224. STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
METHODS OF IRRIGATION IN USE IN CONNECTICUT. 
The sources of water for irrigating purposes in Connecticut 
are mainly from small natural streams, from ponds, and from 
springs. No instances are known of the use of water from 
wells for irrigating purposes in this State. The water is 
usually stored either in open ponds or in large tanks. When 
the source is high enough the water is conducted on to the 
fields through open ditches or pipes, and this is, of course, the 
cheapest and simplest method. There are, however, many 
instances in Connecticut where the water can only be made 
available by some form of power, as it is below the fields upon 
which it is wanted. ‘There are two farms in this State where 
powerful rams have been very successfully used; in such 
cases the water is generally conducted through, and dis- 
tributed upon, the fields by means of pipes. Where a ram 
or other pumping appliance is used it is necessary, in order to 
reduce the expense, to economize on the use of water and to 
prevent losses by evaporation. For these reasons it has been 
found more economical to apply the water from pipes distrib- 
uted over the fields, the water being sometimes allowed to: 
flow between the rows from pipes laid along one end of the 
field. In other cases it is applied by spraying. Where the 
water is conducted to the field in ditches, as is successfully 
done in several instances in this State, it is distributed over the 
surface by means of small trenches. 
RAMS. 
Rams are one of the most economical sources of power for 
raising water. With the ram the pressure caused by a slight 
fall of the water from a canal or pond compresses the air in a 
heavy iron cylinder and this air pressure lifts the water. The 
amount of work a ram will do depends mainly upon the pres- 
sure of water. Considerable water must be available, as only a 
small portion of the total amount that passes into the ram can be 
pumped. ‘The ram used on the farm of Mr. J. C. Eddy, of 
Simsbury, is one of as great capacity as any we have found; in 
fact this particular form is just being developed, none having 
as yet been put upon the market. It is run by a 6-inch drive 
pipe, the water having a fall of seven feet from the canal to 
the plunger. It lifts the water to a height of seventy feet 
he 
