November, 1915. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



251 



Pruning the vineyard is generally car- 

 ried on at this season of the year. 



If not already done, it is a good time 

 to remove the dead canes from the 

 raspberry patch, instead of leaving 

 them for next spring, when work will 

 be piling up. 



The fall of the year is the best time 

 for setting out raspberries and cur- 

 rants. This should be done as soon as 

 possible now. It is also an excellent 

 time to take currant cuttings for next 

 year's new currant bushes. These cut- 



tings are taken from the present sea- 

 son's well-ripened wood, and may be 

 stored in moist sand in a cool cellar, or 

 planted at once in nursery rows in the 

 open. Scions from apple trees may also 

 be gathered now ; in fact it is better to 

 gather them before severe winter wea- 

 ther, for then you obtain them before 

 any drying-out has occurred, and the 

 chances of their uniting with the stock 

 are thus increased. They should be 

 stored in a cool, damp place, and 

 packed in moist sand or sawdust to 

 prevent drying out. 



Irrigation Tests at Macdonald College 



Prof. T. G. Bunting, Macdonald College 



I 



I 



IRRIGATION has been practised for 

 several thousand years in parts of 

 the old world. The Egyptians have 

 irrigated of necessity for probably four 

 thousand years, and in recent years 

 large sums of money have been spent 

 in improving their system and in ex- 

 tending the area under irrigation in 

 the great desert of the valley of the 

 Nile. 



With the opening and development 

 of the Pacific Coast region to fruit 

 growing and vegetable gardening irri- 

 gation at once became a great factor 

 in the wonderful success of that coun- 

 try. Their systems of irrigation are 

 largely modelled after those of the old 

 world, in which water is taken from 

 the rivers and carried by gravity to the 

 land and there distributed to the crops 

 by flooding or conducting the water 

 through narrow furrows between the 

 rows of plants. Within comparatively 

 recent years irrigation for certain 

 crops has been practised extensively 

 in the eastern United States, and dur- 

 ing the last few years has been intro- 

 duced into Eastern Canada. With the 

 greater importance of our crops and 

 their increasing cost of production we 

 have been forced to use more and more 

 water, until now many hundreds of 

 acres of vegetables, small fruits and 

 florists' stock are under irrigation in 

 the eastern United States and Canada. 

 Droughts Cause Loss. 

 Not a year passes without a greater 

 or less period of drought during the 

 summer season. This is the time plants 

 are or should be making their maxi- 

 mum growth. How often do we see 

 reports that such and such crops have 

 been greatly affected by a drought. 

 These periods of drought are probably 

 the greatest limiting factor in crop 

 production that we have to contend 

 with. This is because water is one of 

 the most important factors in crop pro- 

 duction, and one that is not fully appre- 

 ciated. It is essential for the proper 

 solution of plant foods in the soil. 

 Without it the important soil function 



could not take place. Plant food must 

 be in very weak dilution in the soil 

 water or it cannot be taken up by the 

 plants. It comprises the larger part 

 by weight of all plants, and for every 

 pound of dry matter contained in them 

 hundreds of pounds of water are re- 

 quired for the transference of this dry 

 matter from the soil to the plant. 



There are many ways of conserving 

 soil moisture to tide the plants of 

 whatever kind over these periods of 

 droug'ht, such as drainage, cultivation 

 and mulching, but only in the direct 

 application of water can we be abso- 

 lutely independent of rainfall. This 

 condition explains the great import- 

 ance of reliable irrigation systems. 



Irrigation is not intended to take the 

 place of rain, but rather to supplement 



it during a dry period. On account of 

 the uncertainty of rainfall it is always 

 desirable that irrigated land be well 

 drained, if not naturally, then by means 

 of tile to carry off at any time excess 

 water. 



Controlling Factors. 



The practicability of irrigating land 

 is dependent upon the greater returns 

 that may be obtained from that land 

 under irrigation. Many crops would 

 not show a sufficient increase in re- 

 turns to warrant the expenditure ne- 

 cessary to instal and operate a practi- 

 cal system, so that it at once becomes 

 necessary to determine what crops 

 may be expected to show a return un- 

 der irrigation. It is partly for this 

 reason that the various colleges and 

 experimental farms in Canada have al- 

 ready installed systems. However, 

 from our present knowledge we are 

 reasonably sure that in many places 

 under average conditions irrigation 

 will pay abundantly on such crops as 

 strawberries, celery, onions, etc., and 

 on many lines of florists' stock. This 

 profit may be obtained from the crop 

 under irrigation by giving a greatly 

 increased yield, a better quality crop 

 in everything that makes for quality, 

 an earlier crop, or a crop that is much 

 freer from injuries from disease and 

 insect pests. Also irrigation will fre- 

 quently permit of a second crop after 

 an early one, or will permit of the sow- 

 ing of a cover crop after the main crop 

 has been harvested, and by forcing this 

 cover crop with water we can benefit 



This crop of potatoes yielded 600 bushels to the acre. Note the piping for the Skinner system 



of irrlg"atlon which was used. 



