32 



Journal of Agriculture. 



[8 Jan., 1908. 



costly method and one not likely to be Ijrought into use here for some 

 time to come. The next best is by distributing furrows. The furrows are 

 ploughed out bv the ordinary garden or orchard plough and generally 

 along the line of fall, the plants being soAvn in drills to suit. The distance 

 aipart of the furrows depends upon the nature of the soil ; but six to eight 

 feet may be taken as the furthest and three feet as the more gereral. For 

 fruit trees, only two furrows are used for the first two years, one on each 

 side of the row. Later as the root system increases, four or five furrows in 

 each, depending upon the distance apart of the trees, are adopted. The 

 water is let into the furrows from a head ditch or distributary channel by 

 outlets made of iron pipes, wooden boxes or simply shovel cuts secured 

 from washing out by wisps of straw or grass. Largely the amount let 

 out to each furrow must be determined bv experience and " rule-of -thumb " 

 methods. The length of the furrows varies wdth the nature of the soil, 



WATERING YOUNG TREES, WVUNA IRRIGATION FARM. 



the slope and the natural features ; they should rarely exceed ten 

 chains in length land are more generally about five. Sufiicient flow should 

 be allowed into each to just reach the lower end after thoroughly soaking 

 the ground on the way. As soon after each watering as the state of the 

 soil will permit, the scuffler or harrows should be run over the surface 

 to form an earth mulch tO' retain the moisture. Cultivation as soon as 

 possible after watering, is not only essential for the furrow method but 

 for all the systems. 



The corrugation or permanent furrow is the next way of distributing 

 the irrigation water. For lucerne, the greatest of the fodder crops, this 

 system is eminentlv suitable, it being perennial and profiting by frequent 

 watering. In this system, the plant is grown along low ridges and the 

 shallow hollows or depressions between are used for distributing the water 

 much the same way as for furrows. After cultivation is, of course, 

 essential, care being taken to preserve the shape of the corrugatiorfi. 



