The River Falls times. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1894-1933, 1896-12-01
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sUBsURFACE IRRIGATION.
The Application of Water Under
ground Meeting With Success.

The Application of Water Under
ground Meeting With Success.
Bulletin No 81 of the New Hamp-
shire Experiment station gives some
new points on subsurface irrigation.
Subsurface irrigation is the application
of water underground through a sys-
tenn Of porous tiles or pipes. and the
advantages claimed for the system
over the ditch system are that it re-
quires less labor to apply the water,
and to keep the system in repair; there
are no bitches. burrows or check-ridgeS
to obstruct cultivation and harvesting;
no surfaC e-baking and no less Of water
from evaporation. III the high, arid
regions of the West the air is hot. dry,
and generally blows at high rate of
speed so that Il SIS by evaporation
from open bitches, burrows and food
ell checks is enormous generally esti-
mated at one-half to thICe-fourths Of
all the water applied.
But Prof Rowe thinks that these adj
vantages OF subirrigation are more
than offset by disadvantages iEhe
first cost of constructing the system is
much greater than that for the surface
irrigation, and three years Of expert
mcnts conG lcted by him prove that
subrrigation loses moe water by seep-
age than surface irrigation loses by
evaporation, except the soil is shallow
and the subsoil is 4 Il close. tight hard
pan. He had two plats Of the same
size side side by side, one arranged for
Slibifligation and the other for surface
irrigation, and it always took more
water to Saturate the SubiITigated
plat. On investigation, lie found that
the water was lost by soaking down
ward much more rapidly than it rose
up to the sell above the tile. He then
took UP half the soil from the subirri-
gated plat. laid a coat Of cement over
the subsoil replaced the tile and the
soil and afterwards found that when
water was turned into the tile the half
over this cement would become wet,
while the other was quite dry.
Prof Rowe thinks that if porous tile
lie but halfburied. there would be no
loss by either seepage or evaporation
and a test of this method on small
plat confirmed his belief. However,
this does Let take tie tile out of the
way of the plow, cultiyator and har
vcster
In thing Tor SuDlfflgatlon, the tiles
are laid much nearer the surface
than when they are laid for drainage.
TIE cost Of tile is So to SO Per
acre, and the cost of laying is not
much moro than the cost of open
bitches. Open bitches must be built
I'D above ground, the bottom of the
ditch being as high or higher than the
land to be watered. else the water will
not run out onto the land.
The bulletin states that a flood of in
quiries is coming to all the stations
and to the agricultural and horticult-
Ural journals. even east of the Missis-
sippi river for information on irriga-
ton. The frequent recurrence of pro-
tracted and disastrous droughts is the
cause Of this awakening. The annual
rainfall is as great as ever, but has not
of late years been as evenly distrib-
uted, most of it coming in winter or
early spring. leaving the crops to per-
ish in the hot weather of summer.
The popular interest in irrigation has
also Eeen stimulated by the great sue
cess Of the few tests of irrigation that
have been made east of the MISSISSIPPI
pi river.