THE CULTIVATOR. 
155 
each time with a thin layer of dirt, plaster or swamp 
muck as may he most convenient or desirable. 
The above is not mere theory, but has all been tested 
from worst to best in the practice of one who took his 
Now it is not pretended that the proportions of the in¬ 
gredients mentioned, will be the same in all springs, or 
that even the ingredients themselves will always be found, 
yet as water is seldom pure, but generally holds in solu- 
first lessons in farming at 'the plow-tail, and who feels tion what chemists term salts, whether of magnesia, soda, 
happy in acknowledging that for whatever advantages he potash or lime, there remains no obstacle to the reception 
may have derived from these and other improvements, of the views advanced, throughout the greater portion of 
he is mainly indebted to yours and other agricultural pub ™" n<rv - 
lications. Respectfully yours, 
our wide spread country. 
K. j Again, as before stated, of all the constituents of the 
atmosphere, carbonic acid gas is the most readily dissol¬ 
ved by water. It imparts to the water of springs, their 
(sparkling brilliancy and flavor; its presence is therefore 
, „ . „ . , well known. This gas thus dissolved, was presented by 
In answer to the call for information on this subject, by l gir Humphre y Davy to the roots of plants, and we have 
our correspondent J. S. S., Alfred L. Kennedy, Ksq.,; the most t ]j rec t testimony of his experiments to assure us 
IRRIGATION. 
has sent us the following extract from a Lecture on the 
Agricultural Utility of Water, which he delivered before 
the Delaware County (Pa.) Institute of Science, Dec. 
3843, for which he will please accept our thanks: 
“ The practice of irrigating grass lands by means of i 
the water from springs and brooks, is one of the most fre¬ 
quent, convenient and efficient means of fertility possess¬ 
ed by the farmer. It requires no expensive machinery, 
and is of the most simple application. It has therefore 
found favor in the eyes of practical men; and the wonder 
is not, that it should prevail so extensively on grazing 
tracts, but that it should not long since have been applied 
to other crops. European agriculture furnishes us with 
the details of the plan to be pursued, and its most happy 
results. And the recent experiments of intelligent for¬ 
eigners, should not fail to meet with a ready response 
from our own countrymen. 
Water acts in irrigation, by keeping plants supplied 
with that moisture so favorable to their freshness and 
beauty. It also acts by dissolving certain gaseous bod¬ 
ies and conveying them to the roots of plants—by remo¬ 
ving foreign matter which has been deprived of fertili¬ 
zing properties. One of its chief means of utility, how¬ 
ever, undoubtedly is the solid matter, which it holds in 
solution and imparts to the herbage. 
This will appear perfectly reasonable, if we consider 
how springs are formed 
The rain in descending, dissolves of the gases contain¬ 
ed in the air, more or less, and among those especially, 
that known to chemists as carbonic acid gas Fallin 
upon the earth, it percolates through until it arrives at a 
bed of clay or some other impervious deposit. It there 
accumulates until enabled to force a passage to the sur¬ 
face. Throughout its subterranean course it is adding to 
its mineral contents, and gushes forth saturated, that is to 
say, containing as much as is possible of the rocks with 
which it has been brought in connection; whether they 
possess a silicious, aluminous, magnesian or calcareous 
character. 
Although geology is very far from being a science of 
experiment, yet in the present consideration of its con¬ 
nection with agriculture, we are not left without witness 
to the position laid down that much of the utility of irri¬ 
gation depends upon the solid matter dissolved in the wa¬ 
ter. I need but refer you to experiments made in Scot¬ 
land, and apparently with great care, to determine this 
point. 
