, 1892-01-27
EFFECT OF ARTESIAN WATER
ON VEGETATION.
President McLouth, State Agricultural
College, Bookings, South Dakota.

irrigation zeal, yet it is not to be forgotten
that the experience Of those who have lived
in South Dakota since its first settlement
teaches them that probably for three years
IN ten there is not In some portions OF the
State, sufficient natural moisture TO insure
first rate crops. 1t is to be borne III mind
as we'll that there are, indeed, few regions,
in the world where crop products might not
be greatly increased by artificial water sup
ply. Prof. Storer, says OF New England,
where the yearly rainfall is twice as much.as
ours 1T it Gamble said of any one item OF
good practice in agriculture mere than an
ether, that it is shamefully neglected IN the
Atlantic States, it will assuredly be said OF
irrigation"
Under irrigation, especially when the soil
is constantly reinforced by fertilizers, there
seems hardly to he any limit to the qnantl-
ty Of crops to be raised. Thirty-seven thou
sand acres in Flanders support and yield a
profit to 10000 Inhabitants. Forty bushels
OF wheat, forty tons of beets, eighty bush
els of oats and fourteen TO twenty tons OF
e~nsilage fodder per acre is an average crop
or five times as much as can be produced ON
the naturally fertile regions Of the MlsSiSSlp-
pi valley. Some of the meadows irrigated
with the eva &c of Paris yield from eight to
eighteen tons of cured hay per y,ar. The
~HA"AAN - 49, bNP1"'N ~ I'D
dairying 300 people to the square mile, or
more than two persons for each acre. lrri-
CATION yearly rcclaims Egypt from q desert,
and centuries ago made 1t the granaTy OF
Northern Africa and Western Asia. llri-
CATION within the last twenty years has
transformed the arid valleys Of California
into the orchard of America. If the quick
and fertile oil of the DakOtas can be sup
piled with abundant water, their products
could feed a continent.
The conditions of irrigation here, how
ever. are new. In all other parts of the
world the surface waters, as furnished ny
rivers and lakes, have contributed tine sup
ply. Here we must depend upon the sub
1erIanean supply, as yielded by artesian
wells. This new condition presents new
problems.
The first Of these problems is the suficien-
cy of the supply. AS thiS'question has been
largely discussed, and as it cannot be abso-
lutely answered except by trial, ! will only
add - single suggestion, to-wit: From
many of these ~nrtesian wells-nOtably those
OF Andover, Aberdeen and Miller-g great
numbers o. little fishes are being constantly
thrown out. Their activity, their perfect
vision and their bright colOrs prove that
they are MOI sMbttrIanean fishes like the
blind fish OF Mammoth cave, but that they
are being swept into this arteSian reservoir
from SOile surface SOM &c. The rains and
melting snow = OF the eastern slopes of the
Rocky Mountains, that slowly percOlate
Though the porous rocks, cannot supply
them. Is it not possible that they are swept
into and along the coarse openings and
channels of the sandstone rock from
holpe point where these rocks outclop in
the bed of the Missouri river far above us?
Lake Superior is not high enOuah above lie
nra level TO furnish the supply of water to
cur a~rteSian basin.
The second question to be settled is tho
distribution o. the water over the fields at
proper times AMI in proper quantities. This
is ~ problem OF engineering that need give
no great concern. Those practically fami-
liar with irrigation in other countries will
soon find out how to adapt their methods
to the new conditions. AS however some
have been afraid that the mineral ingredi-
ents III the water from the arteSiah wells
may prove harmful TO the growing yegeta-
tiOn, | will say a few words on that subject.
First, 1t may be safely stated that these
waters nre not "alkali' waters at all. Among
the hundreds OF specimens tested by the
clemis. OF tie Agricultural Experiment
Station at Bookings, NOT one specimen has
been found alkaline. They are SaIiie but
not alkaline.
Further, the entire mineral TeSiduesin
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