THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



This is made more possible by the greater amount 

 of sunshine of the irrigating sections, so that on very 

 rich land over one hundred bushels of corn can be raised 

 on an acre by closer planting. I have seen one hundred 

 and fifteen taken from an acre, but this was from ex- 

 traordinary soil and irrigated with great skill, though 

 not cultivated because it was too closely planted. The 

 season is here so long that all weeds can be killed be- 

 fore planting, so that cultivation for that purpose is 

 needless. The ground remains wet and loose until the 

 corn is high enough to sap the moisture, at which time 

 flooding will not hurt it on loose vegetable mold such 

 as this was. 



Eemember that on some soils the injury to any- 

 thing from flooding is very light, while some things 

 like onions and blackberries are but slightly affected, 

 even when young. Alfalfa, beets, carrots and lots of 

 garden stuff are but slightly hurt, even when young, if 

 the weather is cool. Hence one of the first things you 

 should do, which you can do on a small scale, should 

 be to study out the effect of flooding on different things 

 on your particular soil and in your climate. You may 

 find them pay heavily in spite of the fact that they 

 look sickly for a while. On my ranch flooding injures 

 about everything at first and grain will stand still long 

 enough to make me very tired of watching it, but after 

 awhile it begins to move and finally makes a good crop 

 of the finest hay where the 'ground is rich enough. If 

 allowed to head it makes largest heads and the plump- 

 est berry I ever saw, but hay pays so much better; I 

 raise nothing for grain. The size of the grain is due 

 to the cool weather in heading time and I mention it 

 only to show that flooding does not in that case affect 

 final resulte. For reasons hereafter given you may 

 have to irrigate by flooding, so the sooner you find its 

 effects on your place the better. It is also very con- 

 venient in many cases where you do not have to do it. 



Where checks are too broken up after being once 

 once used cultivation cannot be begun too soon after 

 the ground has dried to the right point. And it cannot 

 be continued too steadily until the loss of moisture 

 taken by the roots of the crop makes it necessary to 

 irrigate again. If trees are young this time will be 

 much greater than you imagine if you keep up con- 

 stant stirring of about four or five inches of the top 

 soil. Four things seem now beyond question: 



First. That the soil needs air. 



Second. That keeping the top soil loose makes a 

 mulch that retains moisture. 



Third. That from the moment you stop the cul- 

 tivator the top soil begins to settle and lose its power 

 of retaining moisture. 



Fourth. That weeds or grass, instead of benefiting 

 by shading the ground from the sun, so that it won't 

 dry out so fast, only dry it the faster.. 



It used to be thought that loosening the top soil 

 made it dry faster. So it does for an inch or two. But 

 below that it retains moisture far better. It is not 

 uncommon in California to see well cultivated ground 

 where you can pack the soil into a ball in your hand 

 less than a foot below the surface in September, though 

 it has had not a drop of moisture since spring from 

 any source. Of course, it won't do this with anything 

 growing in it, but the moisture will vanish in a few 

 weeks with a heavy stand of grain, corn or old trees. 



The value of something to shade the ground is a 



common delusion of the tyro in irrigation. For a few 

 days it does keep its moisture at the immediate surface. 

 Grain, alfalfa and many other things will sprout and 

 grow well in the. shade of thin grass or weeds where the 

 sun after flooding would greatly injure them. But the 

 after effect is to rob them of moisture in a way that 

 may overbalance any early advantage. While control 

 cf the water makes it better than where you have to 

 depend on the rainfall the difference between ground 

 well cultivated and that full of weeds has been too long 

 observed in the irrigating sections to be questioned 

 now. When I came to Southern California in 1875 

 the oranges were dry, sour, pithy and thick skinned 

 and would be absolutely unsalable today. In less than 

 twenty years they became exactly the reverse, with a 

 percentage of first grade sometimes running as high as 

 ninety. Before that no fruit buyer would touch them 

 and all had to be picked and packed by the grower him- 

 self and almost always at a loss. By 1890 almost any 

 one could sell his whole crop on the trees for cash, the 

 buyer taking all the risk. One glance at the uniformity 

 of the fruit on the heavily laden trees told the experi- 

 enced buyer exactly what he was getting. By the grow- 

 ers themselves the difference is universally attributed 

 to the continuous use of plow and cultivator. During 

 the long summer the cultivator rarely rests, although 

 the last weed and spear of grass has long been gone. 

 In some places planting on better drained ground and 

 irrigating with furrows instead of flooding has had 

 considerable to do with the results, but cultivation is 

 plainly the main thing and its office in aerating the 

 ground seems as valuable as its retention of moisture. 

 The same effect is plain with most all kinds of fruit. 

 Another result has been to reduce the amount of water 

 once deemed indispensable for irrigation. The best 

 oranges and lemons are now raised on less than half 

 the water they once received, while deciduous fruits in 

 many places need less than a third of the old supply. 

 The difference with grapes where well cultivated is 

 still more ridiculous. The country is at least four 

 times richer in water and a dozen times richer in the 

 quality of the fruit. It has no trouble now in selling 

 every particle of first grade fruit at the best price, when 

 before it could hardly sell anything except at a loss, and 

 a loss for which no one could blame the buyer or con- 

 sumer. We never had water enough to make it un- 

 healthy, but in many other sections swamps, mosquitoes 

 and malaria made many a settler think irrigation the 

 greatest of humbugs and sent many a one back to the 

 land of rain, broken in spirit, health and pocket. 



WHAT THE GROUND CONTAINS. 



Is a question which many of the farmers have never tried to 

 answer. Its trea?ures of minerals and of pure water should 

 be revealed by the use of the "American" Drilling Machinery. 

 Every neighborhood should organize a company and by work- 

 ing together and sharing the profits and advantages, wherever 

 found, great additions to the wealth of the community as 

 well as the individuals would result. Any who are inter- 

 ested in this question should write for the new illustrated 

 drilling catalog of the American Well Works, Aurora, 111. 



This office is in receipt of catalogue No. 71 describing 

 Dean Bros. Power Pumps. Those who are interested in this 

 class of machinery may procure a copy of the catalogue by 

 addressing Dean Bros. Steam Pump Works, Indianapolis. 

 Indiana. 



