278 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



TILE SUB-IRRIGATION. 



To the Editor: 



I am much interested in "Tile Sub-Irrigation," by 

 B. W. Rice, Caldwell, Idaho, in THE IRRIGATION AGE 

 for April. 



I would like very much to know a few things about 

 it. I live in the hills on" the divide between the Mouse 

 and Missouri rivers. This country does not drain. The 

 water runs into the hollows and forms sloughs which 

 sometimes continue for years and sometimes dry up and 

 grow hay. 



By Mr. Rice's method this water could be used on 

 the adjoining land and as that isn't near enough, the 

 economy of the method would be an important item. 



How deep should the tile be planted? 



How often would it need to be renewed? 



How does the cost of 1,000 feet of two-inch tile 

 compare with 1,000 brick? 



Would it be necessary to turn the water in at the 

 upper end? 



Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks, Vice-President of the United 



States, Who Has Expressed His Intention of Attending 



the Fifteenth National Irrigation Congress. 



Could water to forced through an eight-inch tile 

 to a height of 30 feet, and if so, how deep would it 

 have to be planted? 



Would the water seep through the tile broadside 

 or escape at the joints? 



It appears from Mr. Rice's statement that one 

 cubic foot of water will by this method grow a crop 

 on 100 square feet. Has this result been found by 

 experiment ? 



ALEX HAT. 

 Max, North Dakota. 



Mr. Rice's answer follows : 



Many soils will "water" by tiling from the bottom, 

 that would absolutely refuse a "flooding" or surface 

 wetting. The tile would have to go just deep enough 

 to do the business. In some soils a foot is enough, in 

 others the tile would go deeper. If a tile would not 

 serve fifty years it wouldn't pay. The alkalies in the 

 soil, the "make" .of the tile and other conditions figure 

 in its life, of course. 



A thousand feet of two-inch tiling ought to cost 

 less than a thousand brick in the same vicinity. With 

 the tiling practice in vogue the making of this ma- 

 terial would be greatly reduced and ought to be brought 

 where two-inch tile could be delivered on the field for 

 $5 a thousand feet. It should not be burned. When 

 the tile is filled with water it will wet the land, and 

 the water can be put in from below by pumps if so 

 desired. My idea is to make holes in the tiling for 

 the water to escape. These must be made to expedite 

 the matter. An eight-inch tile would stand a thirty- 

 foot pressure. It would have to be made to stand it 

 if necessary. A .better quality would be needed for 

 that much weight of water. 



There are countries where one cubic foot of water 

 would not grow a hundred square feet of vegetation and 

 there are countries where no additional moisture above 

 the natural precipitation is required to grow whole 

 townships of stuff, so it will readily be seen that there 

 are evidently places where the cubic foot would just do 

 it. In Idaho and other similar Western states the foot 

 of water dismissed one foot under the surface and the 

 surface handled as it should be, would grow a crop as 

 long as 40 cubic feet flooded on the surface and then 

 the surface attended to as it must be after a flooding. 

 I mean now of course those crops which must be fre- 

 quently cultivated. For grasses and grain this same 

 thing will be maintained. 



I know of no experiments on a large scale that 

 would demonstrate what is being stated in these articles. 

 My interest in the whole affair has been created and 

 kept hot from observation throughout the large terri- 

 tory I traverse in this part of Idaho, the careful ex- 

 amination of growing plants and the closely estimated 

 supply of water actually consumed by various products 

 of the Idaho soils. My writing is more particularly 

 intended to arouse just such men as Mr. Hay to an 

 actual test and experiment for themselves. 



Of course tile must not be permitted to fill up. It 

 must not be made of material that will go to pieces in 

 the soil after it is placed. Tests must be made on every 

 40 acres here in the West, for the soil is "spotted." 

 Those who first enter the tiling field on a large scale 

 will simply demonstrate the beauty of vicarious suffer- 

 ing. All pioneering means just that. 





Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 1 year, and the Primer of Irrigation 



