The Ordway new era., 1911-03-03
TIME OF IRRIGATION
Character of Soil and SubsolI
Has Much Influence.
Sufficient Water Should Be Applied 10
Saturate Land to Depth OF Four
to Six Feet-irrisat!on Should
Be Followed by Harrow.

&c foIO"eo
Cry WALTER W. MI.ACGIIIIN. lrri-
CATION Engineer Department OF Asri-
rultureD.
The character OF the soil and sub
soil has a large influence upon the
time OF irrigatins A heavy soil with
tight subsoil will receive large quanti'
ties of moisture and hold 1t for long
time. making 1t possible to irrisa'e
heavily and at long Intervals. II such
soil is underlaid with gravel the
water will drain out and more ire'
quent irrigation Will be necessary.
The same principle holds with lighter
soils. The lighter the soils and the
more open the subsoils the more ire
Quently 1t will be necessary to irri'
gate. The lighter soils have less va
ter capacity, SO that the irrigations
should be light and frequent.
The ideal condition seems to be to
have sufficient moisture in the soil at
the time OF seeding to germinate the
seed and keep the plants growing un-
Ill they are large enough to shade the
ground when the crop Is irrigated. II
Is irrigated again when the grain Is In
the boot-that Is. when the heads are
Just beginning 10 show-and some
times again when the heads are fll-
ing.
In localities having Il small water
precipitation or where the evapora-
tion Is excessive during the winter
months. as Is the case along part OF
the Pacific coast. in New Mexico. Ari.
zona, and a few other localities. the
utility OF irrigation during the non
growing season has been demonstrate
ed Where the water supply Is defci-
ent, irrigation at a time when the wa
ter can be obtained. either In the win
ter or the spring before planting. Is
OF service to store moisture In the soil
for the plants use later In the sea-
son. Winter irrigation Is not well un-
derstood or its benefits realized as
would be the case were the pactice
more extensive. Irrigation prior to
planting Is OF great service In locali-
ties with limited water supply
where such supply is required by 9TH
err and more profitable crops later In
the season.
In winter irrigation the land is irri-
freezing weather. the first irrigation
two weeks to month prior to the
last one. which should occur just be-
for heavy frost. The better method
of winter irrigating Is by the furrow
method. unless the land can be har-
rowed after the last irrigation as n
mmlched surface during the winter Is
desired. that the winter precipitation
may enter the soil readily. Sufficient
water should he applied to saturate
the soil to a depth of four to six feet.
provided the soil Is rather deep and
not underlaid near the surface with
porous material such as sand and
gravel Some difficulty is experienced
upon the heavy lands In irrigating in
the spring prior to planting. as the
soil dries out very slowly and the
grain cannot be planted until late.
Better results are obtained In such
cases by watering just after the crop
has been planted. The furrow meth,
cd is to be preferred upon medium to
heavy soils II irrigation Is required
at any time before the plants have al,
tanned sufficient growth to shade tn"
ground. In case water is applied in
the spring before planting. the land
should he plOwed, narrowed. furroweh
and irrigated. The irrigation should
be followed as soon as possible 10y
the disk harrow and the float. then by
seeding. If the land has been pluw
ed the previous fall. the disk hnrroM
should take the place of tn" plnw.
Furrowing should follow planting tor
the purpose Of subsequent irrigatlons.
If the land Is not to be irrigated un-
til after the grain is planted. tn" land
should be plowed: If not plowcd tn"
fall previous. double disked harrow
ed. floated. planted, and furrow"d. III
the order named. In case the ground
is cloddy. the roller may be used eth
er before or after the disk
Late summer or early fall irrigation
is proving very satisfactory tor de
stroying weeds upon foul land.
Use an Incubator.