St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-11-26
'nhMER ANDPLANTER

Observation-Disclosures
IRRIGATION n The soura'
=. rA.. -, Wen c..n..~,
o.rsfal TAeusht :,
etAesa Farmers.
Inc subject Of irr,,at,.
. .'"',s importance to southern ss one fsr~ o.
ts ..t' everything becomes tnter ca,s g
mat .aa1 helps US to produce m rnss,e 80 :
, n.,sa J area and with less labor. a And
49, exactly what irrigation nro.
!, " sa Is the most essential e,en.n,
n :. successful farming, To mob e'emen ,
-.. n crops We must have nler w. =,
,s 49, and It the nronsr ~. "
1nroughouts most 81 Il. sa,... June
maj. au u, = usually amply suf,cient =
an.ss sDndant crops. But the distr !.
80 oa u this rainfall is yerv nnaon.,
49, very Uncertain. We usually nav
1ole water than We need dnr,n. ~ ~
Sr..s 49, season and less than We need
. ru.ane the summer season Bnt evan
-. - smsller quantity that falls dur
- sae summer would be much more
se'plnl It only the right QUANTITY sa,,
time, and always at Tho -,ah ~,
w ane; But such IS not usually the case
~ ave excessive rainfalls and then
~ seasons. with too much sunshine
1ol tne good Of the crop.
This state Of things renders y NO.
safy Tor the farmer to study how he
may relieve this situation by giving !.
soastant and uniform supply Of water
% his growing crops.
one way Of doing this is by deep
plowins, breaking through the hard
III INTO the porous earth below. and
mus making It possible for the excess
u winter water to sink into the earth
under the influence of gravity. and to
come back to the aid Of the crop by
ne influence Of capilarity during the
long hot summer days.
One strong reason in favor of this
method Is that it is within the reach
q every man, whether rich or DOOR.
tenant Or owner. But the greatest
eraWDack is found in the fact that we
Aavc 80 long abused our land by shall
low culture and working when wet and
surning up vegetable matter, that this
nethod OF rendering the soil fertile Is
slow. tedious and requires good deal
o. skill to insure certain results.
For very many reasons, q great
many farmers desire some plan that
viii furnish water in large quantities
at any time that may be necessary.
This artificial supplying OF water is
what we call irrigation. There are
three methods Of accomplishing this.
One 10 BY diverting the water from
Funning streams where fall is sumo
lent, BY means Of bitches, 50 O. to
carry the water around on the hill
sides where 1t can be turned upon Ill
the land that Ii below. OF course this
method does not help any OF the land
above the level Of the starting point.
Hence We md the second method, that
Ct raising the water by windmills or
forcepumps into large tanks from
which It may be distributed by gravity.
A third method, which is available
only In few localities, is to dam up
stream and force the water to spread
out BY soaking through the adjoining
land, where 1t comes into contact with
the roots of the crops.
A slight glance at the above will
chow that the first and last Of these
are applicable only to small areas. The
second, Or forcepump and windmill
(they are often c0mbined), is the one
susceptible OF the widest application.
In this method, the water may be
raised either, BY ram. OF by yetmill,
or by engine. Is the circumstas ees may
seem to justify.
These are the fundamental princi-
ples Of irrigation. The water must al
ways first get above the land that is
10 be vatered. But we understand our
correspondent To wish to know what
Is the best method Of distribution after
the water is obtained. We think that
experience has shown that 1t Is always
Ietter and cheaper to carry the water
along in drains, having very slight
fall and distribute IL to the crops by
,.ttinr itfr1m along between the rows
a plants. Pipes are needed to carry
the water to the tops Of the inciines'
INIT distribution BY underground pipes
= expensive and uncertain. s.
INV much water to be used on any
~,ven crop at any given time is
question that must be decided by Inc
MA 81 crop and the condition OF the
s -. and soil. Some kinds OF crops
~ ,.ree amounts Of water, while otn-
- =. ren,,ire very little help in this di-
1910. Some seasons require httie
..ter. while others, being notter anu
srver. require very mucn more. uoou
s.,dement must be exercised ~ each
,s-mer a. doing this work.
rrr,.ation is always more or less ex-
..na,ve. But il 1t is used with gooo
'..s1ment. it will be found very pront-
me me enormous crops Of almost any
~, s nav be raised by . constant ana
-. supply of water, giving Tue
Diants Just what they can use anu ,a ~
49,. 800. In market gardening ana truch-
-. - Il is found to pay very handsome s. e.
= m raising small fruits sncn Is
the size and quality are
NJ AW 80 tina time OF bearing