GARDEN IRRIGATION 163 



six inches from the edge as possible, putting two rows 

 on each ridge. The ridges are just wide enough to 

 average four to the rod. We wait for the plants to 

 appear before we do any irrigating, as that chills the 

 ground too much for the seeds to come well, and we 

 can depend on enough spring moisture to bring 

 them up. 



When transplanting the cabbage to the garden, we 

 set the plants two feet apart in the row and two rows 

 on each ridge, setting the plants in the second row so 

 they are halfway between the plants in the first row. 

 As soon as a ridge is completed, the water is turned 

 into the ditches each side of it and allowed to run until 

 the ground is thoroughly soaked. Then they are 

 watered about once a week after that, depending some- 

 what on the weather. 



Taught by Practice. — After twenty years' expe- 

 rience irrigating garden crops, L. Matteson, Sturges, 

 South Dakota, thinks the best plan is to lay out the 

 garden in diagonal check rows as illustrated. The 

 water can be turned in either direction and the crops 

 may be cultivated in three directions. Some crops, 

 especially tomatoes, are planted closely in double rows, 

 leaving a double space between each pair of rows. 

 Water is let down the narrow space between the two 

 rows, thus, in Mr. Alatteson's opinion, saving one-half 

 the water. To prevent tomato rot, he irrigates thor- 

 oughly when the clusters begin to form. Prices for 

 tomatoes in his market were one to two cents a pound. 

 Irrigation every ten days was found also to check the 

 lice and worms on cabbages, but if the lice were once 

 allowed a start the wetting afterward did no good. 



A Small Irrigated Garden, fifty-four by sixty feet, 

 entered by S. W. Damon, Tehama county, California, 

 produced twelve dollars' worth of vegetables at a cost 

 of five dollars and sixty-seven cents. The land cost 



