The herald., 1896-07-04
IRRIGATION OF LAWNS
(RY the Edifnrl

In this season of a scarcity Of water
1t behooves every one to conserve the
water Is much as possible and prevent
all needless use of it. There is, per-
haps, no more prolific waste of this ne
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. than is the lawn
and the flowers that hedge about the
home. Many lawns and flowers are
sprinkled or watered every day or even
ing. This custom is all wrong. and is as
unnecessary as would be a shower every
day in the eastern rainfall districts.
Consider for moment the amount of
water that keeps the eastern lawn in
good condition without the aid of arti-
fetal watering. Vegetation of all kinds
flourish in the east where the monthly
rainfall is from two to three inches. Some
of the precipitation Is in heavy showers
or long continued rains, and runs off the
ground without penetrating it. That
which does penetrate, however. is
enough to support vegetable life, even
when the rainfall only amounts to two
inches per month. Two inches of rain
fall per month amounts to "a. 436 gallons
of water per acre in that time. To con-
vert two inches of rainfall into miners
inches would take one miners inch run
ming four days, four hours and forty
eight minutes to irrigate one acre, or AZ
miners inches running twenty-four
hours to accomplish the same result.
Less than this amount of water is act
ually supporting vegetable life in a
f1ourishing condition in some parts of
Southern California where the water is
properly applied. To reduce the above
figures and make them applicable to the
lawn it would require for a lawn 25x25
feet, containing 625 square feet, but
$50 gallons of water per month, and this
amount should be divided in three or
four applications at from seven to ten
days apart, or if irrigated once week.
which is sufficient, provided it is applied
in the proper way, about 200 gallons per
application This amount of water will
run through seventy-fve feet of three
quarter inch hose under a pressure of
twelve pounds to the inch in twenty-five
minutes and forty-ive seconds.
To apply more water than is necessary
to lawn or any other ground is positive
ly injurious. as an excess OF water only
teaches out the soil and uselessly i'm
poverishes it.
Every lawn in an arid region should be
made, if possible, on a dead level little
lower than the border, so that it can be
flooded with the requisite amount OF
water, for by this method every part OF
| the lawn receives an equal amount or
water The above-named amount of
water might vary to small degree, ac-
| cording to the character OF the SOIL IL
| rigated.
/ REPORT OF AIhlC ILL CIs<Ah LA
PERTINENT STATIONS
| We are in receipt of the Report OF
Work of the Agricultural Experiment
| Stations of the University of California
for the year 1S94-95. The report claims
to embrace the work of the station
laboratory only up to July, 1895. and the
| culture reports of the several sub-sta-
| lions up to the close of the season of 80,
| whatever that may mean. The report
| is very voluminous containing nearly 800
! pages And while there are some pages
! of value in it there are many matters
in it that are treated in the most super
| fetal and unscientitic manner. and al
| together unworthy to enumerate from
| so high a source as the University of
| California should be.
To illustrate, in speaking of the gum
! disease on orange and lemon trees, the
report says: THE tree gums very free
ly where attacked by the disease. and
usually dies before the disease reaches
! up into the branches The
disease seems to be uncontrollable; it is
most prevalent in oak clearings, and
generally a replant will take the dis
ease" Nearly two pages are devoted
to a useless dissertation on the subject.
If the director of our experiment sta