246 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The cost of fitting land for the first application of full development. The land on which spring grain 



water can not be stated in a general way. Some men, 

 after clearing land of sagebrush at a cost of $1.50 

 per acre, have paid as much as $30 an acre for haul- 

 ing off stones. In furrowing a grain field or refur- 



is to be grown may either be plowed in the fall, in 

 which case it will be in splendid tilth for sowing, or 

 it may be plowed in the spring as soon as the frost 

 is out of the ground. The grain is drilled in at any 



Fig. 31. Use of Tappoons in furrow irrigation. 



rowing alfalfa, ten acres is a fair day's work for a 

 man and team. 



METHODS IN USE IN SALT LAKE BASIN. 



On account of the system of colonization which 

 has for years been in vogue, agricultural practice varies 

 but little throughout the irrigated portions of Utah. 

 The farmer along the Virgin River, in the extreme 

 southern part of the State, irrigates his grain in much 

 the same manner as does the farmer living in Cache 

 Valley, in the northern part of the State. The meth- 

 ods they employ ' were developed in the parent colony 

 in Sa-lt Lake Valley and have been adopted with but 

 slight variations in other sections of the State, as well 

 as in some of the Mormon colonies in neighboring 

 States. What will be said, therefore, in regard to irri- 

 gation practice may be taken as typical of the State as 

 a whole. 



time from the latter part of March to the last weeks 

 in April, depending upon the locality and the weather 

 conditions. 



After sowing time the farmer's next duty is the 

 preparation of his land for the first irrigation. The 

 tract of land is, as a rule, supplied by a main lateral 

 or ditch, which is located along the highest side. If 

 the tract be large, this main ditch is supplemented by 

 others paralleling it at intervals of fifteen rods or 

 more, which cut the field in strips, each having a sup- 

 ply lateral along its upper side, which, in addition to 

 supplying the tract below it, serves to catch the sur- 

 plus from the strip next above. 



The planted area is then gone over with what is 

 called a "marker" (Fig. 32). It consists usually of an 

 eight-inch log eight or ten feet long, to which is at- 

 tached a tongue and doubletrees. Wooden blades or 

 teeth, two or three inches wide and from twelve to 

 sixteen inches long, are inserted in the log, and the 

 whole forms a comb-like implement, which when drawn 

 over a field makes furrows two or three inches deep. 



Fig. 32. Home-made marker for furrow irrigation. 



Fall-sown grain, or "dry grain," as it is com- 

 monly termed, requires, as a rule, no irrigation. It is 

 sown during the fall months, is brought up by the 

 rains and during winter is protected by snow. When 

 the snow goes off in the spring it grows rapidly, and 

 the rains received in the early spring are in average 

 years sufficient to bring it to maturity. Spring-sown 

 grain, however, is dependent upon irrigation for its 



\BOTTOM JOINT 



Fig. 33. Wooden Flume, used by Mr. Warner, Scott County, Kans. 



The usual spacing of the teeth in the log is from eight- 

 een to twenty-four inches. 



Many prefer to mark the fields immediately after 

 the sowing, while others wait until the grain is up. 

 The direction in which the furrows are run depends 

 on the slope. After a field has been marked the water 

 is admitted into the laterals, and at intervals of two 

 or three rods is turned from the laterals onto the fields 

 by temporary earthen dams or the more effective can- 

 vas dams, cuts being made in the banks of the laterals. 



