IRRIGATION 
must go together, at least on soil not 
naturally well drained. 
The unexampled prosperity of the West 
and the fact that it grows larger crops 
per acre than any other portion of the 
Union is due chiefly to irrigation. The 
practical question is: “Do wein a humid 
climate need irrigation?” Fortunately we 
do not need it every year. But there do 
come years when we need it sorely. Two 
diagrams were published in Bulletins 
Nos. 11 and 134 of the Alabama Experi- 
ment Station showing the rainfall at Au- 
burn during the last ten years. From 
these we see plainly that there have been 
frequent periods during the growing sea- 
son when for two or three weeks or longer 
there has been no rain of consequence 
and when crops suffered for want of 
water. 
It must be said that there will never 
in the Mississippi states be a general need 
for irrigation as a means of growing the 
larger area of field crops. But the farm- 
er working on an extensive scale can 
utilize irrigation of small areas even for 
his rather low-priced crops. Irrigation 
is more advantageous to the man who 
grows a crop selling at a high price per 
acre than it is to the trucker and fruit- 
grower. Many of the crops that he grows 
need abundance of moisture not only in 
order that large yields may be obtained, 
but also that a large size of fruit or veg- 
etables may be produced. Among farm 
crops those that would most profit by 
irrigation are the hay crops and, in the 
south, sugar-cane. 
If any one is inclined to question the 
advantages of irrigation in humid cli- 
mates, data given in the bulletins of the 
Missouri, New Jersey and other experi- 
ment stations will convince him of its 
value. 
Examples of increase due to irrigation 
in the humid climate of Wisconsin: 
Not Trri- 
Cronp— Trrigated gated 
Strawberries, qts. per acre 3,49 6,867 
Strawberries, qts. ner acre 1,030 8,732 
Irish potatoes, bus. per acre 290 394 
Irish potatoes, bus. per acre 212 884 
Cabbage, tons per acre... 20 23 
Corn, dry weight, entire 
plant, TNS eee cease 3.8 5.2 
Corn, dry weight, entire 
plant, tomS .......... 1.4 5.3 
1187 
Corn, dry weight, entire 
plant, tons .......... 4,1 5.2 
Corn, dry weight, entire 
Plant, tons .......... 3.4 4.3 
There are those who can give their 
own personal experience as to the value 
of irrigation in the South. 
I have long been a believer in the prac- 
ticability of irrigation in the South, but 
had been in much uncertainty as to the 
character of soils adapted to irrigation 
until I visited the irrigated valleys of 
Colorado. After that I was prepared to 
believe that irrigation, at least in that 
climate, could be performed on any class 
of soil. However, I would recommend as 
best adapted to this purpose our rather 
level or gently rolling loamy lands. Sandy 
soils can also be irrigated, but the larger 
the amount of sand in the subsoil the 
greater the waste of water, and hence 
the greater the cost of irrigation by the 
more common method. To obviate this 
loss, truckers working very light, sandy 
soils have sometimes resorted to the 
method of sprinkling, the chief objection 
to which is the excessive cost of the 
iron pipes and the labor of making each 
application. 
Perhaps the ideal soil for irrigation 
is one in which the surface six or eight 
inches is of a sandy loam or loamy nature 
and the subsoil of a denser, more com- 
pact texture, permitting a smaller amount 
of waste by seepage. Even soils quite 
stiff can be irrigated, but these, of course, 
bake worse and need greater care in the 
cultivation that must always follow ir- 
rigation just as soon as the surface has 
sufficiently dried. Cultivation, as soon 
after irrigating as practicable, so as to 
prevent the rapid loss through evapora- 
tion of the water just applied, is neces- 
sary. 
Before considering methods of getting 
water on the land it may be well to de- 
vote a few words to the amount of water 
necessary, since this will largely deter- 
mine whether or not under given con- 
ditions irrigation would be feasible or 
profitable. We can count on requiring 
at least enough water so that if spread 
out it will cover the land to a depth of 
