252 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral Edition. 



The erowing of grapes on a commercial scale is being developed in Lambton County Ont 

 This vineyard is owned by Robt. W. Riggs, Arkona, Ont. 



the soil so that it will be in much bet- 

 ter shape for the following year's 

 crop. 



There are many ways of applyinj? 

 water to the ground or growing crops, 

 and one of the commonest to the florist 

 is by means of a garden hose attached 

 to a supply of water under pressure. 

 This is slow work and expensive of 

 labor or upkeep and is only feasible on 

 small gardens. Small garden sprinklers 

 of various makes and capacities are 

 often used with the hose to reduce the 

 cost of distribution, but they do not 

 distribute uniformly and only partly 

 reduce the cost. Surface irrigation, 

 such as conducting water by gravity 

 through ditches and distributing it be- 

 tween the rows of plants in shallow fur- 

 rows is extravagant of water and not 

 very well suited to our conditions of 

 soil. Sub-irrigation, or the distribution 

 of water through numerous under- 

 ground tile is also extravagant of water 

 and does not give even distribution or 

 uniform results. 



The system that is in general use and 

 that is giving greatest satisfaction is 

 a system of overhead sprinkling after 

 the manner of rainfall, and is called the 

 Skinner System of Irrigation. It con- 

 sists of an overhead system of lateral 

 pipes, three-quarter inches to one and 

 one-quarter inches in diameter, depend- 

 ing on its length, in parallel rows, for- 

 ty-five feet to sixty feet apart, connect- 

 ed to a main supply line, usually under 

 ground, and delivering the water to 

 the laterals at a pressure of twenty-five 

 to thirty-five or more pounds. The lat- 

 erals are provided at intervals of from 

 three to four feet with small nozzles in 

 perfect alignment that throw a stream 

 of water from twenty to thirty feet. 

 This stream of water, in being thrown 

 from the nozzle, is broken up into in- 

 numerable small drops which fall to 

 the ground in much the same manner 



as a gentle rain, and the ground is cov- 

 ered uniformly. The latest lines are 

 provided with a turning device, so that 

 the nozzles may be elevated or lowered, 

 depending on the distance desired to 

 throw the water, side to be irrigated, 

 or direction and velocity of wind. 



Approximately one inch of water 

 may be delivered on the land for the 

 full length of the lateral over a width 

 of twenty-five feet in a period of ten 

 hours, of course depending on pressure 

 of water, size of pipe and nozzles used ; 

 or both sides of the lateral can be irri- 

 gated to a depth of one inch in two 

 periods of ten hours each. One inch cf 

 water is equivalent to a heavy rainfall, 

 and will give a thorough soaking to 

 the ground for a considerable depth, 

 depending on the dryness of the soil 

 before the application. At Macdonald 

 College we have been giving with good 

 results an application of one-half to 

 three-quarters of an inch of water at a 

 time and the applications as frequentlj^ 

 as every five to seven days, again de- 

 pending on the rainfall and condition 

 of the crop. One good irrigation once 

 a week is of more value than a number 

 of light sprinkles every day during the 

 dry season. Light sprinkling onlj^ wets 

 the surface soil and is soon lost by evap- 

 oration, and little of it ever gets to 

 the roots of the plants. 



Cost of Installation. 

 This system is an expensive one to 

 insital, but of course much depends on 

 the source of water supply, cost of 

 pumping and delivering the water un- 

 der the required pressure, cost of pips 

 and material, and labor required. As 

 this varies a great deal no estimates 

 can be reliably gfven, but if water can- 

 not be delivered to the land to be ir- 

 rigated at the required pressure at ten 

 cents per thousand gallons the cost 

 would probably be excessive. At ten 

 cents per thousand gallons the cost is 



approximately two dollars and thirty 

 cents an acre inch of water for delivery 

 charge, and one would require from 

 two to five acre inches of water per 

 season. During the past season we 

 used on an average two decimal fifty- 

 five acre inches of water over nine 

 acres of vegetables, strawberries and 

 some florists' stock, some crops requir- 

 ing more water than others. 



The cost of installing the system on 

 the land, exclusive of the cost of deliv- 

 ering the water, can be more easily de- 

 termined. Estimates will vary accord- 

 ing to the price of pipe and other ma- 

 terial used, labor and method used in 

 supporting the lateral lines. These es- 

 timates may run from one hundred dol- 

 lars to as high as three hundred dollars 

 an acre or more. Our .system, which 

 has been in practical operation for two 

 seasons, has cost for installation 

 slightly under one hundred dollars an 

 acre, but as yet the laterals are sup- 

 ported on wooden stakes, which will 

 eventually be replaced by permanent 

 pipe supports set in concrete. This 

 will cost approximately twenty-five 

 dollars per acre, and with a few minor 

 changes and improvements the sj'stem 

 will cost well under one hundred and 

 forty dollars an acre for installation. 



The question of depreciation cannot 

 be determined until the system has 

 been under operation for a series of 

 years, but if properly installed and 

 given reasonable care and attention the 

 depreciation should not exceed ten per 

 cent, per year. 



We have not as yet obtained any 

 definite information on the actual 

 yearly cost of irrigating, including co.st 

 of pumping and delivering water, in- 

 terest on capital invested in plant, de- 

 preciation, and labor attached to irri- 

 gating and the upkeep of the sj'stem, 

 but judging from the present informa- 

 tion it will not be far short, if not 

 above twenty-five dollars an acre per 

 season, depending on the season and 

 the kind of crop to be irrigated. 



Macdonald College was the first ex- 

 perimental farm in this country to in- 

 stall the Skinner System. We have 

 nearly nine acres of it in operation. 

 The crops that have been irrigated 

 with apparent success are strawberries, 

 celery, onions, potatoes, early com, to- 

 matoes and melons, together with some 

 fiorists' stock. 



We have yet much to learn about 

 irrigation under our conditions in re- 

 gard to amount of water required, fre- 

 quency of application, and crops on 

 which it may reasonably be expected 

 to show a profit. Also it should in fu- 

 ture he possible to considerably lessen 

 the cost of installation and the cost 

 of pumping water. 



There are many growers who could 

 obtain an abundant supply of water 

 (Continued on page 266.) 



