USE OP DRAINAGE WATER. 



147 



could be irrigated by means of shallow ditches which led 

 to lateral furrows diverging on each side of the ditches. 

 The surplus water escaped from the foot of the meadow 

 oyer the bank into a stream, #. The plan of the meadow 



Fig. 73. SECTION OF A DRAINED HILL AND IRRIGATED FLAT. 



is shown at fig. 74. A being the hill ; a, , the drain, 

 from which the ditches and furrows are led down to the 

 stream, #, 1, at the foot. By closing the shallow ditches the 

 water could be backed up over the meadow or thrown in- 

 to lateral ditches. None of these ditches were deep 

 enough to obstruct a mowing machine. It only required 



Fig. 74. PLAN OF THE DRAIN AND FURROWS. 



the labor of two men for three months, and the lapse of 

 two years' time, to convert this 30 acres into a dry, arable 

 field of 12 acres, and a meadow of 18 acres, which was 

 covered with grass and clover where, in former years, 

 several cows had been mired and smothered in mud. 



