276 IBKIGATIOX FARMING. 



The Canvas Dam. Of the homemade devices 

 for saving labor to the irrigation farmer, the canvas 

 apron, which is capitally illustrated in Figure 88, is one 

 worthy of special attention. The advantages of using 

 canvas instead of earth for lateral dams are that it saves 

 time and labor and affords complete security against the 

 breaking away of the water during the absence of the 

 irrigator. It also obviates the necessity for mutilating 

 the sides of the laterals for earth with which to build 

 the dams, which is a point of importance to farmers 

 who take pride in keeping their ditches in good condi- 

 tion. The materials for a common apron, such as is 

 shown in Figure 88, aside from the canvas, are a piece 



, Q of scantling seven feet 



long, two laths, a bit 

 of sheet iron, a piece 

 of rope and a few 

 short nails. The can- 

 vas should be twelve- 

 ounce, and for fifty- 

 inch ditches and up- 



\J 



FIG. ss. THE APRON DAM. wards should be sixty 



inches in width, so as to afford ample protection for the 

 sides of the ditch. Nail the scantling to the canvas 

 through the lath, and to the bottom of the apron fasten 

 in the same way a piece 1x3, fifteen inches in length. 

 Put a rope handle in the scantling, and a strong wire 

 staple in the piece fastened to the bottom of the apron. 

 AVhen set, one end of the brace engages this staple ami 

 the other end the rope handle. For laterals of ordinary 

 depth the apron should be three feet long, to allow the 

 canvas to lie on the bottom of the ditch for a few inches 

 behind the staple; otherwise the water will cut under 

 and escape. Make the brace similar to the one shown 

 in the sketch, and cut to suitable length to allow the 

 canvas to lie on the bottom of the ditch. 



