The Bemidji pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Beltrami County, Minn.) 1896-1917, 1901-01-10
YrrlgatIon OF Ter,

25s kAu AlUVSTslBdIlOU TcCcuLly lHduSu
rated by the United States Department
OF Agriculture promises il successfui
to promote the growing Of tea. This
is the irrigation Of tea at Pinehurst,
the home OF DR.. @. U. Shepard, near
Summerville, s. CT The labors Of this,
gentleman have already produced In
steresting results. He has, about fifty
acres planted to tea, which will when
In full bearing produce each year
about 10000 pounds. Last year t p-o-
duced about one-third cf this amount.
His Investigations have oscn coIsiu-
ued long enough to make II manifest
that in any part Of the South where the
temperature does not usually fall below
25e F.. and never falls below zero,
tea can be successfully grown. but that
In order to make 1t 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 in-.
crease the yield per acre. II more
pounds per acre can be grown, It means
less cost per pound for fertilizers and
for cultivation. Picking will also be
made cheaper because less ground Will
have to be traversed
The need Of irrigation to stimulate
the growth Of foliage is shown by g
comparison ,of the rainfall at Summer
vile with that of other tea-growing
districts. This is given in Or. Shep-
ards report and shows that the precip-
itation during the tea-growing season
at that point Is only about one-haf to
one-quarter Of that Of the tea-groWing
districts Of India and China. summer
VILE ID within twenty miles OF Charles
ton. s. G. The rainfall at Charleston
from May to September is only S1-3
inches, while the rainfall OF the tea
growing districts OF India and China
for the same period varies from so to
IA inches. Through the cooperation
OF Dr.. Shepard and Elwood Mead, the
irrigation expert OF the Office Of Ex-
pertinent Stations, plans have been
made for the construction OF q storage
reservoir sufficient to hold water
enough for seasons irrigation pf one
OF the tea gardens. This reservoir will
be filed from q well dug to a depth OF
twenty feet and supplied by the under
flow OF a neighboring stream. The
tea garden to be irrigated Is planted
in rows five feet apart. These rows
have a fall Of four inches in one hun
dred feet, which gives ample fall for
distributing water and for underdrain-
age should this prove necessary. In
order to test the relative merits of
surface and sub-irrigation, about one-
halt 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 lateraily
two and one-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 the plants. In order
to4Etest the difference between the
growth and productiveness OF the ir-
rigated and non-irrigated portions a
small part OF this garden will be left
unwatered. III
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 de-
voted to the production Of indigo and
was irrigated. The production OF this
crop finally became Improbable and
was abandoned, but the remains OF the
bitches can yet be seen. 5s
It will probably require several years
tofully determine the extent to which
this form Of agriculture can be ex-
Tended In the south. Even without the
aid Of irrigation tea has been grown
with profit, but If, 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 addi-
ton to its capacity to be entirely self
sustaining.
Horses In the North Central Division.
The census report of domestic ami
mails, just published, credits Illinois
with 238,65o horses, of which 2S3, S07
are animals two years old and over.
OF the remainder 2.237 are colts Of one
year and under two years. 1t is In
credible that the supply of colts under
one year is only zoos, but it serves to
emphasize the predictions OF the
Farmers Review relative to a horse
famine one Of these days. Indiana has