110 



ARID AGRICULTURE. 



BRUSH 



PLOWS 



DITCH- 

 MAKING 

 TOOLS 



the mattock or grub-hoe and hand labor. With 

 scattered or thin brush many think that hand 

 labor is the cheapest way of clearing the land. 



A heavy breaking plow is used with four to 

 eight horses for the first plowing of sage brush 

 or grease-wood land. Where many roots are en- 

 countered and the soil is hard and compact, the 

 draft is heavy and plenty of pulling power is im- 

 portant. Three to five inches in depth is usu- 

 ally found best for breaking such ground the 

 first year. After the first breaking it should 

 again be plowed deeper. The mold-board plow 

 is the best for sage brush soils, but a good disc 

 will tear out small brush. 



Irrigation ditches arc of all sizes, and many 

 types of implements are needed for different con- 

 ditions. For small laterals no implement is bet- 

 ter, perhaps, than the common lister. The or- 

 dinary mold board plow may be used for this 

 purpose, being run back and forth and throwing 

 the earth away from the center of the ditch. For 

 a slightly larger lateral the plow should be fol- 

 lowed by an "A" or "Go-Devil." This may be 

 home-made. By putting hinges on one side and 

 a brace on the inside, the "A" may be adjusted 

 to different widths of ditches. For larger later- 

 als and small canals, the "slip" or the tongue 

 scraper and the common grader are often used. 

 For still larger canals there is no implement that 

 can compare with the Fresno scraper. 



