Daily Kennebec journal., 1896-09-04
irrigation Of Granite Soils.


J. w. Sanborn of Gilmanton, N H..
the well known agricultural writer has
the following interesting article in the
Country Gentleman:
desire to enforce the experience re-
Gently related bearing on the influence
of irrigation on the fertility of the soil.
that lingering doubts TO its influence
on the plant nutrients of the soil may be
removed. The famous experiments of
Prof Way that brought out strongly the
power of soils to remove solids from So
lutions, are somewhat familiar to the
reading public; Probably all teachers ,t'! OF
running. foul water through, cyiinder
of soil in the classroom in the presence
OF students. The curious can prepare, a
and run it through two feet of soil placed
in some cylinder and secure clear clear
liquid Drains that remove the Surplus
water of sewage farms carry OH pure. fe-
looking water that appears suitapie III
drinking. , 49,,
The writer, while associated with the
Utah college. prepared several M tiIing p,'ti them
land. TWO by four rods, by tllliS .unni ,.
at frequent distances into cement Ndui,s,
The water used for irrigating these pIats
was measured for each plat, @ anu "a ~ az
from none by rises OF SIX lnches " ~
feet per plat. These amounts relieseiii.tu
the water estimated to saturate the pia.s
to the depths named AnalyseS o. the ne
water applied and of that caught IN tne
vaults enabled a determination wnel!iel wi
tho water anplied lost fertility in passing
through the natural soil, or "nether Il, i,
gained The result was the same IN
Tenor in the water of percolation, wheth-
er from plats receiving little or mucn
irrigation For 1894. for one OF the 3 piats l1s
water was used at the rate OF l4uoi.hoo
H. to the acre; its calculated contents
of solids was a6l155 ib. OF tins quan-
tity but q ib. We're found IN the waters
collected in the vault, as estimated by
Mr. A. A. Mills, the farm superintendent,
a competent authority.
Science and practice tally in showing
that soils have special power OF re
tanning the fertility that may be carried
to them in water The experiments
spoken of covered many interesting prac-
tcal problems in irrigation but 1t Is not
my purpose to write a series OF letters
on either the art or the science OF lrrl-
CATION and | forego entering into the dis
cussion of other phases OF tne QUESTION
than those chosen to Illustrate the val
ue of irrigation as bearer or 1ertlllty
TO soils, and incidentally of irrigation as
an antidote to drouth.
Occupiers of granite soils ike those OF
the extreme East will rightly question
whether the waters OF eastern rivers
and brooks will bear as much plant nu-
triton as those of the limestone soils of
the Mississippi valley and the inter-
mountain region. They do not. but on
the other hand bear solids having, quite
a different composition. Those of the
West are marked by their heavy content
of lime. while those of granite soils have
less of lime and more of potash. if the
IltteT are 10 Dt StiuStt pN tliN ana SIS
of the water supplying the Wilson farm.
The water used for irrigation by the
writer is estimated to furnish in cover
ing the soil 20 inches deep for one acre.
in the several irrigations for the season
of nitrogen, 2.7s ID; phosphoric acid,
5.4l 1b; potash. 25.l5 10; lime. l4.s2 lb.
magnesia, s.l1 10 COMPUTATION of the
first three materials, at the rates agreed
upon by the experiment stations. gives
a total value of $l.75. The cost of these
materials. however. as pqrc4ased in
$3.50. To this cost is to be added the
cost of application. Now as these ma
terials are in solution already it will be
seen that they are worth more than the
ordinary fertilizer.
In irrigating 100 acres here it is fair to
assume that $3.50 worth of plant food is
torest on a s625O plant. or viewed from
another standpoint, several times pays
the cost of application to grass. and will
more thanpay the cost of application for
hoed crops, leaving the drouthressting
character of irrigation costless. as the
interest on the plant and the cost of APP
pication are fully met by the fertility
added.
In passing, attention is invited to the
low amount of lime found in the water
n striking fact in view of the marked
The high content of potash confirms the
view held of granite soils in their rela-
tion to potash supply.
When art has done its best toward the
production of maximum crops outside OF
artificial supply of moisture, they must
tall short. often heavily OF their posi-
BILE economic yield. The application OF
measured quantities of water to plats in
Utah showed that the water supply. up
10 a certain amount, was a measure of
the crop yield. This fact has been
brought out in pot culture of plants.
Crops steadily increased with the water
supply until an enormous acre yield was
secured. Until irrigation is commanded.
ideal crops in farm practice will remain
a dream. In view of the cheapness of the
process and of the fertility supplied is Il
rational explanation of the paucity of
irrigation at the East apparent?