The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-03-12
EXTENSION OF IRRIGATION
Recent Experiments in Tea Pant
Ing in South Carolina.
Results of the Work Carried on mt
Pinehurst Plans for Large
Storage Reservoir Capable of
Holding Seasons supply of
Water - Comparative Tests Made.


Holding Seasons supply of
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 a 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 irrlgate over
lOO, 600 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 irrigatOrs would call them. is
greater than the acreage covered by such
reservoirs in any arid state, and the vol
| ume Of stored water is equally as large.
Recently there has been a tendency to es-
tend this use OF water to other crops no
tably on truck farms. II this shall prove
profitable the physical conditions are IA
! vCTable for the irrigation OF large portion
Of land along both 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 on
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. hCnco
/ it does not seem 10 be unreasonable 10 an
tiCipate that we may have in this section
Of the South irrigation works rivaling In
magnitude these OF Piedmont and LON
: hardy
/ An investigation recently inaugurated by
/ the Department Of Agriculture promises,
/ II successful. 10 promote such development.
/ This is the irrigation Of tea al Pinehurst.
I the home of Dr. G.. L. Shepard. near sum
I merville. s. G. The lab0rs OF this gentle
l man have already produced interesting re-
suits He has about fifty acres planted 10
tea. which viii. when i'm fun bearing pro
. ducc each year about 10 600 pounds Last
/ year il produced about one-third Of this
+ amount. His Investigations have been con-
/ tinued long enough 10 make IL manifest
I that in any part Of the South where the
I temperature does not usually fall below
/ - degrees Fahrenheit. and never falls be-
: low zero. tea can be successfully grown,
/ but that in order 10 make it complete
. success in all cases irrigation Is necessary.
! The great obstacle iu the way OF making
I this industry a commercial success is the
cost OF production and the rcadiest means
. OF reducing this cost is 20 increase the
. yield per acre. II more pounds per acre
can be grown IL means less cost per
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 a COM
/ parisOn Of the rainfall at Summerville
| with that OF other tea-SroUing districts.
/ This is given in Or. Shepard's report and
/ shows that the precipitation during the
I growing season at that point is only about
one-half to one-quarter OF that Of the tea
. growing districts OF India and China
. SummeryiIle 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 90 TO III
. inches. Through the cooperation OF DR.
Shepard and Elwood Mead. the irrigation
. expert Of the Office Of Experiment Sta
. tiOns. plans have been made for the con-
. struCtinn of a storage reservoir sufficient
/ 10 hold water enough for a seasons irri-
. CATION Of one Of the tea gardens The res
. ervoir viii be filed from well dug TO a
depth Of 20 feet and supplied by the IN
. derllow Of a neighboring stream
The tea garden 10 be irrigated is plant
ed in rows FIVE feet apart These rows
have a fall Of inches in 100 feet which
. gives ample fan for distributing water
and for understanding should this prove
. necessary. In order 10 test the relative
merits Of surface and sub-irrigation. about
one-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 pToductveness OF the irrigated and
non-irrigated portions small part Of this
! garden will be left unwatered.
An interesting feature connected with
I this extension Of irrigation is the fact
that a part of the farm on which tea is
I 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, but
I the remains Of the bitches can yet be
/ seen.
Il 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 IT,
| as is believed a 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.
The Steel MaEnate Said TO BE Will
ing To settle With Prick.
pITTSBIRG March I2-Tbp DELAY by