The Southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1895-1909, 1902-07-01
being the more common.

end or 1urrOW SeCtiou' dii o'hNi
things the same, will be in pro-
portion to the length of the sec
ton; consequently the length OF
time that the water must how
over the end Of the section OF
furrow abutting the feeding lat.
eral is decided by the length OF
time that the water requires to
reach the farther end of the fur
row. The other factors also con-
trolling the length of time re-
CURED to reach the whole length
of the furrow are the volume OF
the stream, slope of the ground
and porousness of thesoll. When
the soil is loose, as itisln burrows
newly made, the water travels
slowly, it being absorbed by the
soil at the end of the furrow next
to the inlet. The continued flow
finally saturates the soil. and the
water gradually travels along
the furrow until it reaches the
farther end, where, after a short
time, it is shut Oft and turned in
the next furrow. AS the soil in
the furrow becomes more solid
and close with time the water
travels more quickly, and the
distribution tends to become
more even, but in such a length
of burrows the distribution never
becomes uniform. The econom-
ic results of this uneven dlstribu-
ton are immediate andas follows:
The effect of an excess of water
ut the end of the furrow next to
the inlet upon the cane is first a
retard to the termination of the
seed by largely excluding the air
from the soil, without which in
cipient growth cannot proceed.
The effect upon the cane contin-
ues and has been observed even
up to maturity. The action up
on the soil is at first seen in the
washing out of the soluble con-
stituents upon which the crop
depends for it's nutrition. If the
action is continued in low lands
where there is imperfect drain
age, the mechanical estote of the
subsoil is seriously effected be.
coming close and more imper
vious, which is due not only to
the water but also tothe carrying
down of soluble alkaline salts.
While these effects are taking
place at the end of the furrow,
which receives the great excess
of water, the Is feet at the other
end is net receiving moisture
enough for the the requirements
of the cane; the cane there is suf-
fering for water, and the Is feet
next to the inlet is suifering from
an access of water. The middle
Is feet is the only portion which
is receiving an average of the
quantity that is being applied.
Were the sections of burrows
only Is feet long, with laterals
feeding the burrows on each side,
the distribution of the water
would be relatively even over the
whole ground.
At the Hawaiian Experiment
Station the land isrelatively level.
The burrows are parallel and are
five feet apart. They are all de-
vided into sections 10 feet in
length, for irrigation. At the
first irrigation and afterwards,
until the cane becomes too large
for their use, the sections are de-
vided by iron gates made to fit
and block the burrows. Later,
permanent divisions of earth are
made. Each section of 10 feet
receives by actual measure ment,
its quota of water, the number
of gallons applied meaning either
half an inch, inch, or whatever
may be determined upon. Bv
this system the ground receives
uniformly the same depth of va
ter.
Frequency and Volume of Ap-
plication. The volume of water
to be aDDlied and the freuronv