Dry-Farming : A System of Agriculture for Countries under a Low RainfallWidtsoe, John Andreas
Science
Dry-Farming : A System of Agriculture for Countries under a Low Rainfall
Widtsoe, John Andreas
Dry farming
Now, as has been said, the utilization of the subterranean waters of
the land is one of the living problems of dry-farming. The tracing
out of this layer of water is very difficult to accomplish and
cannot be done by individuals. It is a work that properly belongs to
the state and national government. The state of Utah, which was the
pioneer in appropriating money for dry-farm experiments, also led
the way in appropriating money for the securing of water for the
dry-farms from subterranean sources. The world has been progressing
in Utah since 1905, and water has been secured in the most
unpromising localities. The most remarkable instance is perhaps the
finding of water at a depth of about five hundred and fifty feet in
the unusually dry Dog Valley located some fifteen miles west of
Nephi.
Pumping water
The use of small quantities of water on the dry-farms carries with
it, in most cases, the use of small pumping plants to store and to
distribute the water properly. Especially, whenever subterranean
sources of water are used and the water pressure is not sufficient
to throw the water above the ground, pumping must be resorted to.
The pumping of water for agricultural purposes is not at all new.
According to Fortier, two hundred thousand acres of land are
irrigated with water pumped from driven wells in the state of
California alone. Seven hundred and fifty thousand acres are
irrigated by pumping in the United States, and Mead states that
there are thirteen million acres of land in India which are
irrigated by water pumped from subterranean sources. The dry-farmer
has a choice among several sources of power for the operation of his
pumping plant. In localities where winds are frequent and of
sufficient strength windmills furnish cheap and effective power,
especially where the lift is not very great. The gasoline engine is
in a state of considerable perfection and may be used economically
where the price of gasoline is reasonable. Engines using crude oil
may be most desirable in the localities where oil wells have been
found. As the manufacture of alcohol from the waste products of the
farms becomes established, the alcohol-burning engine could become a
very important one. Over nearly the whole of the dry-farm territory
coal is found in large quantities, and the steam engine fed by coal
is an important factor in the pumping of water for irrigation
purposes. Further, in the mountainous part of the dry-farm territory
water Power is very abundant. Only the smallest fraction of it has
as yet been harnessed for the generation of the electric current. As
electric generation increases, it should be comparatively easy for
the farmer to secure sufficient electric power to run the pump. This
has already become an established practice in districts where
electric power is available.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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