EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION. 



results of sonu' excellent experiments by ]>r. A. Voelcker, 

 ret'orded in Jour. Roy. Ag. Soc, p. J77, 18G0: 



*' A conipurison of the composition of the improved hay with 

 that from the unimproved pastures offers several points of in- 

 terest. 



** Tlu' proportion of woody fiber in tliu good hay is much 

 reduced. 



** The amount of ilcsli formini; material is considerably 

 increased. 



"The total amount of albuminous compounds is increased one- 

 fourth. 



"The dilference in the i)rG})ortion af sugar and other solublo 

 matters is very marked, the bad hay containing only 10 ju-r cent, 

 the good hay nearly l~y per cent of sugar. 



"The proportion of fatty jr waxy constituents likewise is 

 larger. 



"The increase in the soluble mineral matter shows that the 

 good hay is the more succulent." 



This subject is also considered in the section j>repared by 

 Professor Armsby. 



Here we see, then, that arable land produces grasses of better 

 quality than marsh land, that rich land produces richer grasses 

 than poor land, and every farmer knows that grass grown in the 

 open meadow is more nutritious than that grown in the shade of 

 trees, that the short growth in a dry season is more valuable jier 

 ton than the rank growth in a Avet season. 



Effects of Irrigation. — The writer has had very little experi- 

 ence in Irrigation, but briefly gives the opinions and results of 

 some experimentors, hoping thereby to set farmers to thinking, 

 observing, reading, and experimenting on this interesting sub- 

 ject. To conduct irrigation properly is quite an art, but it has 

 often been well done Avitli surprising results, converting a lean, 

 hungry meadow into an oasis. Sinclair, in his famous old work 



