Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1889-06-27
CHEAP IRRIGATION


seventy Five DsItsr--
visited yesterday little irrigation
plant which | will describe for yoaf
readers. 1t consists Of siugle-actiou
force pump costing g. So. worked b.
little sweep power. such as i bailt and
Used for drag saving. which eost 81
Whether Il was uew or secondhand AT
this price neglected 10 inquir,s The
pump was placed over an inexhaust-
iele well or spring (the water standing
near the top OF groundl. and forced
water through 2-inch pine II rods 10
the house. where il WIS feet above
the wssr level OF the spring. The
pipe was laid in the ground below
frost. and once in 81 feet had hydrant
or upright pipe prOtruding from the
ground three feet. These pipes had
places for attaching inch-hoss. Of which
the man had $50 feet. also 3 rods of
iron pipe which he could use besides.
so be was enabled 90 reach af5If "
acres OF garden-a beautiful level
bench or plateau OF sandy loar1. With
one horse attached To the power he
can force through the pipe. he says n
barrel of water in minutes, or fifteen
barrels per hour To irrigate an acre
an inch deep would require $50 barrels
Of water. and this would take sol
hours labor. or 81 DAYS Of 10 hours.
Allowing sl-J9 per day FOR man. and
m equal sum for horse aud boy To
drive. the cost OF labor would be $i7.
However. some time would be wasted
tn moving hose and resting, or chang
ing the horse. so at least another days
work should BE- added. bringing the
cost up to $50 FOR one thorough irrisa-
ton II j. the opinion os competent
experimenters that an inch Of water
viii last three or four weeks when ap-
piled 10 strawberries or similar crops.
or long enough to bring a crop through
any ordinary dry spell
Last season was not one in this lati-
tude that made irrigation necessary, so
the experiment has not been tried with
this outfit; but the owner has used il
To soak a plot OF ground after setting
strawberry plants this spring. wish ex-
eelent results. not losing plant. every
one ssartng at once into vigorous
growth The we'll or spring was dug
) feet through sand. when a bed OF i'm
pervious blue clay. I feet thick. was
struck.through which 3-inch hole was
bored. when the water gtlshed up in
steady stream \ box or frame plank.
; by l. feet. was sunk % the clay. and il
stands level full all the time. Il i but
a few feet from the bank of a reservoir
that supplies the village Of Kent. O..
with water. and the water stands at
the same level. 50 that water from the
reservoir could have been used n the
man had not preferred to do other
wise. Leaving oat Of the ac-
count the cost of well. which in this
ease should have been dispensed with.
the total cost account stands a. fol-
lows: Machinery. so. hose and nozzle.
$40; iron pipe, $50; labor. sl5; total,
s55.
Such an outfit could be used along
the banks of rivers. canals and lakes
in many places. and | think would
pay. In large plantations. where four
or more horses are kept, larger pow
er and pump could be used. and the
watering OF an acre completed in
single day or night. IL would take
such crops as early vegetables. cauli-
H.
tirely out OF danger from drought. II
Il will pay To water celery and cab
bages By hand. as Is done by German
gardeners along Mill Creek in Cinein-
natl or on the Ohio below Pittsburgh.
it will certainly pay to do it in the
method described.
The man who owns the outfit spoken
u lost more than 800 BY drought on
IN acre Of berries two years ago. and
mother man in the same village esti-
mated his shrinkage on three acres Of
'lspberries the same year ut 81 bush
sls per acre In the early seventies
lost nearly an acre of tine-looxing
straw berries from protracted drought.
and berries were worth that year - per
ogshel- In 1877 | had patch Of 225
-ods of strawberries. from which I
picked nearly 200 bushels Of berries,
and netted over $500 Ou the 2Sth of
May the leaves rolled. and every thing
Did fair to dry up. but timely heavy
aims falling on the next two days. the
plants revived. and | picked a fine
crop. II was so dry that ground fitted
for tomatoes showed no moisture for
four inches deep. and had il not been
for the rain. there would have been
very few strawberries in Northern
Ohio. and the price would have been
At least 81 per bushel higher than it
was. In this case the man who could
have irrigated would have made n
handsome sum- Il. Pierce, in Coun-
try Gentleman
-Corus grow on the feet of women