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IRRIGATION SESSION 



IRRIGATION SESSION. 



Mr. Work: We must have all the factors right if we are 

 to get returns from our investments. The moisture factor 

 is one that we ordinarily leave to nature. Nature treats us 

 fairly well. If we keep our soil in condition in other re- 

 spects, we shall be able to get pretty good results a part of 

 the time, but we are not satisfied with that. We want good 

 crops every time. There is hardly a season when the rain- 

 fall is not deficient at some time or other. There is seldom 

 a season when irrigation would not pay at some stage or 

 other. 



There are a good many methods of applying water in prac- 

 tice. The first is typical of the West, a furrow method of 

 irrigation. There are a few growers who are practicing fur- 

 row irrigation in the East successfully. 



Another method that is practiced about Boston is the hose 

 method. That has been used to a considerable extent, and 

 we are surprised sometimes at the amount that can be cover- 

 ed in that way. The Boston men use it quite a little on a 

 fairly large scale. I am told that one man with an inch and 

 a quarter hose can put an inch of water on an acre in five 

 and one-half hours. That, I should judge, would be ordinary 

 city pressure. If you are going to use the hose method, you 

 must have fairly high pressure. This information comes 

 from Florida: Two men can water an acre in three hours. 



Sub-irrigation is practiced in vegetable production. We 

 have often heard of Sanford, Florida, where the artesian 

 water is available and where tiles are laid underneath the 

 garden plots. In some cases they have been arranged in 

 such a way that the drainage system and the irrigation sys- 

 tem are one and the same. Sub-irrigation is not satisfactory 

 where we have a very porous bottom. If you have gravel 

 underlying your garden, it would be very difficult to work in 

 this way. One of our own muck land growers in this state 

 has practiced sub-irrigation on a fairly large scale. Mr. W. 

 L. Bonney of Batavia has some fifty-five acres of muck. He 

 used to have it drained with open ditches. Now they are 

 all closed and tile are in use. There are all degrees in the 



