116 FARM MECHANICS 



started, and it is not likely to prove satisfactory in the 

 East. 



For fruits and vegetables, what is known aa the fur- 

 row system of irrigation is the most practical. An or- 

 chard is irrigated by plowing furrows on each side of 

 each row of trees. The water is turned into these fur- 

 rows and it runs across the orchard like so many little 

 rivulets. Potatoes are irrigated on the same plan by 

 running water through between the rows after the po- 

 tatoes have been ridged by a double shovel-plow. This 

 plan also works well with strawberries. After the land 

 is prepared for irrigation, the expense of supplying 

 water to a fruit orchard, strawberry patch or potato 

 field is very little compared with the increase in yield. 

 In fact, there are seasons when one irrigation will save 

 the crop and produce an abundant yield, when other- 

 wise it would have been almost a total loss. 



Overhead Spray Irrigation. The most satisfactory 

 garden irrigation is the overhead spray system. Posts 

 are set ten feet apart in rows 50 feet apart. Water 

 pipes are laid on the tops of the posts and held loosely 

 in position by large staples. These water pipes are 

 perforated by drilling a line of small holes about three 

 feet apart in a straight line along one side of the pipe. 

 The holes are tapped and small brass nozzles are 

 screwed in. The overhead pipes are connected with 

 standpipes at the highest place, generally at the ends 

 of the rows. The pipe-lines are loosely coupled to the 

 standpipes to permit them to roll partly around to di- 

 rect the hundreds of spray nozzles as needed. 



Six feet high is sufficient to throw a fine mist or 

 spray twenty-five feet, which is far enough to meet the 

 spray from the next row, so the ground will be com- 



