Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 September 1906 — FARM AND GARDEN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FARM AND GARDEN

EASTERN IRRIGATION. Economical and Successful Methods In North Atlantic States. According to the popular conception, the field for irrigation is the arid or semiarid region In the west and doea not extend to the humid east, where the supply of moisture is considered sufficient for the growth of crops. The -distribution of rainfall, however, is so uncertain that crops throughout the east often suffer from droughts. Without irrigation certain crops, such as strawberries, celery and cauliflower, may be entirely lost. Economical and successful methods of irrigation adapted to humid conditions are, however, quite extensively used. August J.

Dowie, Jr., an expert in the irrigation and drainage investigations of the department of agriculture, has noted some interesting points of practice in a recent report on irrigation in the north Atlantic states. The advantages to be gained from irrigation are limited to certain crops. Buch geld crops as timothy, clover, wheat, rye, oats and corn are not particularly affected by droughts of short duration. The value of such crops in eastern Pennsylvania will usually lie between sls and S3O per acre, and irrigation in such Instances would hardly pay under present conditions. The case of truck crops is entirely different. The value of a single crop will often be S2OO to $1,500 per acte, and usually two to three crops are grown on the same land in a year. Crops of this nature are much more sensitive to drought than field crops. The success of irrigation under the conditions found in the east is due not to cheap water supply, but to the high value of crops grown and the careful distribution of the small quantity of water used. Most of the irrigated meadow land in' Pennsylvania lies near the beds of small creeks fed by springs. Small dams constructed of timber back filled with earth are built to raise the water sufficiently high to cover the land, but not for storage. They are usually small affairs, cheaply constructed, costing from $5 to S2O. The use of wells as a source of irrigation is quite limited. Many farmers near the large cities use city water for irrigation, since if the farm is small and the use of water is limited it is thought to be cheaper than pumping. The reason for the prevalence in the east of the sprinkling method of irrigation, which is practically unknown in arid sections, lies in two important differences in the conditions of irrigation practice—first, the quantity of water applied in one irrigation in the east must be small owing to the risk of sudden and heavy rains which would swamp a crop if falling soon after a heavy irrigation, and, second, the soils used for truck farming in the east are not, as a rule, so capable of storing and retaining water as the arid soils, so that a heavy irrigation once a month will not answer the needs of garden crops in the east. With the sprinkling system It is possible to apply uniformly as small a quantity of water as desired, while with furrows enough must be applied to run through the furrows and soak laterally to the roots of the plants. Noting the use of handmade canvas hose to carry water downhill from the pump under very light pressure In one system of furrow Irrigation, Mr. Bowie says muslin one yard In width Is cut up into three strips, each of which is made into a hose, which Is then dipped in a mixture of coal tar

and oil. The water is admitted by short hose to the ends of V shaped wooden troughs, from which It is admitted to the furrows by means of adjustable sliding gates. (See first cut) The troughs are built of 1 by 5 and 1 by 6 Inch boards nailed together and provided with Inch holes. There are three holes in these troughs for every two furrows. On one New Jersey farm the ground is Irrigated by sprinkling from several water witches set ten feet apart on a movable length of two Inch pipe, which is mounted every twenty feet on two wheeled carriages. Eleven water witches are mounted on 100 feet of pipe supported by fohr carriages, as shown in Fig. 2, and will irrigate, without moving, a space 110 by 10 feet. Harvesting Corn. For sixty acres It will pay you to have a binder to cut and bind the corn and a busker and shredder to husk the corn and care for the fodder. Shredded corn fodder will make excellent food for horses and mules, says an exchange.

SLIDING GATE IN FLUME.

CARRIER FOR PIPE AND SPRINKLERS.