100 ARID AGRICULTURE. 



beets and potatoes. The land cultivation, thin- 

 ning, etc., can then be done from the dry rows 

 more conveniently. The furrow system is com- 

 ing to be widely used for irrigating orchards. 



The method of dividing the irrigation 

 streams between a number of small furrows 

 varies in different localities. At Twin Falls, 

 Idaho, and a number of other progressive irriga- 

 tion districts, what is called the "lath box" sys- 

 tem is used. In this system boxes are made by 

 placing four strips of wood, as common plaster- 

 ing laths cut in half, together and nailing them 

 so as to form a narrow, square-section box which 

 may be used as a pipe to admit water through 

 the lateral bank to the upper end of the furrow. 

 The boxes are placed in the ditch banks at each 

 furrow and are easily closed by a stopper formed 

 of a short piece of lath, or by a small square of 

 tin tacked by one corner over the opening. The 

 most common method in all probability is that 

 of depending on the irrigator to open and close 

 the head of the furrows by means of a shovel and 

 some dirt. Sometimes a flume or trough, or 

 pipe, is used instead of laterals, and holes at 

 proper distances, easily opened or closed, serve 

 to regulate the flow into the furrows. For val- 

 uable land, these methods are proving a success, 

 and when the preparation has been completed, 

 the actual labor of irrigation is reduced to super- 

 vision of the flow in furrows, and regulation of 

 the little head gates. 



