IRRIGATION IN FIELD AND GARDEN. 



BY PROFESSOR E. J. WICKSON. 



(Reprinted from Farmers' Bulletin No. 138, issued by U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.) 



RAISED-BED IRRIGATION. 



A very important modification of the furrow system is the raised 

 bed, which, under certain circumstances, is of great value in the vege- 

 taple and small- fruit plantation. The raised bed is an elevation be~ 

 tween two irrigating furrows. The field is laid off in narrow lands 

 and several furrows thrown together so as to bring dead furrows about 

 four feet apart, making long beds extending down the grade with their 

 surface raised several inches above the old level. The motive is to 

 arrange a plant bed with a water course on each side and below its sur- 

 face level (fig. 18). The whole plan is just the opposite of the de- 

 pressed bed with raised ditches already described, and is obviously to 

 meet quite different conditions. It is especially suited to a rather 

 heavy soil in which water will move well laterally, rise well, and be 

 retained. Irrigation is accomplished by holding water for a time in 

 the ditches. Where the ground is slobing it is held in levels by dirt 

 dams or by the cloth or metal dams already described, placed at inter- 

 vals as required to raise the water nearly to the ground surface. 



Fig. 18. The raised-bed system for vegetables and small fruits. 



The arrangement has several advantages for the market garden- 

 er and is largely used by those of foreign birth, who rely upon hand 

 work and desire to carry as many plants as possible per acre; for their 

 rents for rich land near cities are usually high. It enables them to 

 plant in close rows and in starting young plants it gives standing 

 water along-side, which they can easily flirt out with a pan or shovel 

 when they think a little sprinkling is desirable. The Italian gardeners 

 have a knack of doing this which is very interesting. 

 The chief advantages, however, are the distribution of water beneath 



