HORTICULTURE 115 



head of 50 miner's inches (1 cubic foot per second) was used on 10 

 acres. The streams when first turned into the furrows averaged 

 about 2 miner's inches, but as the water approached the lower end 

 they were reduced to 1 miner's inch or less, and this flow was run in 

 each furrow for 12 to 24 hours. The items of cost for 10 acres were 

 as given below : 



Making furrows and basins $ 6.50 



Irrigating 3.00 



Fifty inches of water, 24 hours, at 40 cents an hour 9.60 

 Rent of water stock. ' 12.00 



Total $31.10 



The Basin Method. Orchards are sometimes irrigated by first 

 forming ridges midway between the rows in two directions at right 

 angles to each other. This divides up the tract into a large number 

 of squares with a tree in the center of each. 



When the ground is hard or covered with weeds, a disk plow is 

 first run between the rows and then the loosened earth is formed into 

 a ridge by a ridger. If the soil is light, sandy, and free from weeds, 

 the disking is not necessary. Ridges are made in various ways of 

 both wood and steel or some combination of both. It consists of two 

 deep runners 14 to 18 inches high, 2 inches thick, and 6 to 8 feet 

 long. These runners are shod with steel which extends part way up 

 the inner side. They are 4 to 5 feet apart at the front end and 

 tapered to 16 to 24 inches at the rear. The runners are held firmly 

 in position by cross pieces on top, a floor, and straps of steel. The 

 height of the ridges varies with the depth of water to be applied, 

 which is from 4 to 9 inches. The ridges should be several inches 

 above the surface of the water when a basin is flooded. 



Several methods of flooding basins are practiced. In one a 

 ditch is run from the supply ditch at the head through each alternate 

 row space and the basins on each side are flooded in pairs, beginning 

 with the lowest. In the other method water is allowed to flow 

 through openings into each basin of a tier in a zigzag course from 

 the top to the bottom of the orchard. In this plan the upper basins 

 receive the most water. Under gravity canals, where water is abun- 

 dant, the water is turned into the upper basin until it is full, when it 

 overflows into the next, and so on down the tier. The irrigator then 

 begins at the lower end and repairs the breaks, leaving each basin 

 full of water. 



The Check Method. Where this method is practiced it fre- 

 quently happens that land on which alfalfa has been grown is 

 planted to fruit trees. In plowing down the alfalfa and setting out 

 the trees, the levees undergo little change and the checks can be 

 flooded if it is considered best. A better plan is to furrow the floor 

 of each check. The water is admitted through the check box which 

 was used for the alfalfa and conducted into a short head ditch, from 

 which it is distributed to the furrows. The chief objection to this 

 method is that the checks are too small for orchard tracts in furrow 

 irrigation. . , 



