18G IRRIGATION FARMING. 



may receive moisture every six or seven days and will 

 nourish under such care. 



Tomatoes. This great crop of commerce responds 

 profitably to careful irrigation. Select a sandy soil and 

 make it fertile by working in from twenty to thirty loads 

 of well-rotted manure, which is necessary if large and 

 smooth fruit is desired. Poor soil will produce a large 

 percentage of rough and deformed fruit. Plow the 

 ground ten inches deep and work it down smooth with 

 an Acme pulverizing harrow. Shallow furrows should 

 be plowed with an eight-inch plow four feet apart. 

 Take up the plants by running a sharp spade under 

 them, cutting out in blocks. Havingjnade the bed quite 

 wet no difficulty will be experienced in handling the 

 plants, as the soil will readily adhere to the roots. For 

 very large tracts it will pay to use a transplanting machine. 



The plants are placed in the bottom of the furrows 

 four feet apart, and soil pulled around them with a hoe 

 and well firmed with the foot. Plants treated in this 

 way will grow right along, as if they never had been 

 moved. The remainder of the furrow may be filled up 

 by running a one-horse plow the opposite way alongside 

 the plants, which will also leave a furrow for irrigating. 

 AYater should then be turned on and allowed to run until 

 the ground is well soaked up to the plants. The ground 

 must be kept free from weeds by a narrow-bladed culti- 

 vator. When the plants begin to set fruit use the one- 

 horse plow again, this time running on each side of the 

 row, which forms a ridge and keeps the fruit out of the 

 water. AYe have found three irrigations on the very 

 driest soil sufficient up to the fruiting period. Too 

 much water will raise a heavy growth of vines, and in- 

 terfere with the ripening of the fruit. When the plants 

 need water they will turn dark in color. They need 

 water nftener after the fruit begins to ripen, to keep up 



the Bi26 and weight. 



