60 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



The trenches are designed as miniature reservoirs, and are kept nearly 

 full, when irrigation is required, by a small stream flowing from one-half- 

 inch standpipes at one end of each trench. The ground is free from stone 

 and was originally covered with sagebrush, which sufficiently describes the 

 land to those who are familiar with the fertile, friable, easily irrigated soils 

 indicated by such natural growth. These trenches prove quite sufficient to 

 irrigate the garden in the long, dry summers of this region, and ground 

 which would not mature white beans, rye, or buckwheat, produces heavy 

 crops of sweet corn, tomatoes, peas, strawberries and all small fruits 

 asparagus, celery, potatoes, onions, melons, and, in short, the usual variety 

 of first-class gardens. In the middle of the lower terraces, and occasionally 

 about the grounds, are planted a few family fruit trees. 



The size of the stream filling each trench is incredibly small. By my 

 actual measurement with a gallon measure, each trench is supplied by the flow 

 of three quarts per minute; each one of these streams thus irrigating a strip 

 of land twenty-eight feet wide and one hundred feet long. 



THE APPLICATION OF WATER. 



Many methods are followed in the distribution of water in the 

 garden. Which is the best method must be determined largely by 

 the character of the soil, and to meet this requirement one must 

 sometimes sacrifice some of the incidental advantages of other 

 methods. 



Checks. Where the garden soil is very light, open and leachy, 

 the vegetables are often grown in checks or divisions larger or 

 smalldr, according to the slope of the land ; the checks being inclosed 

 by little banks or levees which hold the water from escape except 

 as it sinks vertically into the soil. This is the only way by which a 

 leachy soil can be uniformly moistened, except by sprinkling, which 

 is seldom economical and is seldom followed in California except 

 in village garden practice. The banks of the checks servq as walks 

 upon which one can go dry-shod from place to place and regulate 

 the distribution of water. The garden then, during irrigation, 

 shows the plants growing in shallow vats of water of irregular 

 shape and size and when the water sinks away they are seen to be 

 in sunken beds. This system sadly interferes with the use* of the 

 horse in cultivation unless the ground is practically level and the 

 checks can be made very large. In small checks the cultivation 

 must be done by hand. Market gardeners do this faithfully but 

 the amateur is apt to be careless about it and to trust to frequently 

 filling the checks instead of regularly stirring the soil. This tends 

 to cement the surface, exclude the air and make the soil sodden. 

 The plants lose their free, healthy growth and show their distress. 



