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? C O -O P E R A T IV E E X T E N S IO N W O R K IN A G R IC U L T U R E A N D H O M E E C O N O M IC S S TA TE O F C A L IF O R N IA U N IV E R S ITY O F CALIFORNIA C O L L E G E O F A G R IC U L T U R E A N D F A R M A D V IS O R W O R K A G R I C U L T U R E C L U B W O R K H O M E D E M O N S T R A T I O N W O R K E X T E N S IO N S E R V IC E U N IT E D S T A T E S D E P A R TM E N T O F A G R ICU LTU R E C O -O P E R A TIN G Office of the Director College of Agriculture Berkeley 4, California November 5, 1949 Mr. W. H. Johnson, Secretary Las Vegas Land and Water Company 422 West 6th Street Los Angeles 14, California Dear Mr. Johnsons We have your letter of October 31, mentioning your water problem in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is true that many home owners know little or nothing about the principles of irrigation. Perhaps the best simple dis­cussion of some of the principles will be found in our leaflet on irrigating vegetables. A copy of this is enclosed. It is important that gardeners know how far an inch of water will soad down in their particular soils and how far the lateral distribution of the water will extend. The frequency of irrigation is also a matter that needs some attention. Gardeners should know something about how far the roots ofdplants extend down, so that they can wet the root zone completely at each irrigation. All of our irrigation specialists are agreed that keep­ing the soil continuously at the saturation point is a bad practice. There is always danger of sun scald on plants with tender le aves if the foliage is kept wet during the hot part of the day. There are many other details which you may need to discuss with some of the irrigation specialists of our College of Agriculture. There may be certain members of our Farm Advisor’s Office at 511 East Aliso Street, Los Angeles 12, who will be able to discuss this common problem with you. You may have certain questions that you would like to have answered, and these may be sent directly to our specialists in irri­gation in the College of Agriculture, Davis, California. Sincerely, Agriculturi st HMB:KH