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THE DIVERSIFIED FARM 



la diversified farming by irrigation lies the salvation of agriculture 



The Age wants to brighten the pages of its Diversified Farm department and with this purpose in 

 view it requests its readers everywhere to send in photographs and pictures of fields, orchards and 

 farm homes; prize-taking horses, cattle, sheep or hogs. Also sketches or plans for convenient and 

 commodious barns, hen houses, corncribs, etc. Sketches of labor- saving devices, such as ditch clean- 

 ers and watering troughs. A good illustration of a windmill irrigation plant is always interesting. 

 Will you help us improve the appearance of The Age? 



STRAWBERRY CULTURE UNDER IRRI- 

 GATION. 



BY F. C. BARKER, OF NEW MEXICO. 



THE strawberry calls for a special sys- 

 tem of culture where irrigation is 

 practiced. la very few localities will mat- 

 ted rows be successful. If the beds are 

 flooded most soils will cake to such an ex- 

 tent that cultivation in the matted rows 

 will be most difficult, if not altogether im- 

 possible. On the other hand, many soils 

 are so deficient in porosity that the plants 

 in the middle of the rows will be left dry 

 if the furrow system of irrigation be fol- 

 lowed. It is also difficult to properly 

 mulch strawberries in the matted rows so 

 as to keep the berries out of the mud. 



The system of planting on narrow raised 

 beds, with wide water furrows between, is 

 popular in small gardens, as, by setting 

 the plants just above the water line, the 

 berries are raised above the mud. Cul- 

 tivation, however, is tedious, and in the 

 event of any scarcity of water the plants 

 suffer terribly. 



On the whole, I am inclined to favor hill 

 culture and the flooding system of irriga- 

 tion, the plants being set on the flat. 



In my own case I have adopted the fol- 

 lowing method with success: The land is 

 cleared of rubbish and lightly plowed in- 

 the late fall or early winter, and any ap 

 parent irregularities in the surface made 

 level with the scraper. During the winter 

 stable or cow manure, or, indeed, anv kind 

 of manure that is procurable, is carted on 

 to the extent of not less than sixty loads 

 per acre. This quantity may appear ex- 

 cessive to some farmers, but it must be 

 borne in mind that three crops will be 

 taken from the land before it is again fer- 

 tilized. Most of my own land received 

 more than double this quantity of manure. 

 Wood ashes are also an excellent fertilizer, 



and so are ground bones, where they can 

 be obtained. For my own part I am a 

 great believer in stable or farmyard man- 

 ure, as it improves the mechanical condi- 

 tion of the soil and the humus, in which 

 our soils are naturally deficient, is not only 

 beneficial to the plant but it tends to hold 

 moisture. 



Having carted on your manure and 

 spread it, plow it under and give the land 

 the heaviest irrigation you can manage. 

 The object of this irrigation is to' rot the 

 manure and enable you to give the final 

 and deeper plowing. The winter irriga- 

 tion will also enable your land to better 

 stand the droughts of summer. 



When the land gets sufficiently dry to 

 work, which will be in about two or three 

 weeks, and before it gets too hard, plow 

 as deep as ever you can, following with a 

 subsoiler. Then drag or harrow so as to 

 break up clods and get the land smooth. 



Now, lay out the land in small oblong 

 beds, say not over thirty feet wide by 

 ninety long. It will be difficult to get the 

 water over larger beds quickly and evenly. 

 The water must not be allowed to run from 

 one bed to the other, but lateral ditcnes 

 must be run to irrigate a row of these beds 

 on each side, the water being let in by small 

 boxes or water gates, say 6x4 inches in- 

 side measurement. Each bed nmst be 

 most carefully leveled by means of a spirit 

 level, so that there be no greater fall than 

 two inches in ninety feet. Indeed, if ab- 

 solutely level they will be all the better. 

 This leveling is of the greatest importance; 

 if not properly done the plants will be 

 standing in muddy water at the lowest 

 point and the berries ruined. The more 

 efficient method of leveling small beds is 

 to run a row of small stakes, the tops of 

 which are placed on a level with the spirit 

 level, down the middle and across. The 

 height at which they stand above the sur- 



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