238 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
EXPERIMENTS ON THE EFFECT OF IRRIGATION ON STRAW- — 
BERRIES. 
In June, 1895, the Station began some experiments on the 
farm of Mr. J. C. Eddy, for the purpose of studying the effects 
of irrigation on the quantity and quality of strawberries, and 
to ascertain some facts regarding the profits to be obtained 
from the use of irrigation. 
It is hoped that this will prove the beginning of a series of 
experiments in this State on the effects of irrigation on a vari- 
ety of crops. ‘There are many questions that it seems desirable 
to investigate in connection with the subject, such as the dif- 
ferent methods of applying water and the relative advantage of | 
each, observations on soil temperature, determinations of the 
amount of plant food supplied in the water used, and chemical 
analyses of fruits for the purpose of determining the amounts 
of sugar where the crop is irrigated or not irrigated. The 
work was undertaken so late in the season that observations 
were made only on the yield, and on the quality of the crop, 
as indicated by taste and appearance. 
PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENT. 
A section of about two acres was chosen from a field of 
strawberries. The soil appeared to be nearly uniform, and the 
conditions were favorable for applying the water. The field 
had been set to strawberries in the spring of 1894. The 
‘“Haverland’’ was the variety used, with every fourth plant in 
the row a “‘ Jessie,’’ the latter being used for fertilizing. The 
plots were laid out 115 feet long and twelve feet wide, three 
rows toa plot; two plots being irrigated and two not. Two 
rows were left between plots, which were not included in the 
experiment, in order to thoroughly separate the irrigated from 
the non-irrigated sections. The plots were to be irrigated 
as often as seemed to be necessary to get good commercial 
results. 
RESULTS. 
The following table gives the yields in quarts and pounds 
for each day when fruit was picked. The picking, by a repre- 
sentative of the Station, was done as often as seemed necessary 
to have the fruit in good marketable condition. 
