HORTICULTURE 107 



and scarcity of water. In many localities there is likewise great 

 scarcity at certain times. These rapidly changing conditions have 

 induced many water companies to save some of their heavy losses in 

 conveying water supplies by substituting pipes for open ditches in 

 earth, or else by making the ditches water-tight by an inpervious 

 lining. 



The high value and scarcity of water in natural streams have 

 likewise induced orchardists to install pumping plants to raise water 

 from underground sources. Reservoirs are also being built to sup- 

 plement the late summer flow of streams which fail to provide 

 enough water for all. 



The few typical examples which follow may not only give the 

 reader an idea of how orchards are supplied with water, but indicate 

 also the customary division into tracts to serve this and other pur- 

 poses. 



The Lewiston Basin is located where Clearwater River flows into 

 the Snake River in western Idaho, and varies from 700 to 1,900 feet 

 above sea level. A few years ago water was brought from neigh- 

 boring creeks and stored in a reservoir. The water required for or- 

 chard irrigation is conducted from this reservoir under pressure in 

 two lines of redwood stave pipes over the rolling hills which separate 

 the reservoir from the orchard lands. On these lands contour lines 

 were first established, and each quarter section was afterwards di- 

 vided into 40-acre tracts by 60-foot streets. These were further sub- 

 divided into eight 5-acre tracts, with a 20-foot alley through the 

 center. The large conduits from the reservoir are connected to 

 smaller lateral pipes laid in the alleys, and these in turn are tapped 

 by 3-inch pipes, which furnish water to the 5-acre tracts. 



The town of Corona, Cal., is hemmed in on all sides by lemon 

 and orange orchards. The chief water supply for these groves comes 

 from Ferris Basin, 40 miles distant. The Temescal Water Company 

 owns 3,600 ares of water-bearing lands in this basin, and at favor- 

 able points pumping plants have been installed. These plants are 

 operated by motors supplied with current from a central generating 

 station located at Ethenac. The discharge from each pump is meas- 

 ured over a rectangular wier having an automatic register. Small 

 lined channels convey the water from the pumps to the main con- 

 duit. The concrete lining of this conduit is composed of one part 

 cement to seven parts sand and gravel, having a thickness on the 

 slopes of 2% inches and on the bottom of 3 to 4 inches. The lining 

 is rendered still more impervious by the addition of a plaster coat 

 one-fourth of an inch in thickness, composed of one part of cement to 

 two parts of sand. The cost was 5% cents per square foot, or 55 

 cents per linear foot. The main conduit consists of about 30 miles of 

 lined canal and 10 miles of piping 30 inches in diameter. The 

 groves are laid out as a rule in 10-acre tracts, and piping of various 

 kinds conveys the water from the main to the highest point of each 

 tract, from which it is distributed between the rows in furrows. 



A large part of the water used by the Riverside Water Company 

 is pumped from the gravelly bed of the Santa Ana River. From 



