The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-03-22
GkfG4teELigRnFe4,.
what I Know of Farming.
~. uY.tHB6RAcf dRE1rrrY.


Neutrality-suspicious. and Ends.
While few can have failed to realize the
important part played by Yatet IN the
economy Of vegetation, I11dgo hat!the
question allow can / sccurc'tO my grow.
ing plants a sufElciency Of moisture at all
times !"-has not always presented itself
70 the farmers mind as demanding Of him
apracticaI solution. To rid his soil and
keep II free Of superfluous, but especially
of stagnant water, he may or may not
accept as necessity; but that, having
provided for draining away whatever Is
excessive, he should turn o short corner
and begin ut once to provide that water
Shall be supplied to his hcns and plants
Whenever they may neel 1t, he Is oflen
slow to apprehend. Yet this provision Is
but the counterpart and complement Of
the otheea -, IN
Tlad Bped Seross Edtope6 Venice, and
Fhoted with interest The admirable, eitec.
tive irrigation Of the great plain Of Lom'
hardy, before l could call any land my
own. I saw there region perhaps thirty
lmileg widG5by one hundred and ffty along
the cast bank Of tho 10, rising very gently
thence to the foot Of th6lAustrian Alps,
which Providence seems to have specially
adapted to be improved by irrigation.
The torrents OF melted snow which In
spring leap and foam adown the southern
i6cc Of the Alps, bringing with them the
finer particles Of soil, arc suddenly ar.
rested and form lakes (Garda, Nlaggiorc,
Como, &c.) lust as they emerge upon the
plain. These lakes, slowly rising, often
overflow their banks, with those Of tho
small rivers that bear their waters west
ward TO the Pc; and this overflow was q
natural source Of abiding fertility. To
dam these outlets, and thus control their
Iicurrcnts, was very simple and obvious
device OF long agO, and was probably be-
gun by II very few individuals Ut by
more than one), whose success excited en-.
ulation, until the present extensive and
costly system OF irrigating dams and canals
wasfRradually developed. When / ira
versed Lombardy in July, 1851, the beds
Of streams naturally as large as the
Pemigcwassett, Battenkill, Canada Creek,
or Humboldt, wero utterly dry; the water
which would naturally have flowed there
in being wholly transferred tn IN fright
Ing canal Tor to canals) often two or three
miles distant. Tho reservoirs thus created
were filed in Spring, when the streams
were fullest and their water richest, And
gradually drawn upon throughout tho
later growing season to cover the carefully
lcveled and graded fields on either side 10
the depth ofan inch Tor two ut time. If
any failed to be soon absorbed by tho soil,
twas drawn OfS.as here sypcrhuous,s and
added to. the current employed tomoisten
and fertilizc the field next below 1t; and
so field after field was refreshed and en-
riched, TO the husbandman's satisfaction
and profit, 1t may be that the rich glades
of English Lancashire bear heavier average
crops; but those OF Lombardyl arc arely
cxccllcd on the globe.
Why should not our Atlantic slope have
| It's IIOmbartlyI Utah, Nevada, and Cali
fornia, exhibit raw, crude suggestions of
such system; but why should the irriga-
tion Of the New World be confined to re.
gions where tits Indispensable, when that
Of the Old Is not know no good reason
whatever for leaving IN American field
unirrigatcd where water to flow 1t at will
can be had ut moderate cost, MIA.
When | first bought land lin 1853 full.
" purposed to provide for irrigAting my
nearly level acres ut will, and constructed
two dams across MY upland stream with
that view, but they were so badly planned
that they went offinthe. flood. caused'b q
tremendous rain, Tthe next Spring; and,
though I rebuilt one of them, submitted
to a miscalculntion which provided for
taking tho water, by means Of q syphon,
out ofjtle pond ut the top. and oyer tho
bank Tint rose tiheen or twenty feet above
the surlace Of the WATER or course, air
would work into the pipe after ithad car
rie(l q stream unexCeptiOnably for two or
three days, md then the water would run
no longer. Had taken 1t from the bot.
tom ofthe pond throughmY dam; II would
have run forever, for so long 0S there was
water covering It's inlet in the p0nd0 but
bad engineering flung me; and have
mover Binrefhad Sthe heart (u The nlcaps)
u nd cot as erf6p.t w
MY heSt attempt was on anluch hum.
bier scale, and engineered II myself. To
ward the notthiend Of'my iarm, tho hill
side which rises east Of my lowland Is
broken by a swalC orterraee, which gives
nc three or fntir acres Of tolcrably level
upland, along the upper edge Of which
4 five or six springs, which never wholly
fail. burst from the rocks, above and unite
to form petty rIinnel, which dries up In
very hot or dry weather, but which usu'
ally preserved u tiny stream 10 be lost In
the swamp below North Of tho gully
cut down tile lower hillside by thissfaNgn"
let, the hillside Of some three acres Is
J, quite steep, until partially wooded, and
\ wholly devoted 10 pasturage. Making a
petty dam across this rrnnel ut the top Of
The lower ACTIVITY, ] turned tho stream
inside, so that Il should hCncetOrth run
along the crest Of this lower hill, falling
off gradually so rs to secure n free cur
I rent, and losing It's contents at inter-
walls, through variable depressi0ns In IA
lower bank, Dam and artificial water
course together cost mo 800, which was
about twice what It should have been.
That rude and petty COntrivance hasIiow
been ten years In operation, and may have
cost 6 per annrm Tor oversight and re-
pairs. It's effect has been to double the
grass grown on the two acres It constantly
irrigatCs, for which paid $3.50, Or moro
than twice the cost Orlny irrigation. But
moro l. my hill.sidc, while 1t was well
gFassetti In Spring, always gave out direct
" after tho first dry, hot week; so that,
when most needed feed ,ttsfcrded ponei
It's heritage being pafchcd up and dead
=, and thus Remaining Till refreshed by gen
I, erous rains. j Judge, therefore, that my
Irrigation has moro than doubled the pro-
duct OF those two acres, and that these are
likely to lose nothing ii yield or value 80
, long as that pettygirrigating ditch shall be
maintained N'aS1O F''