Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-07-20
ARTIFICIAL RAIN
INSTALLED On
ATLANTA FARM
Will thinner, c. S. Witham and
LOring Brown Protect Crops
With Pipe System.

These dry nights, when my crops
are burning up, 1 can smell that artl-
fetal rain a mile off" said a farmer
in the suburbs of Atlanta.
The artificial rain" Of which he
spoke is produced on three fancy"
farms within a short distance Of Five
Points, and, according to the unanl-
nous verdict of VIII thinner. c. s.
Witham and Loring Brown, who own
overhead irrigation" plants. it
means salvation in dry years.
Stories are told Of the wonderful
crops these farmers grow-two yields
of Irish potatoes a year, for instance,
from 200 to 800 bushels an acre-slx
cuttings of alfalfa, crops Of beans
when the market is bare and beans
are worth 81 a bushel.
Yet the system is simple enough.
Pipes Supply Rain.
On posts eight feet high rest pipes
about two inches in diameter. These
pipes run the whole length of the
fields, and the lines of pipe are TWEEN
" feet apart. About two feet apart
in the pipes are tiny holes. A gaso-
line engine, q pump which it oper-
ates, an abundant supply Of water.
and the thing is done.
Six hours each evening, when there
is no rain, the pump is run and fine
streams of water squirt from the holes
in the pipes. At high pressure, these
streams are thrown almost from one
line of pipe to the next. Handles ut
convenient intervals make 1t posi-
BILE to turn the pipes so that the
streams are DETECTED in any direction
and the ground thoroughly soaked
with the spray.
This system excels ditch irrigation
for Georgia soil for the reason that
Georgia clay does not soak up water
from a ditch in sufficient quantities.
Besides, the soil cakes when water is
applied in this way. Artificial rain"
however, coming down like a mist.
permeates the whole soil and brings
results.
OF course, an overhead pipe system
is expensive. The cost is estimated
at $3.50 per acre. This might be re-
duced somewhat If the farmer per-
formed all the labor himself or II
might easily cost more If conditions
We're not entirely favorable. The in
creased yield, however, more than
overbalances this initial outlay.
Loring Brown tells of getting IN
81, 100 crop of Irish potatoes FROM
an acre, under his pipe system. In
reality. there were two crops, a spring
planting and a fall planting, and the
potatoes brought a high price be-
cause they were sold for seed.
Fail to Realize Work.
81 have only one objection to Sec
ing Belmont farm described In the
newspapers, said Mr.. Brown, as he
sat in a swing on his front gallery
and sorted a thick packet of letters.
! MY objection is that people read Of
| big yields and good profits, then are
anxious to try the same methods.
They want to spend a lot Of money 20
emulate Belmont, and fail to take ac-
count of the hard work that must go
with It,
"a farmer, whether he has a fancy
farm or one of the old fashioned kinG.
must work eighteen hours a day He
must be on the job S65 days a year.
That is what many people forget.
Five years ago, drOuth killed the
entire crop of potatoes on Belmont.
Mr. Brown estimates that dry season
cost him $4,000 That winter he went
to Greeley, Colo, where overhead ir-
rigatlon is in use, to see II he couij
work out a solution Of the problem
cbIlt sui VI luSul ante against
drouth. The pipe lines were the an
swer Farms around Atlanta can not
grow the same yields produced around
Greeley but the difference in price
caused by being closer to good
market overcOmes the lesser yield,
and more.
thinner InstaIls System.
Mr. thinner, on his Kimballville
Farm, installed an identical system
though on a smaller scale, and since
he installed it, never has had occa-
sion to use It, BY some streak OF
fate, his farm has been blessed with
abundant rains.
But rain is freakish in choosing its
itinerary. In Atlanta itself and out
as far as the Chattahoochee River
rains have been sufficient this year.
But beyond the river there is serious
drouth. Crops are drying up Irri-
cation would have been the salvation
Of the farmers.
And as thew sit in front of their
homes at night, they can smell the
sweet odor Of refreshed fields at Bel
mont-"that darn artificial rain"