FURROW IRRIGATION 65 



slopes and flats irregularly intermingled often within the area of an 

 acre or two the lines of the mill frame and flume trestle so thin 

 and long and intercrossed as to suggest that a colossal spider had 

 spun her web upon the verdure. All this is hand work and 'back 

 work in cultivation and irrigation, in carrying manure up and pro- 

 duce down, and represents a fragment of the south of Europe cast 

 upon the map of California. 



Small Furrow Distribution. All the foregoing methods of dis- 

 tribution may suggest something for the American farm garden in 

 California providing the soil and situation are best served in such 

 ways, but for the most part the farm garden will be upon land of 

 moderate slope with loams which take water well and are fairly 

 retentive of it. Under such circumstances the distribution of water 

 in many small streams along furrows drawn by a small plow, ac- 

 complishing complete moistening without flooding of the surface, 

 is the; system to be adopted and conscientiously practiced. It is 

 most economical of water not only in the first application but by 

 conservation of its moisture by the thorough surface cultivation 

 which must follow each irrigation. Water is carried along the 

 ridge or ridges of the tract in a plank flume, of dimensions propor- 

 tional to the size of the area to be irrigated, and with many open- 

 ings, to be closed or opened at pleasure, so that small streams of 

 water can be brought out into many small furrows and allowed to 

 proceed slowly until they reach the bottom where the surplus may 

 be caught in a cross-furrow and carried to other uses. By this 

 method the water can be evenly distributed with hardly a stroke 

 of hand work and the soil, with its surface always open to access of 

 air, and never allowed to compact itself around the plants, affords 

 conditions perfectly adapted to thrifty, quick growth of the plants. 

 This method conforms best with the most economical laying off of 

 the farm garden, which will be urged later from other points of 

 view, viz. : the planting in long rows with uniform interspaces so 

 that horse-power and the best implements can be employed to their 

 fullest extent in every operation from the seed planting to the 

 gathering of the crop. 



Furrow Irrigation on Hillsides. It is often desirable to make 

 the farm garden on a hillside and this can be managed by horse 

 work without terracing more easily than one might think at first. 

 The plan must be to work nearly on contour lines in laying out the 

 rows of vegetables and in the subsequent cultivation and irrigation. 



