194 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



and other things, so that no general rule 

 can be given. 



If the ridger is not heavy enough with 

 a man on it, it may be weighted with 

 sacks of earth. When dragged over loose 

 earth with the large opening forward, this 

 will throw the earth to a ridge in the 

 center behind. On rebellious ground, and 

 often on any ground, it is advisable to 

 have two ridgers, one larger than the other 

 running ahead to gather earth, the other 

 attached immediately behind to concen- 

 trate it. But to work well, this, or any 

 other form of scraper, must have the 

 ground in fair condition from harrowing 



from either side there will be openings to- 

 be filled with the hoe. This is not as 

 much of a task as it would seem, and for 

 some work you may so arrange the lines 

 according to the slope of the ground that 

 you can use those places to let the water 

 from one check into the one below it and 

 thus not have to fill it so completely. 



TURNING IN THE WATEU. 



When all is ready, the head of water is 

 turned in and divided among as many 

 tiers of checks as can be comfortably 

 handled at a time. If the stream is too 

 large for the number of checks, it will 



VERY FINE FLOODING WORK. 



Line of checks filled and head of water in lateral passing on to next line. Water all of uniform depth with 

 checks filled and emptied in less than three hours. Checks made with "ridger." 



or plowing, and sometimes both. If the 

 ground is hard or tough the plow furrows 

 above described are about the best made 

 available. In all cases heavy clods and 

 big flakes will interfere with your work by 

 letting the water through the ridges if too 

 plenty. 



Where the checks are to be permanent, 

 as for alfalfa, they may be made well 

 enough on many soils with the ridger. 

 More care must of course be taken, and 

 generally they should be rolled or dragged 

 down into shape. A very effective scraper 

 called the '* Fresno scraper" is used in 

 the large alfalfa fields for making these 

 ridges, and does very perfect and rapid 

 work. But for ordinary fields it is not 

 necessary to buy any machinery. 



When made with a ridger at each junc- 

 tion of a ridge with another crossing it 



keep you jumping too rapidly to keep it 

 from breaking away. If you have too 

 many for it to fill at a time then you will 

 do too much leaning on the hoe, and, as 

 you generally have to hire help at this 

 time if working much ground, you want 

 to save time as much as anything. You will 

 soon find the right medium by trial. Also 

 when and in how many places to break a 

 check so as to let the water quickly into 

 the next one, and also how to build the 

 lowest place in a ridge so that the water 

 will flow out when you want it to and not 

 before. No rules can be given for this 

 work that are not subject to so many ex- 

 ceptions as to be almost worthless. 



The time required to get the water over 

 a ten-acre tract with a head of two cubic 

 feet a second or one hundred miners* 

 inches under four-inch pressure will vary 



