Agriculture for beginners . h, humus must be freely supplied so asto keep the soil in the best possible condition. SECTION LXIX. IRRIGATION Irrigation is the name given to the plan of supplying waterin large quantities to giowing crops. Since the dawn of his-tOR- this practice has been more or less followed in Asia, inAfrica, and in Europe. The Spanish settlers in the south-western part of America were probably the first to introducethis custom into our countn\ In New ^lexico there is anirrigating trench that has been in constant use for threehundred vears. MISCELLANEOUS )27 The most common so
Agriculture for beginners . h, humus must be freely supplied so asto keep the soil in the best possible condition. SECTION LXIX. IRRIGATION Irrigation is the name given to the plan of supplying waterin large quantities to giowing crops. Since the dawn of his-tOR- this practice has been more or less followed in Asia, inAfrica, and in Europe. The Spanish settlers in the south-western part of America were probably the first to introducethis custom into our countn\ In New ^lexico there is anirrigating trench that has been in constant use for threehundred vears. MISCELLANEOUS )27 The most common source of water for irrigating purposesis a river or a smaller stream. Artesian wells are used insome parts of the country. Windmills are sometimes usedwhen only a small supply of water is needed. Engines,hydraulic rams, and water-wheels are also employed. Thewater-wheel is one of the oldest and one of the most usefulmethods of raising water from streams. There are thousandsof these in use in the dw regions of the West. Small. Fig. 2S6. IuMiiNG Water fuk Ikkigahon buckets are fastened to a large wheel, which is turned by thecurrent of a stream. As the wheel turns, the buckets arefilled, raised, and then emptied into a trough called a water flows through the flume into the irrigating ditches,which distribute it as it is needed in the fields. In someparts of California and other comparatively dry sections,wells are sunk in or near the beds of underground streams,and then the water is pumped into ditches which convey itto the fields to be irrigated. 328 AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS Engines are often used for pumping water from streamsand transferring it to ditches or canals. The canals distributethe w^ter over the land or over the growing crops. None of these methods, however, can be used for wateringver}^ large areas of land. Hence, as the value of farm landsincreased other methods were sought. Shrewd men beganto turn longing eyes on the wide stretches of barren land inthe W
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
