The evening times., 1900-03-12
EXTENSION OF IRRIGATION
Recent Experiments in Tea Pant
Ing in South Carolina.
Results of the Work Carried ON at
Pinehurst - Plans for a Large
Storage Reservoir Capable of
Holding n Seasons Supply of
Water - Comparative Tests Made.

water - Comparative Tests Made.
The rapid extension of irrigation in the
West and the attention which it has at
tracted. has caused the irrigation already
practiced in the humid portions of the
United States to be overlooked. The facts
already gathered by the irrigation investi-
cations of the Office of Experiment Stations
Of the United States Department of Agri-
culture show that there is considerable
area in the eastern part of the country now
being officially watered For market gar
dening and growing of high-priced prod
ucts irrigation has proven highly sue
cessful. Few people are aware that the
rice planters of Louisiana irrigate over
100 900 acres. The canals to water the
rice fields along the South Atlantic coast
were in use more than a century before
Brigham Young's followers cut the first
bitches from City Creek in Utah The area
of land covered by reserves or reservoirs.
as Western irrigatCrs would call them. is
greater than the acreage covered by such
reservoirs in any arid State. and the vol
une of stored water is equally as large.
Recently there has been a tendency to ex-
tend this use of water to other crops, no.
tably on truck farms. If this shall prove
profitable the physical conditions are ia
vorable for the irrigation of large portion
of land along beth the South Atlantic and
Gulf coasts.
Canals 10 water these level bottom lands
along the coast rivers can be dug for far
less outlay than has to be expended OIL
many of the canals in the arid West. where
rocky canyons and precipitous slopes must
be trayerscd 10 reach the plains yet await
ing reclamation. Recent experiments IN
Louisiana show that the irrigation OF for
age crops is exceedingly profitable; henco
it does not seem 10 be unreasonable to an
ticpate that We may have in this section
of the South irrigation works rivaling In
magnitude those of Piedmont and Lom-
hardy.
An investigation recently inaugurated by
the Department of Agriculture promises,
if successful. to promote such development.
This is the irrigation Of tea at Pinehurst.
the home of Dr. C. L. shepard near Sum-
merville. 5. c. The labOrs OF this gentle
man have already produced interesting re-
suits. He has about fifty acres planted to
tea which will when in full bearing, pro-
duce each year about 10000 pounds. Last
year il produced about one-third of this
amount His Investigations have been con-
tinued long enough TO make it manifest
temperature does not usually fall below
- degrees Fahrenheit. and never falls be-
low zero tea can be successfully grown,
but that in order to make il complete
success in all cases irrigation Is necessary.
The great obstacle in the way of making
this industry a commercial success is the
cost OF production and the readiest means
of reducing this cost is to increase the
yield per acre II more pounds per acre
ha "A less cost
pound for fertilizers and for cultivation.
Picking will also be made cheaper be-
cause less ground will have to be trav-
ersed
The need of immigration to stimulate
the growth of foliage is shown by COM
parison of the rainfall at Summerville
with that of other eagrowing districts
This is given in DR.. Shepard's report and
shows that the precipitation during the
growing season at that point is only about
one-half TO one quarter Of that of the tea
growing districts of India and China.
SummervilIe is within twenty miles of
Charleston. : G. The rainfall at Charles
ton from May to September is only 3l.3 /
inches. while the rainfall OF the tea
growing districts of India and China for
the same period varies from 60 to III
inches. Through the cooperation of DR.. I
Shepard and ElwOod Mead. the irrigation /
tions. plans have been made for the con-
struction of a storage reservoir sufficient /;
TO hold water enough for a seasons irri- !
cation of one of the tea gardens. The res !
ervOir will be filed from a well dug 10 !
depth of 20 feet and supplied by the un- !
derilow of a neghboring stream.
The tea garden to be irrigated is plant |
ed in rows FIVE feet apart. These rows !.
have a fall of inches in 100 feet. which /
gives ample fall for distributing water /
and for understanding should this prove /
necessary. In order TO test the relative |
merits of surface and sub-irrigation. about /
half of this plat will be watered by /
means of tile placed one foot beneath the !
surface and laid down between the rows. !
The distance between these tiles will ,
therefore be five feet. and the water will /
have to percolate Iaterally two and half /
feet to moisten the ground around the |
plants.
Another portion of the garden will be |
irrigated by surface burrows run on each
side and one foot from plants. In order
to test the difference between the growth
and productiveness of the irrigated and
non-irrigated portions a small part Of this
garden will be left unwatered.
An interesting feature connected with
this extension of irrigation is the fact
that part of the farm on which tea is
being grown was formerly devoted to the
production of indigo and was irrigated. |
The production of this crop finally be-
came Improbable and was abandoned, bpt
the remains of the bitches can yet be
seen.
1t will probably require several years to
fully determine the extent to which this
form of agriculture can be extended in the
South. Even without the aid of irrigation
tea has been grown with profit, but if.
as is believed. material increase can be
made in the yield through the addition Of
this stimulus, and improvement in the
quality of the product as well. there is
little reason to doubt that the time is
near at hand when this country Will have
made another significant addition to it's
capacity to be entirely self-sustaining.
AIRING CARNEGIE'S AFFAIRS.