The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1914-02-25
Mater Its Measurements Win
w OLCI Relation TO Field CROPS


| pllshod only by a careful study Of IT.
rigntion methods az TO vine and how
to apply water. Irrigation is but the
experimenting OF the natural rainfall
and should be considered "a such In
the use Of water.
The economical use OF water and
the water requirements OF crops can
not be carefully studied unless the
water 10 measured by some standard
device designed for that purpose. The
unit Of measurement will determine
the kind of device TO be used. The
cubic foot per second as a measure
OF h flow OF water and the acre foot
AS "A measure of volumo are the two
units now accepted as the best and
most easily understood. An acre foot
Ia the o OF water which will
cover an acre Of land ono foot deep.
ono cubic foot OF water per second
flowing for t%wenty-four hours will
amount to nearly two acre feet.
Careful experiments in various OF
the western states have been conduct
cd with "A view to determining the
amount OF water required and also
the time Of application. In Utah IL
was found that with wheat. oats and
corn the best total yields were OBJ
tanned when the soil was kept approx
imately equally moist throughout the
season, ana that with a very small
supply two irrigatiOns are better thar
one. IL was also found that these
crops needed n fair irrigation at the
time when the seed was In the pro-
cess Of formation as there was danger
Of he seed shriyeling II an insufh-
cicnt dinount OF water was applied.
The more literally water is applied
al this time. without diminishing loo
rapidly thereafter. the larger yield
of grain. which is usually obtained
az the expense of w."-(Utah Bull
iCtln liSD.
In many sections II is the practice
90 flood water in borders which are
too long. The result Is a loss In time
required to irrigate and wasteful use
of water. Bearing out this statement.
reference is here made to some ex-
periments mad by Don ii. Bark. ir-
rigation engineer. on some clover land
near Iligby. Idaho. He TOOK one bor-
der. In a typical field, which was fe.5
ieot wide and 1859 feet long. This is
an extreme case but IL brings out the
point admirably. This border was di-
vided into seven equal divisions. A
stream of 2.3I cubic feet per second
was maintained and IL took one hour
and twenty-five minutes 10 geach the
end OF the first division OF O.26O5
acre loot CT water or 0.3S36 acre OF
land. n a depth OF O.e7 foot over the
first division. This would be a good
irrigation II the water had been
stopped here ana conveyed around TO
the next border without running
through the one Just irrigated. How
ever. as the water flowed over each
succeeding division, the length OF time
increased until at the last division IL
took seven hours 20 complete the ir.
rigatiOn. IL took 20 hoars and AZ
minutes TO irrigate the entire border.
During that time 4,bf37 acre feet OF
water was applied or a depth OF lGS
feet 81 uniformly spread over the en-
tire area. II the several divisions had
been irrigated individually IL would
have taken . hours and "a minutes
with q uniform depth Of 0667 foot
and a saving OF 40 per cent OF the
water.
u is juss as important 60 measure
water rs IL A. 10 cultivate the land
The problem is not only one OF o
omy In the use of water bur 81
Increasing the revenue from the farm.
The conditions which affect the duty
~ water are; Variations in soil and
climate; method OF applications
amount Of water used; preparation of
land and the need Of intensive farm
ing II has ever been true that where
water Ia plentiful the duty Of water
is low and where water is scarce the
duty OF water IA high.
II may be som years before the
New Mexico farmer is made 20 realize
the Importance OF the measurement
81 water. II Ia certain. however, that
the s0oner we begin a. measure water
the sooner viii the returns be In
creased and the quality OF crops iin-
proved. Too much water will pros
ducr a smaller crop iuEt as quickly
aud with much more harmful results
30 the soil a. viii too little water.
The point then Il not 20 use all the
water can get on his crops but 90
measure the water used aud make u
serve ne large an AREA as possible
land produce the largest returns.