144 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



should be left a mound of dry soil around the trunk ot 

 the tree, at least two feet in diameter, and three or more 

 would be better. Instead of heaping up earth on the 

 lower side and making a pond of water, of which the 

 pressure will puddle the bottom and prevent the access of 

 air to the roots, by covering it with a hard, tight crust, 

 the basins should be made in the form of concentric rings ; 

 or, where the hill is too steep in crescents, one above the 

 other, and leading one into the other. The basins may 

 be filled by hose, watering carts or by pipes, but the 

 writer considers the plan scarcely worthy of adoption. 



Another plan to convey water to the roots of trees 

 is to set a length of sewer pipe, or a two-foot box six or 

 eight inches square, into the ground two or three feet 

 from the trunk. Into this box water is poured until it 

 is filled, or it may be conveyed in a hose and allowed to 

 run for sometime, so as to give the roots a good soaking. 

 It is better to have three or four of these boxes placed 

 Around a tree so as to distribute the water more evenly 

 in the ground. This contrivance is seen along village 

 streets where shade trees are grown. 



Borders or Checks. This is a cumbersome 

 method of field irrigation in practice by Mexican farm- 

 ers, but which is gradually going out of use. Each bor- 

 der includes a few rods only, and the borders are from 

 six to twelve inches high, which would indeed interfere 

 sadly with the use of machinery. The plats are filled 

 with water, which is quickly run off from one to the 

 other after a thorough saturation of the soil. If, how- 

 ever, the land is well leveled, five or ten acre patches in- 

 stead of a few square rods may be enclosed with borders 

 or ridges, which would be the improved American plan 

 "ii a Mexican basis. These acres can be enclosed with 

 borders made in such a way as not to interfere with im- 



'nts. The borders can be made into gentle swells, 

 eight, ten, or twelve inches in the center, and the 



