184 IRRIGATION. 



of preparation for water meadows, or in rotation, when a 

 meadow needs plowing and reseeding. 



Flax. As this plant, when grown for fiber, depends 

 greatly for its value upon the length and fineness of the 

 staple, and as it flourishes best upon cool, moist soils, it 

 is one peculiarly well adapted for cultivation by irrigation. 

 It may be sown in drills, nine inches apart, or if sown 

 broadcast, the surface should be rolled with the corrugat- 

 ed roller, forming furrows, either directly down, or diag- 

 onally across, the slope of the field. 



Hemp. This crop is peculiarly adapted to irrigation, 

 its yield and quality being both improved under this 

 method of cultivation. The mode of culture is as fol- 

 lows. The land is laid off, by the plow, into beds or flat 

 ridges, three feet wide, with intervals between them of 

 one foot in width. The seed is sown upon these beds 

 while the soil is moist from a previous irrigation. The 

 spaces between the beds are left to provide room for hoe- 

 ing and weeding the beds, and for pulling the male stalks 

 as soon as the pollen has been shed, as well as for irriga- 

 tion. Hemp is a plant in which the pollen and the seed 

 are produced by different individuals, called respectively 

 male, or staminate, and female, or pistillate plants. As 

 the male plants naturally soon die, long before the others 

 are perfected, it is better to get them out of the way as 

 soon as they have fulfilled their office of ;f ertilizing the 

 flowers of the other sex. After the seed has sprouted, 

 water is given, but only in the spaces between the beds ; 

 these are copiously flowed, so that the moisture may pen- 

 etrate through every portion of the beds. The crop is 

 irrigated every 10 days, at least, or still more frequently 

 when necessary. The soil should always^ be kept moist, 

 but at the same time it should not be saturated. Fre- 

 quent, moderate irrigations, are employed to within four- 

 teen days of the flowering, when the waterings cease. If 

 the irrigation is continued during the flowering, the fer- 



