FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 



421 



Taking as a basis the observations made on growing crops Risler concluded that 

 the use of water for the growing season would be per day approximately as follows: 



Meadow grass requires from 



Oats 



Indian corn " " 



Clover " " 



Wheat " " 



Rye 



Potatoes " " 



Vineyards " " 



Oak trees " " 



Fir trees " " 



0.134 to 0.267 inches. 



0.140 to 0.193 



o. 1 10 to 0.157 



0.140 



0.106 to o.r 10 



0.091 



0.038 to 0.055 



0.035 to °-°3 I 



0.038 to 0.035 



0.020 to 0.043 



" Risler determined the consumption of water on a meadow of one hectare (2.47 

 acres) of very thickly turfed English ray-grass as 281 millimeters (11.06 inches), 

 amounting to a daily depth of 0.267 inches. This consumption applies to a meadow 

 well provided with water during the warmest season of the year. The experiments 

 showed that on cloudy days evaporation was reduced to about one-fourth of the mean, 

 that is, to 0.069 inches per day. 



"In Switzerland the fields begin to grow green the latter part of March, and the 

 hay harvest occurs in June; hence the growth of the plant takes place in April and 

 May. The amount of the hay crop, the rainfall and mean temperature during these 

 months in the six years from 1866-72, as observed by Risler, are given in the 

 accompanying table, which is generally self-explanatory. The point is brought out 

 very forcibly by Risler's experiments, that hay crops depend more on the quantity of 

 rain than on temperature; thus, in 1867, when the temperature of the two months 

 was the lowest, but the rainfall high, the meadows yielded abundantly, while in 1868, 

 with a high temperature, and medium rainfall, the crop was satisfactory because the 

 soil had water in reserve, the drains continuing to flow until the end of May that year." 



