AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIX, Issue 11580, 16 May 1898, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

[" Canterbury Times.”] IRRIGATION OP PLAINS. The committee of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association has published for distribution a reprint from the United States "Year-Book” for 1896 of extracts from a paper on "Irrigation on the Groat Plains,” The reprint is. prefaced with the remark that " the reader frill bo struck with the similarity of conditions which exist to a considerable extent between the ‘ Great Plains' and that of the ‘Plains of Canterbury/” What the reader really will be struck by is the wide dissimilarity of the said conditions. The one condition which the two regions have in common is the frequent periods of drought from which they sailer The “ Great Plains ” region of the United States is in area from one-eighth to onesixth that of the whole United States, and embraces portions of nine States. . The paper, which is by the Chief Hydrographer of the Geological ■ Surveys of the United States, says “tho soil of the Great Plains region as a whole is wonderfully fertile,” and further, “ the soil, of the' plains is extremely rich.” Who will say this- of the Canterbury plains? “Tho first question that the farmer on the Great Plains asks when con from ed with the problem of irrigation is, ‘Where-can I get the water In Canterbury there is no need to ask such a question ; an abundant supply flows down our chief rivers to the sea, , ready to bo diverted to use. The topographical features aro also vastly different; in la.?!, in all respects the Canterbury plains “ are' incomparably more favourably situated as regards irrigation than aro the Great Plains of America. The author of tho paper counsels caution ill adopting a system of irrigation, pointing out timt stem necessity has forced the farmer “ to abandon the cultivation of great areas, turning them over perhaps to ■grazing” in Canterbury irrigation is wanted, above all, 'to provide grazing—"find (living - his main attention to the few acres almost wit hin a stone's throw of Mi ; door.” ■ C.mterbffry holdings'are already comparatively small, and irrigation is locked forward to as a moans of enabling subdivision of the larger holdings to bo effected. . ..... ... MUCH TO LEARN. ' • Those who have an idea that an American expert could teach New Zealand landholders everything about irrigation may ho disappointed to read that the Chief Hydrographer of the United States, the first authority in that country, can only say that experience) has shown that “while irrigation is feafibio and profitable, it is so only when something be-ides a supply of water is obtained. Successful irrigation means high-grade farming. It means the employment of intelligence and persistent labour. Unlike' wheat farming, for instance, the work of the year is not concentrated into a few weeks or mouths, but, for good results, must be continued in one form or anovhor almost everyday. It jq not sufficient to cai.-e a single crop or a single kind, but if practicable two crops at least every year should bo rais id, one immediately following tho other, and the diversity should, he such that tho water can be used to good advantage at short intervals. In other words, successful irrigation means diversified farming and the highest lypo of agriculture. In order to start right, to employ the best device for getting I ho water, .to usd the water most efficiently and buor.ii'-ally, to cover tho largest sjeca of ground thoroughly, to raise the best crop of fruits, and to carry on ail tho higher spccial'sed methods which make irrigation farming profitable, it is necessary to have a larger knowledge than is possessed by the ordinary farmer and to keep,abreast of the changes or improvements constantly being made. For this reason there is a wider field of study required,and more opportunity for investi- j gation, both by the individual, the agricultural experiment station and the experts of the General Government. In manv respects our knowledge of irrigation has as yet advanced little beyond that of j the early Egyptians. The process has bean one of imitation or of individual tests through repeated failures.” Here, as well as in the obtaining of cheap money for irrigation works, is where State assistance may rightly be invoked by New Zealand inigationists. “DUTY OF WATER/* This is tho term applied to the relation between the quantity of water and the land which can be irrigated by it. In Canterbury water supply is measured by cubic inches; in mining districts by the Government head. The “second-foot” is the general unit in American irrigation; that is, the quantity represented by a stream 1 foot wide and - 1 foot deep, flowing at the average rate of 1 foot per second. In other words, it is 1 cubic foot per second, 60 cubic feet per minute, 3600 cubic feet per hour, and so on. A stream flowing continuously at the average rate of 1 secondfoot, would carry in one day of twenty-tour hours 86,400 cubic feet or 646,316'928 gallons, sufficient to cover nearly two acres to a depth of one foot. Flowing continuously for one year of 365 days, such a stream would carry 31,536,000 cubic feet, or 2;>5,905,G78'72 gallons, sufficient to cover nearly 724 acres to a depth of one foot. The “ duty of w - ater ” varies very greatly. In the arid regions of the States, upon land irrigated for the first time, and where water is to bo had in abundance, a duty as low as thirty acres to the second-foot has been reported. This quantity of water flowing for. say, sixty days, would cover an acre to the depth of about four feet. This, of .course, is an extreme case. In the irrigation districts of Utah, Idaho. Colorado and Wyoming, the rate t ranges from sixty to seventy acres to the second-foot; in California the rate is 100 acres to the second-foot, and frequently twice or three limes this area, and occasionally up to 750 acres is watered per second-foot. This quantity flowing for sixty days would cover 750 acres to a death of two inches, or for ninety days to a depth of three inches. For