170 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Where the surface is uneven or the soil too leachy to carry water 

 well in a ditch, portable and adjustable carriers are used to advantage. 

 Of these, slip- joint pipes of non-rusting metal or of wood, are most 

 satisfactory and are coming to be largely used. 



The Furrow System. The furrow system is the prevailing 

 method of irrigating fruit lands except with some soils which can be 

 better handled with less water by the check system. The furrow sys- 

 tem has, however, a very marked theoretical advantage in the escape 

 from saturating the surface soil, which has to dry out again before it 

 can be cultivated, and it is only with difficulty reduced to fine tilth 

 after such puddling. Another advantage is in saving the water used 





SOUTH FUKROW 



NORTH F0KROW 



Large furrow. 



Large furrow irrigation of orange trees at Palermo, Butte County, Cal. 



in moistening soil which has to be dried by evaporation. Other theo- 

 retical advantages lie in the even distribution of the water with the 

 least displacement of the soil and the introduction of the water to the 

 subsoil, where deep-rooting plants should derive their chief sustenance. 

 It is becoming quite clear that all these theoretical advantages have not 

 been realized by the furrow system as generally practiced, and a num- 

 ber of modifications are now being introduced which promise their 

 fuller realization. The changes now taking place tend toward reduc- 

 ing the difference between what are known as the "large-furrow" and 

 the "small-furrow" methods, because the improvement lies chiefly in 

 introducing the water more deeply in the soil, as will be shown later, 

 and this is done by using fewer and deeper furrows. 