The water, prior to irrigation, was analyzed, and yield¬ 
ed per gallon 10 grains common salt, and 4 grains lime¬ 
stone. The water after passing over 50 yards of meadow 
was also analyzed and found to contain but 5 grains com¬ 
mon salt and 2 grains limestone in the gallon. One-half, 
or 5 grains of the former and 2 of the latter had been de¬ 
posited by every gallon of the water, and granting that 
one hogshead passed in 24 hours over every yard in 
width of the 50 yards descent of meadow (a very mode¬ 
rate estimate) we have deposited over an acre in the same 
time 5^ lbs. of the one, and 3^ lbs. of the other, or 1890 
lbs. common salt and 756 lbs. limestone per annum 
What a slow and continuous marling or liming of our 
soil is thus almost insensibly produced! The better, be 
cause of being intimately mingled with the earth, and 
gently and constantly applied 
This view involves nothing to which the farmer can 
for a moment hesitate to yield assent. In fact it is in per 
feet consonance with his every day experience of the ef¬ 
fects of lime and the alkalies 
is a most efficient aid to vegetable growth. In this view, 
the most eminent scientific authorities since his time, 
have coincided. In irrigation, nature is but exhibiting 
on a magnified scale, the experiments of Davy, in con¬ 
stantly presenting to plants fresh portions of spring, i. e. 
of carbonated water. Now we need not pause here to 
discuss the manner in which this gas thus presented, is 
assimilated by plants. It is sufficient for us to know the 
fact, and we are then satisfied of another advantage of ir¬ 
rigation. 
Nor must we forget that spring water sometimes con¬ 
tains one of the products of putrefaction, ammonia, and 
of thunder storms, aqua fortis or nitric acid. Both am¬ 
monia and nitric acid, theorists to the contrary notwith¬ 
standing, have been repeatedly proved to be fertilizers. 
Whether we adopt the excretory theory, i. e. the the¬ 
ory which supposes that plants reject from their systems 
those substances which are injurious, and that this vege¬ 
table excrement in time poisons the soil contiguous to 
their roots; or whether we adopt it not, and say that soils 
become incapable of constantly reproducing the same ve¬ 
getation, solely because of the abstraction of nutriment, 
we cannot but feel under obligation to -water for yet an¬ 
other important service. If the former hypothesis be re¬ 
ceived, then irrigation removes the rejected matter from 
the roots of plants, and supplies its place. If the latter, 
then it removes or re-invigorates the non-fertilizing 
earth. 
Finally, and perhaps most important. Throughout the 
existence of a plant there is no period save its early infancy, 
in which it is more susceptible to external injury, than that 
of flowering and fruiting. Nature makes her greatest ef¬ 
fort and requires the most assistance as the plant’s life, 
and the farmer’s hopes approach consummation. Unfor¬ 
tunately, at this very season, the earth is not unfrequently 
hardened and parched by heat and drouth, and vegetation 
is incapable of drawing from the callous bosom of our 
common mother the much needed supplies.. Then does 
irrigation act as a friend in need, by softening the soil, 
supplying it with air and moisture, enabling the tender 
roots freely to penetrate, and to absorb invigorating 
stores of nutriment. ‘ But,’ says one, ‘ would the speaker 
have us irrigate our grain crops ?’ There is nothing un¬ 
reasonable in the proposition—no reason why to them it 
should be less advantageous than to grass. Permit a re¬ 
ference to the fertile valley of Durance in France, re¬ 
markable for its products and for the industry of its inha¬ 
bitants :* 
((Amongst the very various rotation, wheat is frequently 
sown, keeping very nearly to the following method 
which I have seen practiced in Sicily: 
« The period of sowing takes place in the beginning 
of November. The seed is sown upon the land which 
has been prepared and manured, or sufficiently improved 
by preceding culture. The ground is divided into ridges 
or beds from 3 to 6 feet wide, and each ridge is separa¬ 
ted from its neighbors by a space of 10 inches opened to 
the depth of 2 or 3 inches by a single stroke of the hoe, 
in order to let the waters destined for irrigation pass off 
In spring, when the wind has dried the earth, when rair 
is wanting, the average heat exceeds 54 deg. Fah. Thf 
water is introduced into the spaces opened between the 
ridges, and it is retained there sufficiently long to pene 
* From M. Le Comte de Gasperin’s paper in the Memoires d< 
la Societe’ Royal et Central d’Agriculture, as translated by Mr 
Boswell in the Journal of Agriculture, Edinburgh, Oct. 1843 
