Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1909-07-30

1
age purposes.
Fourth-Slope and characteristic
of subsoil for under drainage,
Fifth-The percentage of mois-
ture the soil holds stored in its pres
ent condition.
Sixth-The water-holding capacity
or amount of water the soil contains
when in state of complete satura-
tion.
Seventh--The degree of fineness
or grain of the soil.
With these questions solved" Mr..
Mcintyre said, THE grower is ready
to irrigate with some degree of GER
tainty as to what the result will be;
without the facts the grower occupies
the position of the head of mercan
tile house without his books and
statements and invoices. To ascer-
tain these facts is not complex pro-
cess as you can see;
"First-The way to ascertain the
depth of the soil would be to bore
auger holes at short intervals over
your tract of land. Bore one foot in
depth at a time, pun the auger, save
the soil and put 1t in glass jar and
seal it up to prevent the moisture
from evaporating. Bore the second
and third foot, and on down to the
subsoil in like manner until you have
a sample of each foot of soil.
Second The relative position of
top and bottom soil you have ascer-
tanned by boring holes in the first in
stance,
"Third--If the surface slope is too
level to determine by the eye, employ
surveyor to run levels over the
ground and furnish you a map show
ing the elevations in one-foot con-
tours. or in squares of 100 feet This
will always be extremely useful to
anyone in the distribution of water
for irrigation.
Fourth-Knowing the depth of
your subsoil at all points and the
surface slope, the relative slope of
the two is apparent
"Fifth-To ascertain the percent
age of moisture the soil holds stored
in its present condition, take the
samples of soil you have in the sealed
glass jars from your borings. Weigh
each sample separately, noting the
part of the field from which it was
taken, then dry each sample perfect
ly and weigh again. The difference
is the amount of moisture in the soil
from which you ascertain the per
centage of moisture in each foot o
soil from the subsoD TO tho >op.
"Sixth-The water-holding capac
:. ity of the soil may be determined b,
taking a box one foot square and on
\ foot high with a fine screen for tn
\ bottom. The capacity'of the box will
II be one cubic foot Fill the box wit
\ soil, pour water on It with sprinkle
H until the water drips off at the bot
Il tom through the screen. AS soon a
II the dripping stops, weigh the box an
II contents. Then dry the earth an
II weigh again The difference betwee
II the two weights gives you tn
II amount of water the soil will hol
II in its water-holding capacity.
II THE soil is a sponge and you ca
III only fill the voids with water. Ha'
II ing learned all the conditions, yo
III then know how much water II wi
II require TO bring about certain pc
II "entage of moisture in the land yC
II wish to irrigate You know how
HI drains, whether It teaches down {
III runs off in the subsoil You can a
III certain at any time II your pc
III centage Of moisture is too low or L
H high, also how deep you can sto
H water in the soil, and know he
H much It takes 10 wet IT one 70
Ill down,
III Seventh When you begin TO &