The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-03-31
SUBSOILING OR IRRIGATION.


that there is more, IN the aggregate,
for Kansas, in cultivation than in irri-
CATION. May not experience prove that
! the power expended and the expense
incurred, in raising water by artificial
or mechanical means for irrigation, if
applied to more thorough and scien-
tifc cultivation muight make greater
aud more sure returns. Irrigation
! by the diversion Of streams through
bitches is only possible for very cir
cumscribed area Of Kansas, an area
so small as compared to the whole
state as not to be worth mentioning
| badly. When it comes to lifting water
by the expenditure Of mechanical force,
however generated, even If by the
| wind, the expense will be found not
! inconsiderable, though the water sup
ply should be sure and reasonably &C
cessible. And then few who have not
had a practical experience realize the
great amount Of water required for
successful irrigation, either estimated
by gallons or tons for each acre. Irri-
cation in few valleys in Kansas, in
q limited way, may prove prOfita BILE
in the production Of fruits and garden
vegetables, but will be found to be
out OF the question when it comes to
ordinary field crops, especially Of
grains, such as wheat, corn, eats, bar
ley and the like. The Eagle very
much fears that there is more talk
than money in Kansas irrigation, more
politics than profit; in short that 1t
largely 4 craze and fad which may
cost more than it will ever come to;
that the chances are that eight out
of ten experimenters will regret the
day that they involved themselves TO
ilrigate. There is no question where
water can be cheaply, evenly and
thoroughly applied, astonishing results
are possible, even probable, but such
places are the rare exception.
The utilization Of the rainfall by
proper cultivation should be sought
after. 1t is not so much a lack of
rainfall that short crop seasons occur
in Kansas, as that the rainfalls are
so quickly and thoroughly Tapped up.
evaporated AMI carried away by the
winds and sun combined, principally
by the winds. If it is fact, as now
claimed, that the new method of sub
soiling retains the moisture much long
er than the old method, then Kansas
may expect more from breaking up the
subsoil than by irrigation
We subjOin description of Il new
subsoiler, its operation together with
expected results from one who claims
TO have demonstrated by actual OK
perience:
Get a subsoil plow with a steel blade
half yard long running down from the
beam like coulter on the lower end
of which, and straddling its front edge
up to within six inches of the beam, is
a slender steel share, point and mold |
board all in one piece. Run this after |
the stirring plow and near the land
side, six to ten inches under the bottom |
Of the furrow, and the long, low, little |
moldboard will lift the subsoil two
or three inches. fitting it outwards and |
it won't drop back, but leave a long
cavity an inch or so high next to the |
land side, and tapering down to moth
ing outwardly. This space will hold |
much of the rainwater. and will not
entirely close up for several years IL
in stiff soil, and most prairie subsoil
Is. Next year you need not plow at |
all, just list the corn. BY the fourth
year it will have settled down hard
enough for wheat. and after harvest
of that year, or the next. it should
have another subSoiling crosswavs of
the first. After that you will have
twice as much land TO the acre as YOU
now have, and much better land and
surer 10 raise a crop in a bad year.
when high prices make even half a
crop pay well.