80 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



be done in lands for all kinds of garden work is not 

 equal to a long, fine rain. Flooding for economy or to 

 close the air spaces at the surface is quite another mat- 

 ter, just as much as flooding to drown gophers. On 

 land where you do not have to seal the surface the dif- 

 ference is plain if you watch it long enough. 



But there are some soils where the water will drop 

 too straight downward and not soak sidewise far enough 

 and others where the soaking is provokingly uneven. 

 On one place I had, corn would get plenty of water two 

 feet from the furrow, in a few hills farther on it 

 would wilt at the same distance, and in some places 

 the ground would be dry six inches from the furrow. 

 The ground was rich and easily worked when wet and 

 merely seemed to have tight spots through it. This 

 ground raised fine fruit with any form of irrigation, 

 but was a nuisance for gardening because for that you 

 don't want streams running two or three days. Half 

 a day should be enough with shorter furrows and some- 

 times larger streams. And if corn, potatoes and similar 

 stuff will not flourish under a three hours run of 

 streams of about nine gallons a minute one fiftieth 

 of a second foot the land will probably be better for 

 something else unless you have plenty of water to waste. 



moisture will show at the surface all the way between 

 the furrows. This may dry an inch or two during the 

 day if the sun is bright, as it usually is, but if it is 

 cloudy it will probably remain moist all day. 



You should test these questions, but not be dis- 

 couraged if you fail to wet the whole surface, or if 

 you cannot raise the moisture nearer to the surface than 

 one foot between the furrows three feet apart. It may 

 prove that the soil is better adapted for trees or vines 

 than for vegetables, or that the furrows should be closer 

 together, or that it is better for some trees than for 

 others. With alfalfa it would make no difference and 

 the same probably with any deep-rooted plant. But 

 where the soil is too open, and increasing the size of 

 the streams has no effect in spreading water to the sides, 

 then flooding is the only way left. 



When you return to look at your little streams you 

 may find some broken out into the next ones, or several 

 have made a big puddle from a slight swell of land 

 running crosswavs and quite invisible to the eye. If the 

 streams carry any rubbish it will be apt to collect 

 wherever they reach ground even half an inch higher 

 than their beds. The formation of a little dam is then 

 quite certain, followed by the breaking out of the stream 



Plowing Up Sugar Beets in the North Platte Valley. Thi 



Even then it don't follow that it should be all used 

 because you have it. If cold, it mav be very bad, for 

 garden stuff generally needs water oftener than orch- 

 ards and chilling the ground too often may cause more 

 loss of profit. 



The main difficulty with water dropping downward 

 in some soils instead of soaking sideways is in too even 

 texture, like shot of one size. In very gravelly and 

 sandy soil it will soak to the sides perfectly if there is 

 enough fine sand and fine clay or dust mixed with it. 

 This is the case with most all upland soils. With fur- 

 rows three feet apart the moisture will meet two feet 

 below in half a day and in a day will meet at six inches 

 below on some soils. In winter it will often be visible 

 at the surface, but in hot weather especially with a 

 strong sun in dry air it will rarely show at the surface 

 even at daylight. On my ranch I can wet to the center 

 with furrows five feet apart, so that it will raise a good 

 stand of grain provided it once sprouts. In winter it 

 will sprout the grain without showing; moisture at the 

 surface if the weather is clear and dry. But when the 

 sun is very low in midwinter and the nights cold the 



Crop Produces From $75 to $100 Per Acre Per Annum. 



from the backwater or the formation of a pond by 

 several streams uniting. To avaid this even greater 

 care should be used in grading than for flooding, for 

 now you have no levees to force the water on certain 

 lines. The grading is generally cheaper, for there is 

 very little carrying to be done. Instead of scraping off 

 top soil too much you must make more faces, each with 

 its own distribution system. Most all the grading can 

 be done with a drag provided it is very long, stiff and 

 heavy with good scraping edges. One edge may do 

 but the drag must be long and stiff or it is worth- 

 less for taking down the low swells that interfere with 

 even flow of the streams. Cutting; these deeper with the 

 plow, hoe or furrower will not always remedy the 

 trouble. Being deeper they will collect more leaves 

 or rubbish when there is any wind ; and, as these fur- 

 rows are broken up after every irrigation, the next 

 ones may not be in the same places the others were 

 and a variation of but a few inches may compel deeper 

 cutting again. The trouble is that if one stream fails 

 to go through with the rest you may not have the 

 water long enough to send it through afterward and 



