THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



375 



LEARN QUALITY OF YOUR IRRIGATING WATER 



DR. A. E. VINSON, of the University of Arizona 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, is urging all 

 farmers in his state to have all water which they 

 propose to use for irrigation tested. He declares 

 some farmers have been led to make heavy invest- 

 ments because of the discovery of a large supply of 

 water near the surface, only to find later that this 

 water was very damaging to the land and fatal to 

 crops. 



Too often the prospective settler or home- 

 steader considers only the depth to water and the 

 available supply when found. Modern pumping 

 machinery has increased greatly the depth from 

 which water may be lifted and better cultural 

 methods have increased the duty of the water so 

 that now a farmer can be successful under condi- 

 .tions that a few years ago were impossible. How- 

 ever, the effect of bad water is not so easily, and 

 in fact, rarely, to be overcome. 



It happens occasionally that two waters occur 

 close enough together so that, although either alone 

 is unfit for irrigation, yet when combined in proper 

 proportion they give a water of usable quality. Such 

 is the case where a very pure, but prohibitively 

 black alkaline, water occurs near a strongly saline 

 but hard water ; sometimes the two may be blended 

 to give a neutral water of moderate salt content 

 that will answer well for irrigating. Again the 



abundance of pure, sweet flood water may be avail- 

 able from time to time, which can be applied to 

 work out and carry away the alkali accumulated 

 from the application of alkaline pumped water be- 

 tween the flood periods. But these conditions are 

 not general, and usually the farmer will find it well 

 to consider the quality of his water supply before 

 going to the expense of testing out the yield. 



All waters that have a strong saline taste are 

 too salty for use excepting under special conditions. 

 On light soils, well drained, and with an abundance 

 of cheap water so that the salts can be kept leached 

 out of the upper three or four feet of soil, excellent 

 results may be had indefinitely. In proportion to 

 the lack of these conditions, sooner or later the 

 detrimental effects of the alkaline water will be- 

 come manifest. In some cases it may be only a 

 fe\v .years ; in others a generation. 



In Arizona the quality of ground water is apt 

 to be a local condition, sometimes confined to a 

 very smkll area. There are in general regions of 

 saline waters, of black alkaline waters, and of pure 

 waters, within which most of the waters are of the 

 same general character. But occasionally a good 

 water is found in a district where bad waters 

 abound, and the reverse is not unknown. Attempts 

 have been made to improve the quality of water by 

 prolonged pumping, but usually without success. 



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1 . The Austin reversible earth deflector. 



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AUSTIN MANUFACTURING CO., CHICAGO 



New York Office, 50 Church Street Canadian Agents, Mussens Ltd., Montreal 



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