The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1910-12-29
TO STORE MOISTURE
Prime Factor in Production Of lr-
rigated Crops.
Farmer OF Future Must Consider
Proper Storage Of Rainfall and
Snowfall In Soil and Later
Water In Canal Above.

The natural precipitation In this
! arid country may be made prime
I factor In the production of irrigated
! crops and of course II was the
foundation OF farming without irrl.
cation. Irrigation should be sup
Elemental only TO tho natural pre-
cipitatlon and therefore the irrigation
farmer of the future must consider
first the proper storage OF the rain.
fall and snowfall In the soil and later
the water right in the canal above
his farm. The soil of the farm II put
in proper condition acts as storage
reservoir for the winter precipitation
says Field and Farm The results of
years OF experience show that in the
spring n large pcr cent of the winter
precipitation Is actually found In the
upper eight feet of soil.
In one case, as high as nlnety.nvc
eighty per cent OF the total winter
precipitation was accounted for IN the
upper eight feet. This proves conclu-
sively that the winter precipitation
may be stored in the soil In view of
the importance Of the winter precipi-
tation in crop production, the methods
OF conserving the snow and rainfall
becomes OF great Importance It is
generally conceded that in order to
permit the winter precipitation to en-
ter the soils easily and effectively the
plowing should be done in the fall
and left in the rough throughout the
winter To prevent loss of this Btor-
age moisture, when the warm sun
shine OF spring and summer appears,
the fall plowed soil should be hur-
rowed In early spring and by means
Of repeated harrowlngs dry earth
mulch should be kept on the surface.
In many places where the winter
precipitation is not great and the wa
ter in the stream goes to waste In
the fall much benefit may be gained
by fall or winter irrigation. II is pos
sible TO store by these methods large
quantities OF water to be used in the
succeeding season by the growing
crops. When this is done the amount
Of irrigation water that needs to be
hllllth Nht lbllbMllS NthbOu IL
terially lessened Great care Should
be taken however not to apply so
much water as to set up waterlogging
In the soil Fall and winter irrlga-
tlon is a coming practice in arid dis.
tricts but II must be done cautiously
It is especially safe on well-drained
lands
Our Colorado soils are able to mold
the rainfall OF from one and one.half
20 nearly two years, in the upper eight
feet. The best results in arid farm
Ing will probably come when the wa
ter capacity Is fully attained at seed
time to depth of at least eight feet
and perhaps deeper. This implies that
the total precipitation of two years
should be In the soil before planting
One years precipitation will then be
taken out by the crop and that of
another year will be kept in tho soil
as working capital with which to
enable the new moisture to move
downward rapidly and to enable tho
lower moisture to move upward with
ease to the plant roots. OF course
in n very dry season like the past
summer this theory may no. work
out in all places. for the rains come
in streaks across the country so that
certain sections go for months with.
ont drop OF moisture.