3 



drought, especially at critical periods in the life of certain crops, his 

 drawn the attention of Eastern farmers and horticulturists to this 

 subject. Truck farmers and fruit growers, esp3cially in region 

 accessible to good markets, are beginning to appreciate the importance 

 of irrigation. 



King has found that even in favourable seasons in Wisconsin, which 

 is in the so-called humid region, the rainfall does not s apply sufficient 

 moisture to produce maximum crops. During the season of 1896, in 

 which the rainfall was normal in that State, a variety of crop s was 

 irrigated with profit, notwithstanding the fact that the irrigation 

 plant employed was not used to its full capacity and thus the cost of 

 irrigating was higher than it need be. The profit from irrigation was 

 on corn, $2.16 per acre; potatoes, $11.70 ; clover hay (irrigating second 

 crop only), $1.72; cabbages, planted thin, $2.43, planted thick, $29. 

 "The great lesson," says King, " to be learned from these results is that 

 we must have an abundance of water in order that our crops may avail 

 themselves of the plant food stored in our soils, not that water is every- 

 thing, but the fertility of the soil counts for naught without it " 



The above statements give us some idea of the great and increasing 

 importance of irrigation to the American farmer. Recent investiga- 

 tions on this important subject have given some results of considerable 

 practical value, and it is the purpose of this article to briefly summa- 

 rize these results. 



The greatest profit is derived from irrigation where intensive farm- 

 ing is practised. In fact, the practice o c irrigation naturally leads to 

 intensive farming. In such f -inning the aim should be to economise 

 all the elements of fertility, to utilize water, fertilizer, labour, etc., to the 

 best possible advantage. If ferti izers are used they will give the be3t 

 returns if kept in the upper layers of the soil, where they can be fully 

 utilized by the plant. If irrigation is practised also, the amount of 

 water applied should not be excessive, otherwise the fertilizing mate- 

 rials are either washed into the lower layers of the soil where they can 

 not be utilized by the plant or are entirely removed in the drainage. 



Edmond Grain, a French authority, has shown that the water require- 

 ments of plants differ widely at different stages of growth. His obser- 

 vations show that it would be very injurious to the plant, even if it 

 were possible, to maintain a uniform state of moisture in the soil. He 

 observed, for instance, that for the ordinary farm crops the optimum, 

 or most favorable amounts, of moisture in the soil at different stages of 

 growth, were about as follows : At the time of planting the soil should 

 have about 25 per cent, of the total amount of water which it is capable of 

 holding, then it should fall to 15 percent, and remain at this point until 

 the first leaves are formed, when it should be raised quickly to nearly 

 40 per cent. It should be allowed to fall rapidly to about 25 per cent, 

 and remain at this point until shortly before flowering, when it may be 

 raised gradually to 40 par cent, and then allowed to fall rapidly to 12 or 

 15 per cent., where it remains during fruiting and maturity. 

 Briefly, then, the soil should be only moderately moist at time of plant- 

 ing and comparatively dry thereafter until the first leaves are formed, 

 when it should be thoroughly irrigated. It should then be allowed to 

 become comparatively dry and remain so until the flowering stage, 



