Year: 1875




BY ALEXANDER HYDE, IN NEW YORK TIMES.


These dry summers are giving most con-
vincing proof that irrigation, or the artificial
watering Of land, is the great agricultural
demand Of the times. We are beginning to
learn that droughty is term applicable to
New England as well as Kansas. In the
latter country the remedy for drought is not
easy, unless the planting Of trees induces
greater rainfall, which VIC are inclined to
think will be the case, but in New England,
and in all billy countries abouuding with
rivers and rivulets, there is no excuse for
parched slopes on the foothills and brown
meadows in the valleys. We are confident
that farmers would turn their rivulets on
pastures and moving lots if they only knew
how full the waters are of rich organic and
earthly matter, and how easily the brooks can
in most cases be diverted from their natural
channels and made to put their fertilizing
materials where they would do most good
| As it now is, the rivers and rivulets are car
| rying TO the ocean immense amounts of sa-
line substances and organic matter thus i'm
poverishing the uplauds without benefting
the lowlands. In every freshet we see the
plowed hilsides being washed off and the
streams thick and iurbid with the richest and
finest soil of the uplands. In dry time the
same waste is going on, more slowly and al
most unnoticed, but surely the waters carry
ing to the sea the cream of the lands through
which they run. In the clear waters of the
Clyde, after the mechanically suspended mat
ters had been allowed to subsde, DR. Thom-
son found one and one-sixth part of solid SUBJ
stances, composed of common salt, muriate
of magnesia, sulphate of soda, carbonate of
lime and silica. Even in the purest spring
water various salts are found, and in all hard
water sulphate Of lime (gypsum) is constant
component.


In what the magical effects of irrigation
consist the doctors do not agree. The old
Greeks taught that water contained all the
elements of vegetable life, and, foolish as
this may seem, Van Holmont and his disci-
| Piles thought they had proved the truth of
this theory when they planted wllow.tree
weighing five pounds in an earthen pot con-
tanning 200 pounds of dried earth, and, after
furnishing it no other nourishment than rain
or distilled water, the tree weighed at the
end of five years 164 pounds, while the earth
had only diminished two ounces The fallacy
of the conclusion from this experiment is
easily seen when it is known that every pint
of rainwater contains in solution at least
one grain OF earthly matter. Besides, Van
Helmot's pot was sunk in the earth, and of
course much water, impregnated with the va.
rious saline substances necessary for the
growth of the willow, found its way through
| tha off fha tbap
perments have conclusively proved that pure
water will not support vegetable life so far
as to perfect seeds. The ash, or inorganic
part of the plant, must come from the soil,
though it may be, and doubtless is, furnished
to the vegetable solved in water. This wa
ter may look perfectly pure and still con.
tain much saline matter, as is manifest from
the springs at Saratoga aud other places
which are very clear but abound with min
eral substances. As general rule the wa
ter which is most impregnated with earthly
and organic matter in a state Of solution
will give the most vigorous growth to plants.
Equal quantities Of plants, fed by distilled
water furnished only three and nine-tenths
parts of ash, while those fed by rainwater
furnished seven and fve-tenths per cent of
|
ash.


We are inclined, therefore, to believe that
the main effects of irrigation are to be at.
tributed to the substances which the water
holds in solution. 1t does not follow that
the water must contain great, or even any
apparent, amount Of sediment. This sedi-
ment may be In such excess as to damag
for time the growth Of grass and other
crops, and irrigators will find that, for i'm
mediate effect the purest looking water is
often the most efficient. We once heard an
agricultural lecturer affirm that spring wa
ter was worthless for irrigation, as it con-
tanned no fertilizIng properties but we have
seen an astonishing growth Of grass produced
by spring water which looked as clear as
crystal. The grass started early in the
spring, grew all summer, and hardly stopped
in winter. Part of the effect doubtless was
attributable to the warmth of the spring wa.
ter, but this alone would not produce such
results. All spring water contains a greater
or less proportion of earthly matter in solu-
ton, and, besides, its presence in the soil is
necessary to act as solvent and as me.
dium Of conveying food to the mouths of
the rootlets. 1t is just as foolish to suppose
that plants can suck in and assimiate soda,
potash, and lime in a solid state as it would be
to undertake to feed an infant with, thin,
dry substances instead Of milk, in which they
are found diluted with water. Utilize the
water, therefore, whether it comes from the
barnyard and road, saturated with lertlizing
substances, Or from the sky, brook, or spring,
looking as pure as purity can be.