The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-09-17

a peculiar reason why this work should
be done by the government. The water
which ruins a mans farm does not, as a
rule, come from his own wasteful use,
but from some canal over which he has
no control or from lands lying higher
than his own. so that he is in a meas
ure helpless to prevent the injury. No
Improvement in his own practice can
ward off the damage. For this reason
this work belong especially to the pub
lie. Just as does the enforcement of
quarantine regulations
These returns were from expert
mental plats and from market gardens.
In almost every case the increased
yields for a single year were enough to
pay the entire cost of the plant neces-
sary to furnish water and the Operat-
ing expenses. leaving the increased
yields of future years above operating
| expenses as profit. Not every year
would show equally good returns, as in
some years the rainfall is sufficient to
produce good crops, but our agents
estimate that in every year the yield of
some important crop will be greatly
increased by the application of water,
and in many years all crepS will be i'm
proved. New Jersey is typical of
large area along the Atlantic coast, and
the question of the profjtableness of
irrigation there is considered settled.
We have therefore gone on to expert
ment with different methods of distrib-
uting and using water to find out how
TO produce the best results under the
varying conditions of soil and crops.
Wisconsin has been chosen as typi-
cal of the middle west and we have
carried on cooperative experiments at
the agricultural experiment station of
that state to determine the value of. ir-
rigation in raising general farm crops
These experiments have covered
number of years. The average net
profit after deducting all expenses of
operation, including interest on the cost
of irrigation works and the deprecia-
ton, DF he .@I- f~.,- hax-
per acre; corn, $11 per acre; and po-
tatoes, $73 per acre. What has been
done at Madison can be duplicated any
where in the middle west. and tire pos
sibilities of increasing the products of
our farming acres in this way are al
most unlimited.
I'VE are carrying on another series of
experiments in Wisconsin which may
prove of great value to the sandy areas
around the Great Lakes although this
has not yet been demonstrated. These
lands retain so little moisture that all
attempts to farm them have failed. The
experiments have included the use of
both manure and water. Manure alone
proved of little use as there was not
water enough to make the plant food
available. Water alone produced good
results, but the application of both gave
the best results. The cost of irrigation
on the experimental farm was 500 per
| acre, and the net gain from irrigation
in 1901 was: Potatoes. $50 per acre; corn,
81 per acre; watermelons, S5S per acre;
mushmelons, $45 per acre. From these
experiments it seems that with special
crops irrigation of these sandy lands is
profitable but with corn the increase
in yield is not enough to justify the eX-
pense of securing a water supply. These
experiments are being continued as they
have not covered along enough period
nor a wide enough range of crops to
justify any conclusions as to the posi-
bility of retaining large areas of the
barren sandy lands which have been
cleared of timber in Minnesota, Wiscon-
sin and Michigan But the results so
far secured seem to point to irrigation
as a possible means of retaining these
lands.
The great drouth of 1901 led to the
beginning of experiments in irrigation
in Missouri by the agricultural depart
ment. The experiments were begun too
late in the summer of 1901 to affect the
crops of that year. but the crops irr1-
gated in the late summer of 1901
showed the result of the use of water
most noticeable results were in straw
berries Several varieties were irrigat-
ed late in 1901 so that the plants made
a large growth in the fall of that year.
The spring of 1902 was so wet that irri-
CATION was unnecessary, but the plants
irrigated the year before gave yields
varying from ISL per cent. to S74 per
cent. above the yields of plants of the
I
ed. the value of the increased yield of
some varieties being as high as $40 per
/ acre. Asparagus treated in the same
way gave increased yield of % per cent.
worth $685. per acre The irrigation
of nursery stock enabled nJlrserymen
to nut large healthy trees on the mar
ket in one year, instead of carrying
( them two years. These experiments in
Missouri have clearly demonstrated the
value of irrigation as an insurance
against drouth in the humid parts of
our country
1T is estimated that about 10000
acres of land at present under irriga-
/ ton in the western United States are
/ lying idle solely because they contain
/ too much alkali to permit paying crops
/ being produced. Whenever practical
! BILE, ii is advisable to reclaim land of
this character by washing and drain
age Nevertheless. in much of this land
and that which may be irrigated in the
future. the establishment of a proper
drainage system could not be profit
ably undertaken under existing con-
else be done with such land p
In conclusion. Mr.. Wilson said: ITO
answer this query the bureau Of plant
industry is endeavoring to secure
crops suitable for cultivation in alkali
soils. Other parts of the world. where
tire allxali problem is serious one. are
being explored with a view to inperr-
ing such of their useful plants as en-
dure a large amount of these harmful
salts As a result seed of resistent
alfalfa has been obtained from Algeria
and Turkestan, cotton from Egypt for
trial in the warmer parts of the south