ARID AGRICULTURE. 



89 



"WINTER 

 IRRIGATION 



away. Often late irrigations are responsible 

 for injury to the immature crop by frost. 



Over much of the arid region there is possi- 

 bility of running water on to the soil in the win- 

 ter season and often sufficient moisture may be 

 stored for the production of most excellent crops 

 the following season. On some farms in the 

 West, even during freezing weather, the water 

 supply from springs or ditches may be run on 

 the land and stored, either as moisture in the soil 

 or as ice on the surface. Using the water in this 

 way in the winter and the same Avater for irri- 

 gating additional land in the summer makes a 

 small water supply cover double the amount of 

 land. 



SEED 



PLANTING 



FOR 



IRRIGATED 



CROPS 



Everything the farmer can do to make the 

 application of water to his crop and soil more 

 efficient, should be done. When either flood irri- 

 gation or irrigation by furrows is practiced, the 

 crop should be drilled with the slope of the land 

 so the water is more rapidly spread by following 

 the furrows. There is one form of drill that we 

 would recommend irrigation farmers to avoid. 

 This is the single disc drill. The single discs 

 are set opposite ways each side of the center and 

 throw the soil in opposite directions. This 

 makes ridges of soil which interfere with spread- 

 ing the water in irrigation. In small fields 

 where it is desired to avoid back furrows or dead 



