THE IRRIGATION AGE. 47 



-shorten the supply so as to run just as much as the ground will ab- 

 sorb by the time it reaches the lower end of the furrow. 



A little stream left in this way for five or six hours will soften al- 

 most any of this ground so that it will mire a horse, and will use, in 

 doing so, little more than half the water that would be required, if ap- 

 plied on the surface; and a good irrigator can run ten or twelve of 

 these furrows at a time, and can irrigate more land with less labor, 

 and more uniformly, than he can by flooding. With the same culti- 

 vator, with the discs straddling the dead furrow, the ridges of dry 

 earth are thrown down over the water furrow as soon as it is dry 

 enough for the team to travel over it. Then by harrowing the ground 

 smoothly, the surface is left thoroughly pulverized and to a depth of 

 six or eight inches is as mellow as ground need be for any crop. 

 Ground watered in this way need not be watered oftener than once in 

 six weeks, and no matter how hot the weather, moisture will be found 

 within half .an inch of the surface at any time, and plants will thrive 

 in it. Of course such ridges can be made by the ordinary plow, but 

 not so cheap. 



Plant on the leveled ground with planters after this preparation, 

 and there is moisture enough to bring any plant up and give it a rapid 

 growth until it is from six to twelve inches high. As soon as the 

 plant is large enough, put the cultivators in for simple cultivation, 

 throwing up as little ridge as possible. Two or three weeks later run 

 the cultivators through again, and then water in the dead furrows be- 

 tween, following watering by another cultivation with the discs set 

 with a view to leveling down the ridges as much as possible. 



There should be at least one cultivation between the waterings, 

 and two will be preferable. The finer the surface soil is kept the lon- 

 ger will the ground retain moisture," and the more mellow and pliable 

 will it be to a depth of from twelve to eighteen inches. 



The general rule would be, keep the water off the surface, get it 

 underground from the outset; keep it entirely away from the plants, 

 trees and vines, and use as little as practicable to keep the soil in good 

 growing condition. 



