42 



THE IERIGATION AGE. 



sumer, since he knows he is paying only for the water 

 he actually uses, and is not called upon to share the 

 burden of that wasted by his careless neighbor, as 

 well as the charges on the increased equipment and 

 maintenance necessary to provide the wasted supply. 



.The time honored method of selling water for 

 irrigation is by means of a designated rate of flow 

 running either for the season or for a designated day 

 or number of days, or else as an aliquot part of the 

 total amount flowing in the main canal. But human 

 nature is the same, whether influencing fhe draft of 

 water for irrigation purposes, or for that on the many 

 other uses to which man puts water ; and so long as 

 the user has no pecuniary interest in saving water 

 in causing the least amount, to satisfy his needs so 

 long will he waste it, even if it be only for the satis- 

 faction of letting water that has been paid for run 

 upon the ground. 



The practice of measuring specific quantities of 

 water delivered to consumers when applied in the con- 

 duct of municipal water works or of power canals, has 

 universally resulted in a very great economy of water. 

 When water is charged per plumbing fixture, for ex- 

 ample, or by flat rate for a given period of time, the 

 consumer has no pecuniary interest in keeping his 

 fixtures in order, or even merely closed when not using 

 water ; and waste grows to large proportions. 



When water is paid for by measure, use goes on 

 as before ; but waste is stopped because attention is 

 drawn to it with every quarterly bill rendered and it 

 has become too costly to continue. 



The same procedure would apply to irrigation 

 water when paid for by measure ; or when the water 

 user in some manner is made to have pecuniary in- 

 terest in being economical in the use of the water he 

 may lawfully draw. 



The statement is made that about one-half the 

 water used for irrigation could be saved for the irri- 

 gation of another like quantity of land. Whether this 

 be true or not the consideration involved is of great 

 importance. If it be true that as much as one-third 

 of the irrigation water could be saved, the cost of the 

 whole irrigation plant would become chargeable to a 

 largely increased number of water users, thus ma- 

 terially reducing each one's share of the original ex- 

 pense. Under such conditions a community could af- 

 ford to pay for automatic registers that would enable 

 this larger area of land to be irrigated as much as one- 

 third of the cost of the diversion works and yet have 

 the satisfaction of having increased the welfare of 

 the state without increased cost to themselves. 



The relative value of irrigation as compared with 

 dry land farming is stated by Professor Winsor as fol- 

 lows: "An arid farmer does exceptionally well if he 

 clears ten dollars per acre, while the irrigation farmer 

 with an ordinary crop of oats can clear sixty dollars 

 an acre on the same kind of soil. The increase, then, 

 of 600 per cent is clue not to the farmer nor to the 

 soil, but to the irrigation water, thus making the water 

 five times as valuable as the soil, and with the more 

 intensive farming thus made possible, the returns due 

 to the water sometimes reach fifty times the returns 

 from an equal area of arid land." 



(Continued on Page 56.) 



PREPARATION OF SEED-BED FOR 

 ALFALFA. 



There will be considerable land seeded to al- 

 falfa in the next few months. A few hints along 

 the line of preparing the seed-bed may help the 

 farmer to obtain a good stand. The necessity of 

 preparing the land properly before the seed is sown 

 cannot be emphasized too strongly, for one should 

 not expect to secure a good stand of alfalfa if the 

 land is poorly leveled and the clods left unbroken. 

 The farmer who spends time and capital in the 

 preparation of his seed-bed is the one who will reap 

 the greatest profit on his land. 



In the first place see that the land is level ; 

 that is to say, have the field in such a shape that 

 the water when irrigating will stand at a uniform 

 depth over the entire plat or border. The danger 

 of killing the alfalfa by too much water in the low 

 places is thereby eliminated. 



Have the land leveled so that the use of many 

 cross borders will not be necessary. These are not 

 only an annoyance in mowing but cause the mower 

 to depreciate in value rapidly, and numerous cross 

 borders afford a place for weeds and grasses to get 

 a start. 



If the land has never been in cultivation it is well 

 to seed the land to an annual crop such as corn or 

 wheat for the first year, and in this way determine 

 whether or not the land is level. It will always be 

 found that the land will need re-leveling, dragging 

 off the high spots and filling the low ones. How- 

 ever, if it is essential that the alfalfa be seeded the 

 first year, the land should be bordered before seed- 

 ing and irrigated, and the levelness of the land de- 

 termined. 



After land is properly leveled before the seed 

 is sown, consider the texture of the soil. If the soil 

 breaks up cloddy some instrument such as the disc 

 harrow or the clod crusher should be used to pul- 

 verize the soil thoroughly. Have the soil in such 

 a condition that every seed that is sown will have 

 a fine loose soil in which to send its roots. A more 

 uniform stand of alfalfa may be secured on a well 

 pulverized soil. Less seed per acre will be required 

 on such a piece of land for all the seeds are in a 

 position to take root readily and grow. On a soil 

 that is cloddy some of the seeds will fall in cracks 

 and others on clods. In the cracks the seeds will 

 be piled up much thicker than necessary, while the 

 seeds that fall on clods may not receive sufficient 

 moisture to insure germination. 



RENEW 

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