THE IBEIGATION AGE. 



181 



a good yield, and their fine appearance makes them a 

 good seller. Carman No. 3, Sir Walter Kaleigh and 

 Banner .are newer varieties of the rural type which in 

 some respects are imprpovements over the original Rural. 

 Kings are quite commonly grown in some sections of 

 Wisconsin, but are objectionable on account of color. 

 Early Ohio is still the most popular of all early vari- 

 eties. It is not a large yielder in Wisconsin and Illinois, 

 but does better in Minnesota. It is largely grown in 

 the Red River Valley. The White Ohio is a sport from 

 the old Early Ohio, and much more desirable because 

 of its color. Acme is another of the Ohio family which 

 usually outyields the Old Ohio. Triumph is grown 

 quite extensively for seed to go south. Early Rose 

 and Beauty of Hebron are not much grown, having 

 seen their best days. Of newer varieties, Early Roser, 

 similar in type to the old Early Rose, is a splendid one, 

 also Early Eureka and Noroton Beauty promise well. 

 These last two are extra early. 



J. H. Palm & Sons, of Lexington, Ohio, who are 

 also extensive seed potato growers, name the following 

 varieties as adapted to the State of Ohio and adjoin- 

 ing territory: For late varieties, the Washington and 

 Vermont Gold Coin are most popular, being large yield- 

 ers, strong growers and of good quality. The Gold 



TILE SUB-IRRIGATION. 



BY B. W. RICE, CALDWELL, IDAHO. 



Figure 4. AN IDEAL SHAPED POTATO. 



Coin especially is a vigorous grower and the quality 

 first-class. Although the Carman No. 3 is a good 

 yielder, Whitman's White Mammoth is much better in 

 quality, also a fine yielder. Sir Walter Raleigh in 

 some localities is grown with good results. The most 

 popular early variety is the Early May. It is a strong 

 grower, and fine quality. 



Preparation of the soil is a matter of vast impor- 

 tance if large returns are expected. In considering this 

 part of our subject, it will be well to include both plow- 

 ing and manuring. To plow and pulverize the land 

 most perfectly without the application of something 

 which will increase its fertility or at least maintain a 

 good average condition of strength will result in little 

 or no profit. Success in this age of the world depends 

 upon intelligent and energetic work. Imperfect or half- 

 finished work will not receive the highest wages. In 

 reference to plowing, it may be well to state that deep 

 plowing is advisable in most cases. The potato plant 

 usually has a large top, hence a corresponding root, 

 which naturally requires depth and room to spread. 

 (Concluded in May issue.) 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 1 year, and the Primer of Irrigation 



A hundred years hence the old men will be say- 

 ing : "We can remember when we used to run the wa- 

 ter on top of the ground." All over the arid West fifty 

 gallons of water is now being used to put one gallon in 

 actual contact with growing vegetation. Fifty times 

 the quantity of water is being used that is necessary to 

 accomplish the purpose. All this will have to be 

 changed in the future and the sooner we get at it the 

 more sensible it will be for the coming generations. 

 Only one-twentieth of the soil of the West will ever 

 be utilized under the present system of waste. 



That water is now being wasted in immense quanti- 

 ties under the present gigantic irrigation propositions 

 is too obvious for any contradiction, but just how the 

 change is going to be brought about is a subject not so 

 clearly defined. Whether mechanical means shall be 

 resorted to to move the water about over the earthier 

 to go on permitting it to move by the law of gravitation 

 and thus consume much valuable time, remains yet to 

 be decided. That one inch of water shall remain the 

 standard for one acre of land has already been dis- 

 puted with a vim that is going to be felt in the near fu- 

 ture. That the present generation will not make the 

 needed changes in all this is a self-evident fact, but that 

 the changes must be made is also a truth that stares 

 us in the face. Just how to bring about the result is 

 what we now want to know. 



In Idaho one acre of land is about 210 feet square. 

 To wet this acre one time it requires 44,100 gallons of 

 water. This wetting must be done every ten days for 

 fifty days, which means five waterings. Of course some 

 soils must be watered more frequently and some soils 

 will stand it with less water. Some crops will assist 

 in holding the moisture and some will do very little 

 toward shading the surface, but as a rule five waterings 

 will mature the average Idaho crop. When this 44,100 

 gallons of water is spread out over the surface of the 

 ground it immediately begins to disappear into the dry 

 atmosphere and the dry atmosphere can only succeed 

 in taking one gallon of every hundred, thus wasting 

 ninety-nine gallons of what one day will be mighty 

 precious material in the economy of the world. This 

 ninety-nine gallons disappears into the air and drifts 

 away to fall at some season of the year when it is not 

 needed for growing crops. To reserve half of this 

 wasted water means that fifty times the present surface 

 of the earth may be wet with the present supply of the 

 needful. The question arises then, how can this be 

 done on an economical basis, and even the economical 

 feature may be eliminated, for we will some day be 

 driven to the extremity where water must be saved at 

 the expense of human labor and the toil of animals gen- 

 erally. Let us pipe our land. Run no water on the 

 surface for any crop. Put it all in tiles or pipes under 

 the surface. This Idaho acre named above can be tiled 

 for $60 and is thereafter in far better condition than 

 our present system will ever put it. Seven thousand feet 

 of two-inch pipe will put a tile every six feet and one 

 gallon of water inserted into the soil through a tiling 

 is worth fifty spread out on the surface. Of course the 

 tile or pipe business will have to be improved and en- 



