IRRIGATION IN NORTHERN COLORADO. 



59 



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is a nonretentive, very fine, sandy loam, underlain by coarse mate- 

 rial which permits a very rapid drainage. This condition and the 

 excellent water rights of the 

 Greeley Canal No. 3 account for 

 the very low duty of nearly IT 

 acre- feet per acre for potatoes on 

 the farm. Charles F. Mason on 

 his farm near Greeley frequently 

 practices a very rapid light irri- 

 gation in alternate furrows and 

 is enabled by this method to cover 

 a very large acreage per day. In 

 July, 1916, with a head of 3.75 

 second-feet a field of 8.1 acres 

 of beans was irrigated in 44 

 hours, or at the rate of 43 acres 

 per day. High duties are in 

 most cases accounted for by 

 good irrigation practice, but in 

 a few cases the cost of pump- 

 ing, a scarcity of water, or a 

 high ground-water table is re- 

 sponsible. 



Dates of irrigations varied widely with conditions, such as type 

 of soil, depth to water table, rainfall, date of planting, water supply, 



and others. The great- 

 est range noted was a 

 difference of 90 days 

 between the earliest and 

 latest first irrigation of 

 alfalfa, the dates being 

 April 17 and July 16. 

 In Table 17 are given 

 the average irrigation 

 dates for the princi- 

 pal crop in 1916, a 

 normal year, which 

 were obtained by giv- 

 ing the date of the be- 

 ginning of the irrigation 

 its proper number as a day of the year and then averaging these 

 numbers 



12 3 4 



YIELD IN TONS PER ACRE 

 Fig. 10. — In-igation of alfalfa. Relation 

 between the depth of water applied 

 and the yield. 

















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10 20 30 40 50 60 70 

 YIELD IN BUSHELS PCR ACRE 



80 90 



Fig. 



11. — Irrigation of grain. Relation between 

 the depth of water applied and the yield. 



