Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1871-11-30
BLACK FOREST IRRIGATION.
A Dc8criDtiOn of the Systcn.


Description of the System.
The traveller on the Baden Railway
passes between Heidelberg and Bnslc, Il
dairy country almost unrivallcd for
beauty and luxury Of pasturnge. The
dark wooded mountains Of the Black
Forest on ono side and the widespread
ing Rhine On The other, the pretty viii
lagos, the vineyards and the well-kcpt
farms make picture that has been
sung and painted for years. Leaving
the landscape to be described by better
pens, let me tell You something con-
corning til" means by which these
splendid meadows have been kept in
such good condition for SO many years.
From the car window one secs that
the iialls arc ev.rywl.err lntersertel by
open bitches. Not deep, wcrly, moi
some ditch, in the English fashion, but
land. The grass grows close up to the
edge, and hangs over the limpid stream
of water flowing throughit. Occasion
ally Il larger ditch or canal is passed.
Most OF these w:.tcr-courSes are full OF
clear running water. Wherever the
railway or the !lur country r,,n,ls pass
these artificial brooks, stone bridges
are erected. At intervals wooden dams
or gates cross the bitches to control the
flow or direct it to the various fields.
All the water seems to be flowing from
the Black Forest, westerly. towards the
Rhine.
The American Traveller ut first sight
imayines that these constructions are
made for the purpose OF getting rid of
the surplus drainage But why those
wooden gates everywhere? If the cham
nel3 are to carry the water away, why
rctard its flow (! \ further Inspection
makes it plain that these extensive
works are for irri g,,;oA not to get rii
of the water but to save it have these
these patient Gcrmans mapped out
their country with these miles of water
cOurscs.
One OF the most striking features uf
German scenery is the absence Of trees.
Except on the mountains, woods, in an
American sense, there arc none. Long
years ago, the same hlnnlers we are
now committing deprived the land of
its forests, dried up it's springs and
changed its climate. Now the springs
and brooks are only to be found in the
mountains. Water has become IN ar
ticle OF commercial value. Every brook
that flows from unlel the shadows
Of Tie Black Forest is pri-
vate or corporate property.
is chained up, and made to
flow through these bitches. Very lit
tie of the water reaches the Rhine.
From the main canals it flows into
smaller ones; then into the narrow
troughs, and lastly spreads in thin
sheet over the grass in countless mead
ows. Everywhere along it's course it is
tapped and turned aside to flow over
the farms. AS it goes it is divided
among many people, becoming less and
less till all is consumed. The wooden
gates turn it aside, or act as dams to
cause it to overflow where the thirsty
grass grccdily sucks it up.
Everything seems i'll perfect order
ami ready for instant use Should
long rain storms swell the streams,
ample provisions exsist for the rcmov-
i'll of the surplus. Should drouth
come on, every drop can be husbandcd,
and when the parching fields demanp
it water can be supplied in abundance.
Damaging frosts can be guarded
against by !. sheet Of flowing water
spread over the tender young plants at
the critical moment. More than all.
the fields are maintained in perpetual
fertility and the meadows made to yield
annual crops Of grass by Il top dressing
of water.
The value Of tho common spri or
brook water as a fertilizing agent is not
understood by our farmers. How many
New England farms are baked into I'M
profitable barrenness every summer
with u valuable brook running to waste
past the dusty fields! The farmer be-
means the dry season and let's the
withdrawing water flow away unno-
tlced. Many ii now worthless farm, ill
the hands Of these Ba,lcners and Ba-
varluls, would sustain great drCves of
Attorneys and shortlorns.
Irrigation alone can save many Of our
farms from total loss. 1t is no longer /.
doubtful experiment; simple spring
water contains plant-food. The Black
Forest brooks are limpid, and yet they
each sustain whole square miles of
meadows. In Eastern New England we
have plenty of water running red and
brown through our soil aud under our
woods, that, spread in catch-water
meadows, would bear tons of grass,
where now the wild sorrel has hard
fight to live. Generally these life giving
brooks flow past our farms and are lost
in the sea, while the farmer stands on
their banks bemoaning his bad luck
and preparing to put on another mort,
gage.
A Wild Family in PENNSYLVANIA.