Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1912-01-25
DUTY AND MEASURE
MENT OF WATER
Continued from page A.


experiments have all been carried
out on comparatively large areas
and In practical way.
1t does not give any indication oil
how much water is necessary for
maximum crop production on any
soil to merely measure the amount
that some farmer applies for the
reason that the same or a larger
crop might have been produced with
either more or less water than that
which was really used, so we have
\ been trying to work out this feature
selecting large number of
BIS on typical farms in differ
y enf parts of Idaho and then divide
each tract into three different par s
and apply different amounts of wat
er TO each one. Water was meas
ured and varied in this manner on
60 different farms during 1910 and
on as many more during the past
season. Several factors in regard
to the use of water have been very
strongly emphasized, the principal
ones being that the amount of wat
err required depends upon: ID The
characters of the soil and sub-soil.
The texture of the soil as regards
porosity has more to do with the
amount of water used than any 9TH
er one thing and it has been found
that adobe soils may be irrigated
with total application of but 2 or
8 acre inches while in some in
stances from l to 2 acre feet are
required to spread over and thor
oughly irrigate an acre of very
gravelly soil. At least 2-3 of this
latter amount is almost invariably
wasted as it either passes into the
ground water or percolates beyond
the reach of the plant roots. If
coarse soil is underlaid with an i'm
pervious stratum, the amount Of
water necessary is materially cut
down, while if the impervious STRAIT
UNI is lacking. some irrigation sys
tenn must be used which will flood
the ground quickly before the wat
er has time to penetrate too deep
ly if high duty is to be secured.
(2) Climatic Conditions-The an
nual precipitation and its seasonal
! distribution, together. with the tenn
Aperature, humidity and wind move
,lnent, all have a very evident effect
upon the amount of water required. l
90 Diversification of Farm Crops.
Where a farm is all devoted to
one crop such as grain. hay or pc
tatoes, the greatest need for water
usually falls within a comparatively
short time, and there is but little
use for it during the rest of the
season, while by diversifying his
crops, the farmers need for water
will be more constant and he is bet
ter able to make good use of a con-
tinQous flow of the ditch through
out the season.
ca Use of Rotation-It is well
known to most irrigators that little
van NC incompetence ~
with small heads water, and a
much larger and better use is Sc
cured from the water where larger
heads can be used. Rotation systems
by means of which a farmer can
exchange water with his neighbors
and use larger heads for shorter pc
riods, are now being used with sue
cess in many localities and the saw
ing of water is very material.
(5) Preparation of the Land. =
Maximum crop production can not
be secured without uniform wet
ting of the sell and this is impos-
sible if the land is not properly pre-
pared and leveled for irrigation.
Rough, uneven land, it is plain 10
see, requires more water than
smooth land, for it has to be held
on the land long enough to soak
up the high spots. Careful prepare
ton of the land is an absolute ne
cessity if the best use is to be Sc
cured from the water.
(6) Kind of crop grown whether
cultivated or non-cultivated and
length of season that it needs wat
er have very direct bearing upon
the amount of water that will be re-
QuNed by the crop. Spring grains.
on account of their short season of
growth require considerably lss
water than alfalfa which grows
from early spring until late fan.
Winter grains, all other things be-
ing equal, require less irrigation
water than spring grains, because
of their ability to utilize more of
the moisture deposited in the soil
from winter precipitation. A crop
that can be cultivated will need con-
siderably less water than non-cu.-
tivated one because of the great saw
ing that can be made by the reiuc-