BULLETIN 133, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
3zr 
M 
and the irrigation during the growing season was uniform in both 
cases. 
Irrigation was applied to the plats in both series by the usual meth- 
ods. The potatoes, sugar beets, and corn were irrigated by means 
of furrows between the rows and the grain crops were irrigated by 
the field-flooding method. The water applied to the different plats 
was not measured, but irrigation was practiced in the way it is com- 
monly done by good farmers in the locality. The water was allowed 
to flow over each plat so long as the soil absorbed it readily. In 
1911, the only year in which soil-moisture determinations were made, 
it was found that at the first irri- 
gation, June 10, the soil on the fall- 
irrigated land, Series VI, absorbed 
the irrigation water very readily. 
The soil was saturated to a depth 
of about 18 inches, and a good sup- 
ply of water penetrated to a depth 
of 6 feet. Series VII, which was 
not fall irrigated, required a longer 
run of water in order to saturate 
the upper 18 inches of soil, and 
when this was done dry soil was 
found at a depth of 24 inches. Af- 
ter several attempts to apply addi- 
tional water to Series VII and thus 
put moisture in the lower depths, 
the loss of water by run-off was so 
great that the flow had to be 
stopped. The results of the mois- 
ture studies made in 1911 are dis- 
4 IRRIGATED 
17 
10 
IN 
8 FALL 
II 
It 
13 
14 
15 
16 
1 
2 
3 
NOT 
4 
5 
/RR/GATED 
6 
7 
/N 
a 
9 
FALL 
10 
II 
IE 
13 
14 
15 
16 
Fig. 1.— Diagram of Series VI and VII on field H, 
Scottsbluff Experiment Farm, where the experi- 
ments in fall irrigation were conducted. 
cussed later in this bulletin. 
The crops used in these experi- 
ments were wheat, barley, oats, 
potatoes, sugar beets, and corn. 
Corn was not included, however, until 1912, and only two years' 
results with this crop are available. 
The experiments were conducted in field H, Series VI and VII, 
shown in figure 1. Series VI was fall irrigated each year and Series 
VII received no fall irrigation. The plats used were one-tenth acre 
in size. In 1911 there were on each of the series three plats each of 
wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and sugar beets. In 1912 each series 
contained two plats of potatoes, two plats of corn, and three plats 
each of the four other crops. In 1913 there were on each series two 
plats of barley, two plats of potatoes, and three plats of each of the 
four other crops. 
