The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-01-11
PRACTICAL IRRIGATION.
Hay, T--'- and vegetables the Prin-
ciPaI Crops For Profit.

cipaI Crops For Profit.
Every farmer in every state in the
Union may turn irrigation to good ac-
count in a supplementary way unless
his land has been rescued from a bog
or is located in a region of almost
eternal rainfall. Good initiatOry work
in the school of conserving moisture
may be done during the warm days
in the latter part of winter and early
spring by turning the many rivulets
from melting snow upon the fields in
stead of allowing them to run to waste
in the public roads, becoming nui-
sance there and robbing the thirsty
soil.
Anxious inquiries are frequently
made as to how much land, for in
stance, of a quarter section would it
pay to irrigate. In answer l would
say that | do not believe that even
along our streams, where water is
abundant, it will pay to irrigate corn,
wheat and oats. I'm other words, my
reply would be, Just as much land
as you can devote to special crops. In
all the states of which | have any
knowledge where irrigation is prac-
ticed extensively the principal crops
are hay, fruit and vegetables.
1 firmly believe that if every owner
of $50 acres of land on the western
prairies could irrigate ten to fifteen
acres of that farm, devoting the great
er part to that Watered area to alfalfa
and the remainder to producing fruits,
shade and ornamental trees, vegeta-
bles, small fruits and berries, he would
add wonderfully to the beauty of the
prairie land. He would enhance the
value of his property and furnish an
abundance of substantial comforts for
his own table besides a surplus of.
products for a profitable market. He
would enjoy an almost perpetual hay
harvest from May to November
One acre we'll set to alfalfa, thor.
oughly irrigated once for each cutting
and carefully handled, will easily yield
two tons of good hay to the cutting
and can be cut three times during the
season. In fattening qualities it is sec
ond only to corn. Train loads of steers
from the far west that have never seen
an ear of corn, but were fattened well
on alfalfa hay, go each year to the
Omaha, Kansas City and Chicago mar
kets. Hogs also have been wintered on
alfalfa alone. The value of this crop is
now so well understood that the only
questions worth consideration with us
are: Can it be grown successfully?
What kind of soil does it require?
What filth is necessary? A broad and
sweeping answer to all such inquiries
is that success is, almost certain where
moisture is abundant. This applies also
to culture of apples, pears, plums,
cherries, currants, gooseberries and
strawberries.
The severity Of the climate is urged
as a reason in many localities why
grasses and especially fruits do not
thrive, but l do not for moment be-
lieve in such doctrine Compare the
average climate of the middle and
northwest with that of Minnesota,
Wisconsin and northern New York, all
famous apple producing regions, and
we are compelled by the comparison to
seek for some other cause of failure
1t is to be found in the long continued
drought during autumn months, lower
ing the vitality of the tree until it is
too weak to withstand the rigors of a
dry freeze, says a writer in Orange
Judd Farmer, whose views are here
given.