THE DIVERSIFIED FARM. 



In diversified farming- toy irrigation tfies f lie salvation of agriculture. 



THE MONTHLY wants to brighten the pages of 1 its Farm department, and with 

 this object 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 of convenient and commodious barns, hen houses, corn cribs, 

 etc. Sketches of labor-saving devices, suce as ditch cleaners and watering troughs. 

 A good illustration of a windmill irrigation plant is always interesting. Will you help 

 us to improve the appearance of THE MONTHLY ? 



USING WATER. 



. There are few things where people dif- 

 fer more widely than on this subject. 

 The reason, no doubt, explains itself 

 when we consider the many kinds of soil 

 we have to contend with. We could not 

 expect to irrigate lands of Riverside in 

 the same way we do in this valley, as the 

 first named are of a heavy, gluey nature, 

 while ours is composed 'of a sandy loam. 



My experience has taught me that 

 heavy land of any : nature that hardens by 

 the sun's rays when wet, should be irriga- 

 ted by the furrow systom for the best re- 

 sults, as the water running at the bottom 

 of furrows leaves the top much more pli- 

 able and more easy to cultivate and pulver- 

 ize in a manner calculated to retain 

 moisture. 



Most horticulturists in this valley have 

 decided the check system the best for 

 many reasons, the greatest of which is 

 economy. The land must be laid off in 

 double checks, the ditches running as 

 most suitable to carry the water without 

 carrying away the soil. When water is 

 plenty, cover the whole land six inches 

 dep or more if possible, which cfa'n" be 

 done if the land has been ridged in a 

 thorough and workmanlike manner. 



This dry season we have paid attention 

 to filling the check nearest the tree, and I 

 will not state to you how many inches 

 deep, as we have to cut our garment ac- 

 cording to the cloth. Let me say here 

 that where land is level, or nearly level, it 

 is not necessary to double check. 



The greatest mistake many of us make 

 in this country that is liable to droughts, 

 is not irrigating abundantly in the months 

 of March and April, when water is plenty 

 and cheap. As an experiment, last March 

 I ridged up three acres of land and filled 

 up checks carefully; as soon as water had 

 settled, went over the ground again in the 

 same manner. The result is, the trees 

 have gone through in splendid condition, 

 showing a beautiful crop of fruit, while 

 the trees treated in the usual way have 

 needed much more irrigating and care to 

 pull them through the season. 



I think all fruit growers will agree with 

 me when I say there is no work in our 

 business that should be done more thor- 

 ough and painstaking than the using of 

 water. Whatever is worth doing is worth 

 doing well. In traveling about our valley, 

 on 'almost any street you will observe where 

 some party has just finished putting in his 

 pro-rata of water, the land looking as if i 



