Value Of Irrigation

Watei' is an indispensable fertilizer. Growing plants contain from seventy to ninety-flve per ceut. of it, and to that extent it is an actual nutrimeut. Not only is water an important plantfood itself , but it is also the solvent of nearly all ather plant-foods. The supply of f ertilizers in the soil may be allsuflicient, and yet from the want of a sufficient supply of water to render them soluble, thegrowing erop rnay fail to make a satisfactory return. Scarcely a season passes during which some one or other of the important crops ia not more or less dainaged by drought. Few crops, any year, are as abundant as they would be were there a supply of water which could readily ae U3ed at any time for irrigating purposes. Land which, with the ordiuar supply of water is nearly barren, when supplied regularly with plenty of water will become quite productive. The aiaount of water required for the growth of plants is surprisingly large. Caref ully-conducted experimenta rnade by J. B. Lawes, of England, showed that, in wheat-raising, for every pound of dry matter produced, 200 pounds of water were evaporated by the plants, and that for every pound of mineral matter assimilated, 2,000 pounds of water passed through the plants. Leguminous plants, like beans aml p.invpv. rpouire even a ant supply of water tlian wlieat. So great is their demand for water ihat Mr. Lawes declares that the usual supply of rain-water is totally inadequate. Iiiteresting experiments respecting the amount of water required by growing plants have been made at the Montsouris Agricultnral Obseryatory, in France. In one series of nine experimenta it was found that for each pound of grain produced, from 727 to 2,698 poundsof water were evaporated by the plants. Taking the minimum quautity of water evaporated for each pound of grain produced, there would be required, for a erop of thiity bushels of grain per acre, a supply of water, for evoporation through the plants alone, suflicient to cover the field to the depth of four inches. In another series of experiment, at the same place, the averages of the amount of water required for each pound of graiu produced, indicated that a erop of wheat yielding forty busüeis per acre wouiu require an arnount of water suflïcient to cover the field to the depth of seveiiteen inches. The;e experimenta, and cal'uilaüons based thereon, serve to indícate what au abundant supply of water is needed for the growth of a erop of grain. Few other farm crops require any less waler tban grain. It should be borne in mind, however, that the amount of water required for evaporation through theplants is only a part of the whole needed for tlie growth of the erop. The loss of water by evaporation f rom the surface of the soil is great, and tuis f act f ully enf orces the importance of a full supply of water. Irrigation is especially advantageous to the grass erop. Trof. Johnson, in the "ïransactious of the Highland A ,'iicultural Society of Scotland," relates an experiment in irrigation with water which contained very little mineral or vegetable matter. The results were, that with an outlay of $150 ( n five acres of poor landan average of five and a half tons oL hay por acre were obtaineu. In another instance, whieh cccurred in Englantl, forty acres were irrigated "so as to temper the soil" when dry woather carne on, supplying moisture regularly and in sufficient quantity to prevent the surf ace írom crusting. ïwo crops of hay, estimated at üve tons per acre, were taken from the land, and afterwards, in August, one hundred and twenty llighland bullocks, averaging three to the acre, were turned in to graze. They remained there until November, receiving no food except the irrigated grasse?, and were kept in flrst-rate eondition. In contrast with the resul s obtained upon these forty acres of irrigated land, 430 acres of unirrigatedland uear by becanieso witlitred and bare from tho snminer's drought as to alïord scaieely any looü ior cattle or sueep. Near the bank of Eak, in Scotland, "there was a copious, clear spring of water, that liad for ages run down a hollow on the bank of the river; the rill froni it was earvied ulong the tap of a grassy bank, and was adlowed to run on one spot and then on anotlier al témate] y . The water was let o:i in autuinn and continued througli the winter and spring, and the result, the Brst jear, was a strong erop of grasf," which was sufficient to make nearly live tons of hay per acre. Not mueh attention has been ([ven to irrigation, by farmers in the United States. In sonie paris of the Par West, where irrigation is aneeessily in orderto obtain any crops, ie has been adopted, to some extent, with good results. In the Eastern States very few farmers have made any trial of the method. The few who have experimenteel in this direction have generally obtained favorable results. A farmer, in blaine, turned the water froni a spring upon a field that yiolded only half a ton of hay per acre, and thereby increased the yield threefold. In Marlboro, Mass.. the waters of a brook whvch flowed througli a town of 8,000 inhabitants, and served in part as a sewer, was used for irrigating a thirty-acre field. The water was distributed by means of numerous ditches, and, during several years past, an annual yield of about three tons of hay per acre has úeen obtainod. No other fertilizers have been used, and the land increases in productiveness yearly. The water is kept running on some portion of the tieldnearly all the season, its course being frequently changed by the building or removing of small dams. Nearly every farm has its brook or spring, whieh can be used for irrigating purposes. The owner can at small expense, turn the water upon one of bis grass flelds, and supply the water needed for an abundant erop of grass. Wherever the water ftow3, there the grass will grow more rank and talier than that on the rest of the field, affording conclusive evidence of its fertilizing value. The wise farmer will avail himseli of all the advantages of his situation, and allow the feïtilizlng waters of no brook or spring upon his farm to run to waste. De. Lyman AmtoTT, of New York, says in a communi catión to the Lon don Christian World: While the doctrine of eternal .punishment is still generally believcd andoccaeionally taught in New England pulpit the only religious teacher there of any prominence, so far as I know, who believeB in a literal torment of üre and brimstone, is Pr. Bartlett, of DartmoutU Colleste." The state pioneere, at their meeting in L'insing, liad many interesting papers : one on the late Wm. A. Burt ; one from Senator Ferry, on the "Kise and Progreas of Michigan" ; and one from B. O. Williams on "The schools of Detroit from 1816 to 1819." The oflicers for the next year are C. I. Walker, president; corresponding secretary George A. Greene; recordiug secretary Harriet A . Tenny.