IRRIGATION SESSION 



247 



Department of Farm Engineering, Department of Soil Tech- 

 nology, and the various Crop Departments, including Farm 

 Crops, Vegetable Crops, Fruit Crops and Floral Crops. All 

 of these have an equal concern in the practice of irrigation. 

 As you know, probably, the vegetable growers have made 

 more progress in the application of the practice. For best 

 results in the investigation and discussion of irrigation, there 

 is need of the friendly cooperation of all agencies concerned, 

 which cooperation is well exemplified by the conference now 

 in hand. 



DUTY OF WATER. 



Professor Buckman (Cornell Department of Soil Tech- 

 nology) : In any irrigation operation the ''duty" or crop pro- 

 ducing power of water applied is always a factor to be con- 

 sidered, whether the climatic conditions are arid, semi-arid or 

 humid. In New York State the necessity of maintaining the 

 amount of water utilized, within certain well defined limits, 

 arises from two causes, first, the cost of applying this water, 

 and second, the necessity of maintaining an optimum moisture 

 condition in the soil. In any irrigation plant, no matter what 

 the system of applying the water may be, it costs money to 

 place the water on the land. This may be one of the small 

 leaks that go to limit the profits of the grower. 



Of more importance, however, is the moisture content of 

 the soil. Every successful grower has some general ideas 

 of this factor. It is a well known fact that at this moisture 

 condition all soil activities go on to the best advantage, tend- 

 ing thereby to make the soil a better medium for plant growth. 

 Although this optimum moisture content may shift between 

 certain limits, over-irrigation is a condition which will cer- 

 tainly follow every careless or expensive application of mois- 

 ture. This phase, which is essentially a soil problem, is often 

 ignored, especially in humid climates, and is well worth em- 

 phasizing in any discussion of the "duty" or crop producing 

 power of water as applied in New York State. 



