Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1904-11-05
IRRIGATION PROBLEMS
CHIEF LINE OF WORl

aA" WV HA"afNN NaA IN|NIINNIN $40
tou ia making che study Of lfrgatlo
problems lts chief line OF work. an
among other problems % studying ga
most economical amount of water ne,
essafy for the production OF crops
There are three directions in which
even an approximation CD the leas
amount of water necessary fus pr
ducng a full crop Wuuld prove yer,
valuable.
The nrat Is in pamp.ns Here. oacl
inch of water added aloyo what Ia ah
aolutoly necessary. increases material
ly che cost Of PRODUCING the crpp
Whether mo crop ls produced az
profit or loss may depend OF
the use % "a few inches of water more
than D. absolutely necessary.
The second So in estimating the slid
oi storage reservoir for che luiga.
ton of a given area. or the erred
which can be- irrigated from a reser.
yoir of given size lu either case
each acrefOot Of water can only irri
gate a certain area of land. and lf d
third more water than necessary D.
used. then the aroa which can be- irri
gated from the reservoir will be- del
creased ouethird
The third IS 10 enabling us 90 econ
OmiEo To- the use OF the water OF oud
present canal aystems. There N
scarcely an Irrigation system On NoW
Mexico. OF anywhere else. where .iers
is not more land that can be- eaally
reached. than there % water for. under
the present methods Of irrigation li
The amount uf water used could be-
materially decreased without docreas
Ing the crop yield. d would then bc.
possible Co Increase lho acreage under
cultivation Isl that locality
lu many places. iu other states. thc
poople have found that they can dc
with yer- mich less water than they
formerly thought vas possible. and.
such a Trims may some day happen in.
Now Mexico.
N0t only would "a more economical
use of water permit che enlargement
of the cultivated area. but IL would
save the man who has located on low
land from being damaged hy The
secpago from the excess of water used.
hy his ncirhbors above Much of the
all,ali in che irrigated districts is due.
Co the waste OF water. either from ov-
or irrigation Or from loaky bitches.
The Experiment station is expert
montInr un wheat and alfalfa This
year. one Of the principal obiocts in
the wheat experiments was 90 End out
wheiher different amounts of waier
applied aftor the wheat began to head
bad any marked eject on the YEA.
and 10 So. which amount was mol II
economical
one SET Of SIX plats was irrigt'4s'
once week auer heading. receive q
thirynyo acre-inchos OF water ~
acre ln seven irrimtions. and gave t,n
average yield OF eighteen bushels per
acre another Wns irrigated once in
two weeks afios heading. received
twenty nIno acrc.inchos per ac.o Ina
| Eve ruratlons. and yielded 1865 BUSH
rls per acre. % third was irrigated
once In three wosks "fter headlug re-
colvod twenty-five acreinchcs per
acre IN four irr.gatIons. and yielded
1851 bushels per acre. and a fourth
SET. consisting Of two plats. received
eighteen acrc-lnches per acre in
three irriratlous. nnd yielded lo6
bushels per acre. an Of the plats ro.
celycd an irrigation AZ sowing. am
other in April and the third the mid
dlu OF May when The wheat began %
head
From these results we would infer
hat eighteen acre.inchos was not
enough: and as the ten acreiuchcs
over twenty-five. only gave three
bushels of wheat more q would seem
that twenty-five acre.luches was the
most economical amount used
u ls only hy repeating such export
mcnts year after year that We will
finally learn just what amount 20 use.
After heading the sol Of plais irri-
gated once a week received usually
four acfoinchea of water each week;
but thcy gradually lost Ia the moist
urc content Of the first six feet of
soil until the wheat was cut
Practically none of the thirty-hve
acro.lnchos applied penetrated below
the hfth foot
Tine detailed results OF THESE expert
ments win aoon be published as a sta
tiOn bulletin,
The results Of the experiments with
alfalfa viii form the subject Of later
press bulictin. }. ID. TiNst.HY,
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