Show APPLYING WATER TO CROPS on sp supply ply andeits and its use should demand most thoughtful con elder atlon of best minds every day the question arises to the irrigator how am I 1 to know I 1 how much water to apply to m my crops there are ways by which this can be done and the time will come whan every irrigator will avail himself of these means water Is the most valuable thing in the arid region more valuable than gold or silver or any other of our resources or prod acts therefore the water supply and its use should demand the most thoughtful consideration of the best minds writes alex mcdonald McDo in the denver field and farm I 1 have found by actual experience that 16 inches ot of water including rainfall supplied dur ing the growing season voll produce 5 bushels of wheat and bushels of oats if properly distributed and conserved on served more afore water added to the soli soil did not increase its production but rath er or decreased it less water than this brodu produced c ed n nearly e arly as m much u ch a as s t tha h a dimou mount n t given div e n ll 11 hence neo the th a water wat e r that t h at Is added to the soil in excess of the needs needer of the plant Is wasting wealth ind it behooves the irrigator or the men who are using water to study this question well so that they may make water do its whole duty and thus increase the area of tillable land many who are not used to irrigating aften look upon it as a mysterious rork work I 1 invariably say to these men f they pose as farmers do you know when soil la Is in good cor condition 7 t f they answer yes then I 1 tell them to keep it that way they do not have to wait for rain they can supply ly water themselves and hence there s no excuse for not keeping it in good so far as moisture Is con next how are we to find out how m much uch water to apply in the soil I 1 have used the following plan take i ship auger with a shank tree three get long or more bore into the round before the crops are planted ake all of the soil and put it in a re to acle properly cover to prevent oss of moisture and take it to a drug feore and weigh it then take this lame iame soil and place it in an oven or anywhere iny tny where a temperature of about legreen may be obtained until thor hughly dried then weigh the soil ogain from this the water in the round can be computed then after irrigating do this again and it will mill ell you if you do it immediately aft r irrigating how much water the soil obtains when saturated and it if you rait pratt 24 hours and take a sample in ike manner it will tell approximately kow low much water the soil holds in a torm that plants can use in tact fact successful dry farmers in he northwest follow this plan every rear of course precipitation there omea omes in the late tall fall winter and barly spring and they find that if they lave equal to 12 to 15 inches of wa er available tor for plants that they can aunt on a crop it if not they must observe this moisture by summer allowing and await more preci pita ion don then again other tests may be ased dig into the ground 3 or 4 nelies and take a handful of the sol soil ind squeeze it if it remains in a ball hen it Is unnecessary to supply mols U ure re of course this pre supposes hat there Is moisture down below and arid hat the ground Is not too sandy some may say this Is too much trou brou ile but they should be willing to rouble themselves when there Is noney in it I 1 have personally observed that men nen are pouring water onto their loll 1011 which it if used intelligently would frigate from two to tour four times as much land as they are now irrigating f one acre of land will produce a net dicome of 30 and upward and by a ittle investigation they could with he same amount of water cultivate our acres and get better crops Is it lot worth a little Investigation 7 9 the igent farmer whether sc so entitle or not wants to make money nut ut of his farming operations if be he own water he wants to turn that water nto money that he may have the or even the luxuries of 0 life in more abundance then why K aste the water by excess ve to aton while it Is true that alfalfa requires more water than perhaps ny any other crop grown tn in the west yet if the soil Is deep and in proper tun ton dation so that the roots of the plants will go on down they will be able to reach the subterranean water in a greater or lesser time and materially ild aid the farmer in reducing the amount of 1 water necessary for his alfalfa |