334 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



"The ground must be cultivated, say, about five 

 inches deep, so as to have plenty of loose soil with which 

 to throw up a high ridge. Then a four or six-horse 

 'ridger' should be run once each way between the rows, 

 if it is a citrus or deciduous orchard, or twice should 

 the trees be walnuts, because these trees are grown about 

 forty feet apart. After this is done the ridger should 

 be run entirely around the outside of the piece to be 

 irrigated, so as to have as perfect a ridge as possible on 

 the outside. One man will ridge about fifteen acres in 

 a day. The ridger should be built with a steel plate ex- 

 tending along the bottom of both sides, bolted to the in- 

 side and projecting about two inches, so as to take a 

 good hold of the ground. Then with one horse attached 

 to what is locally known as a 'jump scraper,' one side 

 of the checks should be closed up, for the ridger in mak- 

 ing the cross ridges breaks down the first ridge at its 

 intersection. These repairs were first made with a shovel, 

 but the 'jump scraper,' also locally called the 'horse- 

 shovel,' closes up the gaps very quickly. The practice 

 generally followed is to close up the high side of the 

 checks if the land does not cut by running water, but 

 if it cuts, close up the lower side. 



"After closing up the checks the ditches are plowed 

 out and then the V-shaped 'crowder' is run through 

 them. On lands inclined to cut, it is advisable that the 

 length of the rows to be irrigated should not be over 250 

 feet, but in heavy land this distance can be considerably 

 increased, if necessary, without danger of cutting the 

 ridges by too long a run of water. 



"If the checks have been closed up on the low side 

 of the ridge, it is better to run the water to the ends 

 of the ditch and water the last row first; but if the high 



