The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1911-10-26

Few Farms Provided by Natqrs
With Exact Amount Needed.
Ii viii Be Found There u OFTEN Too
Mich Or Too Little--oniy Remedy
IS to Drain the Land~~Grav'ty
System Most Favored.


There IS hardly . farm anywhere
which is provided by nature With lus
tI,h exacs amounl Of water foi the
production Of lhs most satisfactory
crop. There IS just as often too mucn
as mere is too little water: moreover.
ii ,Hses Of the year VIXEN the preclpl'
jat!ur is at its maximum the water
bentF rises III the sui; until 4 actually
lro9ns out and destroys the yegels n
tion 4 IS supposed 10 feed the oa'y
way 10 cure this is TO drain me Mna
SO ~ 10 draw the Ieyel Of water 0p@N
to Joint where 4 Will do no dana gF
This Nork Is done either BY datches
or piping and care must be taken MOI
10 r1aw he water III too much. Dh.
lerent CROPS reauise o. course diner
ent amounts 81 wafer. but as q general
proposition the water should not pc
drawn any lower so the roots OF plants
are able to reacn il and draw u VI
for Their nourishment. says the lrrlgl'
lion Age Such draisage water should
be made nse Of again for land lyiFS
al lower elevation rs II has may
rich salts In solution necessary feF
plant food which II took UP write
starding in the soil; thus the walee
drained from one rarni may be used
to irrigate and enrich another farm
A gravity system Of drainage is nat.
rrally preferable as its operation cost
Il practically nothing Tsere are how
yer. localities where there is no na'-
uFaf drainage and In such case the sur
plus water must be pumped In such
case the cost OF pumping must be cor
sidered. ard ii ii can be worked 50 as
70 store tie water in a reservoir 50
as to use ii when the ground needs
Irrigation the pumps aie cong doubts
duty as their work in draining the
and is The first step toward irrigg-
ton as we'll.
II may be truly said that the arts Of
Irrigation and drainage are Just now
beginning to be eeve.oped end that
re next decade will see a treHen
aoas advance IN this dii tion.
The tire VIII come wher all the
land tflSt csn be irrigated by q gsavitv
r,an Will have been taken up and hen
sie reclamation Of further and will
necessarily scere end on the ability Of
raising water from the d cp This
will also include ach Iarals as are
now watered BY rsesi1n wells which
deliver water Under a head AT present.
bni The time vii come when the
ressure diminishes and hat water
viii also have TO be pumped The ques
ton Whether it win pay 10 iffigate
land by punlfing the necessary water
viii depend on good many circum-
stances which should be carefully con-
sideTed AS a general propositig L The
gayes nnleni should be :. st cons 3lted
regarding he geological formation,
quantity and quaIity of ground water
supply in the region under coasidera-
ton, next tie condition Of the soil
should be established, which is best
done by taking samples at different 10
cal.fies and depths and have them an
aired in tie various experiment sta
items, From this information an alN
pFcximate estimate Of the cost of
pumping can be made But the propo
sition is always one Of more or less
uncertainty, as no one can definitely
state whether sqbterranean water
supply is permanent, like an under
groufd river. or whether II is Just a
pocket For this reason the govern
ment should devora more work ana
money 10 the establishment Of hys
draulie lnsormatiol in the various
states. especially ia the arid and semi
arid regions