New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1910-12-24
IRRIGATION.

general interest 70 the Cou'h dH'
Especially to those portions II
which rice is raised. The posS'h'l
litics of irrigation in humid sec
loss are also briefly referred to
Portions Of local interest follow
During the past year the Office
,of Experiment Stations, while
maintaining most of the old line'
lof work in It's irrigation lnvcsti
cations. has endeavorcd to modify
its plans so as TO meet the demands
for information on the new ISSUES
which are constantly arising. Fer
sona advice supplemented ~
partial bulletins, has done much
Ito prevent mistakes and to safe
guard the settler from either par
ial or total failure.
SO widespread an interest has
| IF late been created IN the East
regarding irrigation IN the West
| that the Department has been
| flooded with requests for lnior-
nation as TO the conditions and
possibilities of different districts.
the series Of bulletins on lrrlga-
| ton prepared BY this Department
in cooperation with western state
engineers and others has done
much to furnish the information
desired. OF this series. ten bullc-
tins have already been published
and four more are being prcpred
When complete, thee irrigation
conditions as regards The climate.
soil. water supply, extent of land.
crops. etc. of each State and
Territory in the West will be ac-
curateIy described.
in former days water for irri-
cation purposes was both plentl-
full and cheap and IN attempting
TO use it much was wasted. I'm
many parts Of the West the old
wasteful methods still prevail. al
though the value of water has in
creased many fold.
In many sections of Louisiana,
Arkansas, and Mississippi the raw
ages of the boil weevil have made
the growing Of cotton unprofit-
able and the producers are sub
other crops. Expert
ments with the growing Of rice
have proved that it can be grown
there profitably. In consequence
large areas of cotton land have
been planted to rice during the
past season and costly failures are
luite certain to result unless me
5hods are followed. These far
ners as a rule know but little |
'bout pumping plants, the build
ng of levees for rice irrigation.
he quantity of water to apply |
md the proper time of applica-
ion. It has therefore been found
necessary to detail maG> to this
ieid to devote his entirSfime TO
study of rice irrigation and to
york out if possible by expert
nents. better and cheaper methods
han those now in vogue. "A Far
lers' Bulletin on the irrigation
{ rice for the benefit of begin-
ers will soon be published.
irrigation in the Humid Region.
The widespread drought of The
'ast summer throughout most of
he humid region has greai!p in
reased the interest in the irriga-
ion of gardens truck farms. and
richards, and the demands On the +:
ne agent we have been able to L
etail to this work have been far 1
reater, than he could meet. The l
dvantage of irrigation as an in 4
france against the long dry Ia
Dells for. some of the common '
'ops has bee brought out in a
rik,ng manner on several farms {
here experiments were conduct /
this summer As result Of Q
lding both moisture and fcr,i- t
ger to the soil on experimental =
ats in Iowa by irrigating with @
wage, the yield of beets was IN d
eased one and one-half times. i
at of timonthy was doubled. a
lille the yield of bluegrass was r
n times as great as on the non G
rigated plats. If
At Neenah. Wis. it was found ID
at irrigation prolonged the Il
airing season. of strawber lias n
n days and increased the yield
per cent On the same field
'igated carrots yielded so per II
mt and irrigated onions $50 per G.
mt more than the non-irrigated 81
ops. a
The utilization of a flowing b
III al Albany. Ga. in irrigating II
IN the past season quadrupled u
e yield. and as the result of an y
pertinent conducted by this De. II
rtment wells are now being Il
ak in this district for the irri- II
lion of corn, cotton. and leg 4
les in order to insure against b
to introduce scientific m
alton, and to increase the prof m
from small farms. al
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