182 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



tries. It often varies with a few feet, so that the 

 stream may be slower in some places and faster in 

 others. There may also be a hard pan, or perhaps 

 no hard pan but only a finer soil below, and the little 

 stream will have to wet down to that before it can 

 get ahead much. Sometimes it will drop at once 

 out of sight, and you think it impossible for it even 

 to move ahead. But if you leave it for a hour or 

 two you may find it several feet or yards ahead of 

 where it was. But do not in any case be in haste to 

 decide that the small stream will not work. Either 

 increase its size and rush it through, and then cut it 

 down to what you want; or if it is moving evenly but 

 too slowly, give it plenty of time. Where you can 

 get heads of water for three or four days if you want 

 them, a few hours' difference in one of these streams 

 crossing a tract is of little consequence. They are 

 rarely run over six hundred and sixty feet, and it mat- 

 ters little whether it takes twelve, twenty-four or 



thirty-six hours to get across, unless you are limited 

 too much in the time you can have the irrigating 

 head. 



One would suppose that in this way the upper part 

 of the tract would be too wet and the lower not wet 

 enough. Theoretically this is true, and the most 

 water must be in the upper side; but, practically, no 

 difference is seen between the two sides of the field, 

 or if there is any it is too slight to notice. The run 

 of water is made long enough to insure wetting the 

 lower side enough. The fault, if any, is in wetting 

 the upper side too much. But if the land has the 

 drainage underneath that it should have for most 

 valuable products, this will do no harm, while, if it 

 has much slope, the water will find its way in time 

 toward the lower part. 



The depth of wetting, the things for which this 

 system may be used, and other points will be con- 

 sidered farther on. 



THE FIELD FOR HOPS IN IDAHO. 



BY J. M. GOODWIN. 



HOP RAISING in Southwestern Idaho is a new 

 industry for the people. Only three or four 

 years ago some hop roots were planted around the 

 cabin on the ranch belonging to Mr. P. P. Shelby, 

 near Parma, for the purpose of adding some comfort 

 and attraction in having the vines trailing over the 

 house. When these vines began bearing the hops 

 were so large and perfect, and so prolific, as to create 

 much wonder and interest. Mr. Shelby, being an 

 officer of the Great Northern Railway and located at 

 Seattle, had opportunities of looking into the hop 

 business in that great center of hop culture, the 

 Yakima country. This resulted in his planting ten 

 acres to hops three years ago, from which, in 1893, 

 the second year's growth and first to bear, he har- 

 vested seven and one-half tons of hops, or an average 

 of 1,500 pounds of hops per acre. He expects this 

 season to double that product on this ten acres, 

 while on the fifteen acres more now bearing the first 

 crop he hopes to harvest 1,500 pounds to the acre. 

 It is said that in the hop districts of New York the 

 average yield is 700 pounds of dry hops to the acre. 

 Mr. Shelby's ranch is under the Caldwell canal. The 

 land is rich and is classed as "bench' 1 land, similar 

 to many hundreds of thousands of acres of the Snake 

 River valley. Two years ago certain hop raisers of 

 the Yakima country visited Idaho in search of new 

 lands to till. They located under the Payette canal 

 company's ditches, about eight miles a little east of 



south from Payette. A recent visit by the writer was 

 full of interest. The owners are the Golding Hop 

 Company, who are putting 160 acres under hop cul- 

 ture, while they own in all 1,000 acres. Three years 

 ago this land was covered with sagebrush, was the 

 home of jack-rabbits, lizards and toads, and a desolate 

 desert to travel over. Now, life-giving streams of 

 water course here and there, carrying nourishment to 

 the rows of hops, corn and various other crops, which 

 flourish equal to such in the most favored localities. 

 This farm, not three years old, is a veritable oasis in 

 a desert, and the whole country around promises to 

 be soon transformed into fields of grain, hops, fruit 

 orchards, meadows, and beautiful homes of prosper- 

 ous people. The company has thirty-three acres of 

 hops now loaded and ready to yield its first crop, 

 this being the second season since the roots were set. 

 Last spring ten acres more were set in hops, and each 

 year similar or greater additions will be made. Of 

 the thirty-three acres now bearing, two styles of* 

 support for the vines are used, one-half being by 

 means of poles, the other by means of " trellis." 

 The poles are simply small pine trees cut in lengths 

 about fourteen feet and set in the ground. The vines 

 winding around these are supported as long as the 

 pole stands, but should it blow over there is danger 

 of destruction of the hops, and then it requires much 

 labor to take these poles down and clear them of 

 vines after picking season is over. The trellis sys- 



