 needs, and especially to meet emergencies, as in case of hot 

 winds to which the valley was subject, it was necessary to 

 run through the canal, which was 61 miles long, a quantity of 

 water somewhat in excess of the average consumption, and 

 that the excess, when unused, was discharged through waste 

 gates and flowed into the lake at a point some 40 miles from 

 complainant's land, but not in such quantity as to materially 

 affect its volume. Held that, giving the decree a proper and 

 reasonable construction, such waste of water into the lake did 

 not work substantial injury to complainant, and was not a 

 violation of the injunction. The Salton Sea Cases. New 

 Liverpool Salt Co. v. California Development Co. U. S. Cir- 

 cuit Court of Appeals. 172 Federal 820. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age, one year, and cloth- 

 bound copy of the Primer of Irrigation. 



The Little Roadster Grader and Ditcher 



A New, Light Ditch Plowing Machine, 



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Laterals on Irrigated Farms, and 



Ditching and Grading Roads. 



This type of machine cuts ditches for 

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The Little Roadster is a practical 

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It is made almost entirely of wrought 

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EVERY IRRIGATED RANCH OR FARM NEEDS ONE OR MORE OF THESE MACHINES. IT WILL QUICKLY 

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THE: 



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