398 HOETICULTUEAL MANUAL. 



experience with reservoirs excavated even in rather light 

 soils. 



Mr. A. S. Perry, of Frisco, Oklahoma, after long experi- 

 ence says: "These ponds are made to hold like jugs — 

 except from evaporation — by puddling one hour a day for 

 two weeks. This is done by using a drag to stir the mud 

 made by some water pumped in. Stirring the mud keeps 

 it muddy and the sediment stops the pores of the soil, 

 which soon becomes impervious to water and seepage. 

 This will work on any clay soil or on a clay loam with 

 some sand." 



402. Artesian-well Irrigation. — In South Dakota, parts 

 of Iowa, and in many other parts of the humid States, 

 artesian wells lifting water to the surface in great volume 

 are quite common. They are utilized for irrigation of 

 fruits and crops, but the gain is not as great as is usually 

 suspected. It is not often that the position of the well is 

 favorable for irrigating as large an area as the volume of 

 water would indicate. If water is raised a few feet to a 

 reservoir on the highest ground in the near vicinity it can 

 be utilized at time of greatest need over a large area by 

 troughs or pipes. But it seldom happens that an artesian 

 well can be made to run the water into large reservoirs 

 high enough to be used over as much surface as the water 

 will cover in a humid State. But in the relatively few 

 localities where artesian wells can be obtained at the 

 highest points they will prove very valuable if the surplus 

 water can be stored in late winter and spring for use in 

 the dry season. 



In relatively flat countries with some undulation arte- 

 sian water is distributed to good advantage when the 

 pressure of water will lift it to a height of fifteen feet or 

 more. In the Libyan desert of north Africa are now 

 found hundreds of such wells furnishing water for im- 