irrigation in tho first year the duty can hardly he estimated, because the thirsty soil is} almost insatiable in its demands for water but in subsequent years a decreasing Quantity will suffice, and, of course, the rainfall must bo considered. The question of quantity of water is so closely connected * With that of cultivation that no estimate can do more than give a broad idea. It is most important, however, to provide a sufficient supply of water, and it has been found that there is a tendency to underestimate the quantity necessary. THE VALUE OF IRRIGATION. We lately gave figures showing the effects of irrigation on grain crops in Victoria. Tho particulars given officially relating to irrigation in the United States are even more impressive. We give appo-ximate amounts. The average value of the irrigated land in farina in .the United States was ascertained by the census of 1890 to be £l7 per acre, and that of the non-irri-gated land in farms -£4 per acre. The average annual value of tho agricultural products of the irrigated land was ascertained to. be £3 2s per acre irrigated, and that of those of the non-irri-gated land £1 8s for each acre improved. The average first cost of the irrigated land, including purchase money, water rights, &c., was ascertained to have been £1 14s per acre, and the average annual cost of tho water-supply 4s 5d per acre. Tho total value of the irrigated farms of the United States, as reported by the farmers themselves was, in round figures, £01,800,000, an increase of £15,700,000, or 283 0S per cent upon their coit, including land, waterrights,* fences and preparation for cultivation. The total value of the productive irrigating systems was found to be £19J500,000, an increase of £16,200,000, or 218'84 per cent upon their cost. DISEASED FRUIT. The bringing into operation in New Zealand of tho Orchard and Garden Pests Act and in the Australian colonies of similar legislation is a great step towards tho eradication, or, at any rate, diminution of the plague of fruit pests which are so great a hindrance to the production of

,good fruit. The action taken by the several colonies “will have the effect of making each consume, or destroy, its own diseased fruit, and this cannot fail to lead to further legislation, which will . enable fruit pests in each colony itself to be suppressed. The great defect of the present Acts is that none of them, except perhaps that of West Australia, give power to deal with infected fruit or orchards within the particular colony—fruit alive with insect pests may be transmitted from place to place within the colony, or be exported, without let or hindrance. The only power is to prevent the introduction of diseased fruit from outside, and it is this power which is now being used. It is, perhaps, unfair in the present instance to describe the oranges and lemons which are now being condemned as “ Sydney producemost of them are apparently of Mediterranean growth. Their condition is deplorable, every fruit being affected, and many, perhaps, most,-, of them, have ■ hundreds ofithe-scale on each,.. The scale imay not be dangerous in the southern parts of New Zealand, but there is a great danger—as has already been seen—of cases which had contained, scaley fruit being used to pack other fruit or plants for transmission to the citrus districts in i the north, and this must he prevented at , any cost. It is to bo hoped that the present proceedings ' will bo the -means of enabling a workable the snppresi sion of fruit diseases within the colony to :be passed, to the great relief of the ; majority of fruitgrowers, wh#‘endeavour j to keep their orchards and gardens clean. | THE WHEAT MARKET. Judging by the enormous premium which , is being paid in the United Kingdom and the continental (consuming countries for ’ “spot” wheat, compared with the price at which purchases can be made for delivery a few months hence, the present rapid advance in the Home market is not regarded as likely to bo permanent, but as being brought about by a tom porary scarcity caused by. the • running down of stocks and supplies'being to soma extent interrupted by the Spanish— American .war. “ Beerbohm”,. gives a statement of the position, at the, middle of March, .which shows that of an estimated surplus of producing countries amounting to 45,700,000 quarters, there was exported in the first thirty-two weeks of the ceieal year (from August 1) a total of 31,515,000 quarters, an average of 985,000 quarters weekly, leaving an estimated balance of 14,235,000 quarters for the remaining twenty weeks of the year a weekly average of 711,000 quarters. Stocks iu the consuming countries are at a very low ebb, and, even if the transport of United States wheat is not interrupted, they will barely supply requirements until tho new crops begin to arrive. An outbreak of the threatening hostilities between Chili and the Argentine would cause a complete disorganisation of the market, while the speedy termination of the Cuban affair would doubtless check the advance and probably cause a relapse. WOOL. All things considered, the London wool market is showing wonderful firmness. Tho disorganisation of the American trade in manufactured goods as well as the cessation of purchases of wool for the States would have been sufficient reason for a collapse in wool prices, but the decline is comparatively small, and though -the cabled reports mention heavy withdrawals, tho figures received show that these have amounted to less than 10 per cent of the quantity offered. No doubt the smallness of tho supply during the earlier part of the year has left consumers so bare of stocks that they aro now compelled to buy in order to execute contracts or keep their machinery going, and this has assisted the market. Trade generally, however, shows no improvement, and it is to he feared that unless the United States are soon at peace, and making felt their demand for the 100,000,0001 bof wool which, it,is stated, they will require to import in the current year, the London sales will, continue to drag, and prices of the more, abundant descriptions may further weaken.