1 Ocr., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 241 
2inches, and 1-008 cubie feet, or 7:54 gallons per minute for 4 inches. An 
area of 10 acres would require a rate of flow ten times as rapid, or 5:04 cubic 
feet per minute for the minimum, and 10:08 for the maximum. 
These amounts of water expressed in cubic feet and in gallons are as 
follows :— 
Cubic feet. Gallons. 
For 1 acre 2 inches deep ... — CAI = 54,310 
For 1 acre 4 inches deep ... an IL) == 108,620 
For 10 acres 2 inches deep .. 72,600 = 543,100 
For 10 acres 4 inches deep ... 145,200 = 1,086,200 
_. If these amounts of water are stored in circular reservoirs with vertical 
sides, and 3 feet deep, their diameters will be respectively, 55°5 feet, 78'6 feet, 
175'5 feet, and 248°5 feet. 
SUBSOIL V. SURFACE WATERING. 
Mr. R. Martin, Hobart House, Cawdor, writes as follows on the subject of 
irrigation. He has practically tested the two methods of surface watering and 
subsoil watering by means of bottles sunk neck-down in the soil. For three 
years he has tried various kinds of watering during dry weather, and he - 
obtained the best results from subsoil watering and top-dressing with farmyard 
or pig manure. 
It stands to reason that when the soil moisture below the surface is 
exhausted, as is the case in times of drought, something more is needed than 
merely wetting the surface of the soil with a hose watering, which makes it 
bake and crack in the heat of the sun, and which, in almost all cases, does more 
_ harm than good. The case is different with subsoil watering, as the plant gets 
the benefit of the water from below by capillary attraction. In the former 
case, the water evaporates quickly, and affords but slight nourishment 
to the plant, unless the subsoil happens to be moist, when the com- 
bination of surface and subsoil water acts beneficially. Mr. Martin here 
gives one or two simple methods of watering which he adopts. Suppose a tree 
to be watered. He digs a hole about 1 foot from the butt, 1 foot in diameter, 
and 14 feet deep. This is filled with refuse and manure, and water is poured 
in to saturate it. This gives ample moisture gradually applied in a dry season. 
Cabbages or cauliflowers he treats in the same way, digging a round hole with 
an iron spud bar and putting on a top-dressing of horse manure all along the 
row. ‘This is then watered from a watering can through the rose. For melons 
or cucumbers a bottle or large syrup can is used, the latter with small holes 
punched in the bottom. These are sunk in the soil level with the surface near 
the root of the vines. Beds of plants sown in drills can be treated in the same 
manner with good results when they are well above the ground. At the time 
of sowing the seeds, a top-dressing of horse-manure sifted onto the bed to a 
depth of about a quarter of an inch will keep the soil from encrusting after 
watering. This will prevent the seed from being destroyed by the heat of the 
sun when germinating. The seedsmen often are blamed for selling bad seed 
when the failure is due to the carelessness of the farmer in sowing. — 
Watering requires to be done with judgment in different classes of soil. A 
stiff clay subsoil does not require nearly so much water as a soil with a loose, 
gravelly bottom. In the former the moisture will rise ; in the latter it will sink 
down, and naturally, in this case, a larger supply will be needed. In subsoil 
watering, hard mineral water can be used to a certain extent, whilst it could 
not be used with safety for surface watering, as it would probably injure the 
plants. After all, however, there is no artificial watering which can compare with 
the natural rain, but, without this, artificial watering must be resorted to if the 
plants are to make any growth. 
