The Glenwood post., 1912-04-27
PREPARATION FOR IRRIGATION

Much has been said concerning tho
increased duty of water and it has
been said that the farmer has been
using much more w;ticr than is ncccs-
sary Most of the articlos concerning
the duty of water take up the proper
water, and show that in general way.
all effects the duty of water, and that
proper cultivation and application o.
water increase the duty of waite: from
100 to 200 per cent.
1t has often occurred to the writer
that this means very little TO the aver
age farmer, in that it does not tell him
what he does that he should not dc,
nor exactly what he might do to in
,reases the efficiency of his water supply.
The thing of first Importance to 5he
farmer is the preparation of the field
for irrigation. He should see to it that
the high spots are removed and That
the low spots are filed; in other words
he should see that the surface of his
field is smooth, and here is where the
ordinary farmer falls down. After
plowing and narrowing his field he per-
haps runs a drag over 1t, and tneh
seeds it, leaving ridges and holloWs,
holes and knols, consequently when he
irrigates the field it is necessary for
him to almost drown the low spots IN
order to wet the high ones. Water will
often be found from one to two feet
deep in places in the field. In driving
along the road one often sees embank.
ments piled up along low spots to keep
the water from flooding the road. 1t
when the powing and narrowing are
completed, the farmer would take
Fresno scraper and take down the
knobs and fill up the depressions with
dirt thus removed, in the course of
year or two he would change the field
from one hard to irrigate to one exceed
ingly easy for irrigation, and he would
find that practically one-half the
amount of water that he was compelled
to use on the first place is ample after
the field has been smoothed in this
way. More than this, he will find that
his crops yield better, for when an
excess of water is applied to the low
spots, the crop at these places in the
field is always injured, and it is not an
exaggeration to say that as much dam
age to the crop is done by forcing the
water up to the high places as would
be done by allowing these high spots
to suffer from lack of water.
A word of advice now, for the pres
ent season will soon be upon us. AS
you irrigate your fields this spring and
summer stake the high spots, driving
the stakes down so that they will not
interfere with harvesting and mark On
these stakes about how much too high
the land is at that point; then after
the crop is harvested in the fall see to
it that these high spots are removed,
and, after plowing, smooth the surface
with great care. When you stop to con-
Slupr UHdU tHls WoTh 10 d
improvement and need not be done
year after year, when once it has been
accomplished, and when you consider
that during every dry year the crops
are injured for lack of water, it seems
that every intelligent farmer would re-
| alize the fact that it will be a paying
proposition to thoroughly prepare his
| ground so that it will irrigate in the
best possible manner. See to it that
the plowed field is in perfect state
of tilth before the seed is planted, fol
this careful preparation is what will
| put the bushels into the bin in the fall
E.B. HOUSE,
Colorado Agricultural College.