IRRIGATION. 37 



will indicate the course the ditch must take from where it leaves 

 the stream to the land to be irrigated, the general course of which 

 will have a regular fall of I4 of an inch to the rod. In bringing the water 

 onto the tract, care will be taken, of course, to have it reach the high- 

 est point on the tract first. 



Construction of ditches is largelj^ accomplished by team, plow 

 and scraper work, the earth being banked on the lower side of the 

 ditch, and in ordinary- soil can be constructed for $75.00 per mile. 



The water is conducted onto the land by a series of lateral ditches, 

 that are smaller than the main ditch. 



On land that has a fall of one-fourth of an inch to the rod, from 

 the main ditch the laterals can be laid on straight lines and at right 

 angles to the main, or head, ditch and about two rods apart. They 

 are usually constructed by throwing out two farrows with a two- 

 horse plow, following this with an implement known as a lizard, 

 made of a block of wood, which shapes and smoothes the bottom 

 of the furrow, leaving a good run to the ditch. 



At intervals of two rods along the lateral ditches, temporary 

 dams are constructed bj- throwing half a dozen shovels of earth 

 into the bottom of the ditch, the object of which is to hold the 

 water in the lateral ditch until it has done its work. This is accomp- 

 lished as follows : The laterals are not opened through to the head 

 ditch, but a small bank is left which is broken do^vn at the time the 

 water is conducted into the laterals. Many use what is called a dam 

 hoard, a circvilar sharp-edged board, a trifle larger than the shape 

 and contour of the ditch. When ready to turn the water into the 

 laterals, this dam board is plunged into the bottom of the main ditch 

 and reinforced hj earth, the result being the water is dammed in the 

 head ditch; the earth is then broken down into the highest lateral 

 ditch, (irrigation, of course, being from the highest side of the land to 

 the lowest), and held in the lateral ditch by the first temporary dam, 

 say two or three rods from the head ditch; openings are made in the 

 rim of the lateral ditch, (on the lowest side of the ditch) and the 

 water permitted to flow out and upon the land between the laterals- 

 Do not allow it to escape into the next lateral. 



When the soil is thoroughly saturated with moisture between the 

 laterals and along the entire distance above the Grst dam in the 

 lateral, the first dam in the lateral is broken down, the openings 

 in the lateral above the first dam closed, and the space opposite the 

 second dam is similarly treated, and so on until the territory lying 

 between laterals No. 1 and Xo. 2 is completely saturated; then the 

 dam board in the head ditch is moved down to lateral No. 2, the 

 opening into lateral Xo. 1 is closed, and the operation repeated 

 until the water has been in all laterals, and the entire surface of the 

 soil completely satvirated with moisture. A good hand will irrigate, 

 vmder favorable conditions, six acres per daj-. 



The tool used in irrigation is a long-handled, round-pointed 

 shovel. Rubber boots are a sine qua non, as is a rubber coat. Once 

 irrigation is begun it never stops for rain, and the secret of the suc- 

 cess is that the soil never naturally- becomes as wet as from irriga- 

 tion; the water cannot escape until the soil is so wet that a man will 

 often sink to his knees at each step; then j'ou get a complete solu- 

 tion of the salts in the soil, and by- no natural means can this be so 

 well accomplished. 



