Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1895-05-02
IRRIGATION.
a SOUTH DAKOTA FILLER TELLS HIS
EXPERIENCE.

a SOUTH DAKOTA FILLER TELLS HIS
EXPERIENCE.
Says Ten Inches Is not too Deep to Plow-
Pumped Water From the james River
With Fourteen Horse Power Engine.
More Thorough Work Would Have Re-
suited Much More Satisfactorily.
G. T. SWEET, in Dakota Farmer.
Believing that the only element lack
ing in our fair State. to make the soil
produce bountifully and with certainty,
each season, is water, l determined
last spring to try in a small way what
irrigation would do. While was not an
experienced irrigator, had seen some
thing of it in Colorado between 1877
Ind 1885, during which time lived in
that state.
have beautiful level tract of 200
acres of land on the James river bot
tom, lying about twelve feet above the
surface of the water in the stream, and
sloping gently from the banks of the
river; an ideal field for irrigating. 1
laid off twelve acres for patch of po-
tatoes, and five acres for corn, and
determined to pump water on that
amount of land from the river if it
proved to be necessary. The ground
was plowed early, about six inches in
depth. 1t should have. been at least
ten. The blowing was followed up
each day with the harrow, and after
the piece was finished, it was twice
thoroughly cross-dragged. The pota-
toes were planted about May LIST with
an Aspinwall planter. The seed was
cut to one and two eyes, except very
small potatoes which were planted
whole, and put in the ground to the
hill, thirteen inches apart. The rows
were forty rods long, running at right
angles to the course of the river, with
a gradual descent of about half inch
to the rod in the direction from the
stream.
Weeds appearing in about week
after planting, the ground was
thoroughly narrowed. which was con-
tinued at short intervals until the
plants were about three inches high.
The first cultivation was with an Or
binary four shovel riding corn pillow,
and the second with riding disk corn
cultivator, which hills the potatoes up,
leaving a shallow furrow or ditch be-
tween the rows, just right for conven-
lent irrigating. Owing to my pump
being delayed did not get to irrigat-
ing until June goth, which was fully
two weeks too late, as the ground had
become quite dry ard some of the pota
toes had commenced TO blossom. The
pump was No. Horizontal Cehtri-
fugal pump, made by the American
Well Works, Aurora, Ills. and cost
laid down here sl4O: water is raised by
the pump to the height of fourteen
feet, being drawn through twenty-four
feet of six inch suction pipe, and dis
charges directly into the main ditch
leading to the field about scven.y-tive
gallons per minute, with speed of $50
revolutions. but as l ran it at over 600
it did considerably more work; esti-
mated itat about $500 gallons. or near
ly barrel Il second. AT first the pump
was run by twelve horses and com
mon horse power. The work was
little harder than threshing grain,
for the feed WAS there all the time
For the second and third irrigations Il
fourteen horse power threShing engine
was used, which gave much better sat
isfaction. About l.a00 pounds of soft
coal was consumed per day of ten
hours.
The bitches were made with COM
mon sixteen inch pillow. turning out
four burrows and leaving dead fur
row" from which the loose dirt was
thrown out with shovel. The 4hain
ditch, only seventy-tivc yards in length
led to the field and emptied into a
lateral ditch, at the head of the rows
of potatoes, that is the lateral ditch
ran at right angles to the potatoe
rows. 1t had fall of about one
inch to the rod. A gate. made by nail
ing boards together in the shape of
V was put in the lateral ditch. raising
the water and causing it to flow into
the small bitches or burrows be-
tween four or five rows of potatoe.
One man attended the gates, keeping
an even flow into the burrows between
the water down the rows, preventing
~ AAOth OsSAAhOHAAE, d1N
breaking from one furrow into another.
AS soon as the water had wet the
ground thoroughly. and flowed the
entire length of the rows, the head
irrigator removed the gate, having
previously put in another to water the
next five or six rows, and SO on until
the whole field was gone over.
The expense was for coal, engineer
and two irrigators. About three acres
was good average days work of ten
hours.
Three or four days after the first
irrigation the potatoes were cultivated,
but were not cultivated after the sec
ond and third irrigations, which neg
lect, l suspect, made great difference
in the yield. They were watered the
last time July 25th, "the hot windy
day that burned everything up all over
the northwest" The corn ground was
prepared, planted with check-rower,
worked and irrigated the same as the
potatoes. But on account of failure
in the supply of coal, and because
supposed that it would rain sometime,