Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1870-05-06
firm, 6araeu 9 rusfhOIa.
From The New FORK Trihune.
WHAT / KNOW OF FARMING.
rtT-E,r,rntion-Means and Ends.
az HoRAcE 80.

nv Of vegetation. judge that The question
-ssH How can I secure to my growing plants
sufieieney Of moisture at all times 2''-has-
not always presented itself To the farmers
mind a. demanding Of him practical solu-
ton. To rid his soil and keep Is free Of su-
perAuons, but especially OF sssgnaut water,
he may or may not accept as necessity; hut
that, having provided for draining away
whatever il excessive, be should turn short
corner and begin at once to provide that wa
10, shall lie supplied to his fields aud plants
whenever they may need ii, be il often slow
10 apprehend Yet this provision is but the
counterpart and complement of the other.
/ had sped across Europe TO Venice, and
noted with interest the admirable, effective
irrigation Of tbe great plain Of Lombardy, be-
fore could call any land my own, | saw
there region perhaps thirty miles wide by
one hundred aud tiffsr long Along the east bank
ofthe Po, rising very gently thence to the foot
oftbe Austrian Alps, which Providence seems
to have specially adapted to be improved by
irrigation. The torrents oil melted snow
which in Spring leep and foam adown the
southern face of the Alps, bringing with them
the finer particles of soil. are suddenly arres-
ted and form lakes (Garda, Maggiore, Como,
&c.l just as they emerge upon the plain.
These lakes, slowly rising, often overflow
their banks, with those of the small rivers
that bear their waters westward TO the Po;
and this overflow was natural source Of abb
ding fertility To dam these outlets, and
thus eoairoi their currents, was a very simple
aad obvious device Of long ago, and was
probably begun by very few individuals tif
by more than one whose success melted
emulation, until the present extensive and
costly system Of irrigatins dams aud canals
was gradually developed. When traFers9d
Lombardy in July, 1851, the beds Of streams
naturally as large as the Pemigewasset, Bat
tenkiIi, Canada Greek, or Humboldt, were
utterly dry: the water which would naturally
have flowed therein being wholly transferred
10 an irrigatiug canal Tor to canals) often Two
or three miles distant. The reservoirs thus
created were filed in Spring, when the
streams were fullest and their water richest,
and gradually drawn upon throughout the
later growing season to cover the carefully
leTeled and graded fields on either side to the
depth of an inch or two at a time. If any
failed TO be soon absorbed By the soil, ii WAS
drawn of as here saperfuous, and added to
the current employed to moisten and fertilize
the field next below ii; and so field after field
was refreshed and enriched, to the husband
mans satisfaction and profit 1t may bethat
the rich gladss of English Lancashire bear
heavier average crops: but those of Lombardy
are rarely e1celled on the globe.
Why should not our Atlantic slope have its
Lombardy2 Utah, Nevada, aud California,
exhibit raw, crude suggestions OF such sys-
TEN; but why should the irrigation Of the
New World be confined to regions where it is
indispensable, when that Of the Old is not
know no good reason whatever for leaving
al American field unirrigated where water
to flow It at will can be had at a moderate
cost.
When FIRST bought land lin 1881 fully
purposed to provide for irrigating any nearly
level acres at viii, and constructed two
dams across my upland stream with that view;
bat they were so badly planned that they
went off in the food caused by tremendous
rain the next Spring; and, though rebuilt
one of Their, | submitted TO a miscalculation
which provided for taking the water, by
means ofa syphou, out Of the pond at the top,
and over the bank that rose fifteen or twenty
feet above the surface ofthe water. Of fcourse,
air would work into the pipe after it had car
ried stream unexceptionably for two or
three days, and then the water would run no
longer. Had taken it from the bottom of
Of the pond through my dam, it would have
run forever, Tor so long as there was water
covering its inlet in the Pond;l but bad en-
gineering flung me; and have never since
lad the heart Tor the means) TO revise and
correct its errors.
My next attempt was on much humber
scale, and engineered Il my self. Toward
the north end of my farm, the hillside which
rises east of my lowland is broken by swale
or terrace, which gives me three or four acres
Of toieFably level upland, along the upper
edge of which five or six springs, which never
wholly fail, burst from the rocks above and
unite to form petty runnel, which dries up
in very hot or dry weather, but which usually
preserves tiny stream to be lost in the
swamp below. North Of the gully cut down
the lower hill. side by this streamlet, the hill
side of some three acres 10 quite steep, still
partially wooded, and wholly devoted to pas
turage. Making petty dam across this run
aei at the top otthe lower acclivity, turned
the stream aside, so that il should henceforth
run along the crest of this lower bill, falling
of gradually SO as to secure free current,
aud losing its contents at intervals through
variable depressions in its lower bank. Dam
and artificial water course together cost me
$50, which was about twice what it should
have been. That rude and petty contrivance
has now been ten years in operation, and may
have cost $5 per annuF for oversight and re.
pairs. Its effect has been to double the grass
grown On the two acres it constantly irrigates,
for which / paid $3.50, or more than thrice
the cost ofmy irrigation. But more: my hill.
sidei while it was well grassed in Spring,
always gave out directly after the first dry.
hot week; so that, when most needed feed.
1t afforded none; It's herbage being parched
up and dead, and thus remaining till re-
freshsd 5y generous rains. Judge, therefore,
that my irrigation has more than doubled the
Prodnct OF those two seres, and that these
are likely to lose nothing in yield or value so
long as that petty irrigating ditch shall be
maintained.
kAIslSs and starch are cheapest bought
by the box.
ZAGTE currants should ba vrovba9 n,5 J-;.s