THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



14J 



distributary pipe through cement standpipes or 

 "stands," and as a rule is conveyed to the fields in 

 rough furrows and the crop irrigated by the flooding, 

 furrow, basin or check method. The water is turned 

 into the basin, furrow or lateral, from which it seeps 

 rapidly away. In the case of the orchard this is just 

 what is wanted, provided the water reaches the root 

 zone of the tree. In the irrigation of field crops, 

 however, it is very different. Field laterals, both per- 

 manent and temporary, from the nature of their con- 

 struction and use are poor water-carriers and great 

 amounts seep out, from which but a small area is 

 benefited. This area, as a rule, lies along the ditch 

 bank and is allowed to go to weeds. 



a T joint (Fig. 24). They are placed at intervals 

 along the highest side of a field and serve as outlets 

 from which the piped water is taken into the metal and 

 canvas pipes. 



Various combinations of galvanized iron pipe and 

 canvas hose are used. Some irrigators prefer to use 

 all canvas hose with only a short length of metal pipe 

 (Plate IV, Fig. 2). Others use nearly all metal pipe 

 and only a short piece of canvas hose to join the metal 

 pipe to the stands. Often even this small amount of 

 canvas hose is dispensed with. Still others have 

 adopted the metal pipe to convey the water from the 

 stand to the section of the field to be irrigated and 

 use the hose simply to distribute it. The best results 



T 



FIG. 25. Irrigating Field Strips. 





In addition to losing water the channels of such 

 laterals, together with their banks and dumps of ex- 

 cavated material, decrease by no small amount the 

 crop-producing area, to say nothing of obstructing the 

 free use of farming machinery. The losses by seep- 

 age and leakage can be prevented only by the use of 

 lined channels, and these channels, to permit the full- 

 est use and free cultivation of the land, must be re- 

 movable. To meet these conditions and to bring 

 about a more economical use of both land and water, 

 the use of metal pipe and canvas hose in the irrigation 

 of field crops has been quite widely adopted in the re- 

 gion referred to. 



Fields of alfalfa irrigated with pipe and hose are 

 usually laid out in such manner that from five to ten 

 acres may be served from each stand, depending, of 

 course, upon the size and shape of the tract. These 

 cement stands consist of two or three sections of 8- or 

 10-inch cement pipe placed in a vertical position and 

 connected with the underground distributary pipe by 



seem to be obtained through the use of this last- 

 mentioned combination. Fig. 25 shows part of a field 

 of alfalfa irrigated in this manner, which will illus- 

 trate the common method of handling the conduits 

 when in use. The sketch is taken from a 40-acre field 

 in the vicinity of Chino. The water from a pumping 

 plant located on the northeast corner of the tract is 

 delivered into a large cement standpipe three feet in 

 diameter and about seven feet in height above the 

 ground level. This standpipe regulates the flow of 

 water to the distributary and provides sufficient head 

 to force the water through the entire system of pipes. 

 The main underground distributary is a cement pipe 

 ten inches in internal diameter and is laid across the 

 upper side of the field, as shown. The cement stands 

 are placed ten rods apart, each thus serving a strip of 

 land containing about five acres. 



The metal pipes are first strung down the first 

 strip, end to end. Beginning, then, at the stand, the 

 first length of pipe is either joined directly to the 



