RAISED AND LOWERED BEDS. 61 



of sub-irrigation as well as storage, for the water reaches 

 the roots of the plants on the terrace by seepage." 



THE APPLICATION OF WATER. 



Many methods are followed in the distribution of water 

 in the garden. Which is the best method must be deter- 

 mined 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 and Depressed Beds. Where the garden soil is 

 very light, open and leachy, the vegetables are often grown 

 in checks or divisions larger or smaller, 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 fol- 

 lowed in California except in village garden practice. 

 The banks of the checks serve as walks upon which one 

 can go dry-shod from place to place and regulate the dis- 

 tribution 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. 



Raised Beds. These are just the reverse of the check 

 system, for the ground surface is raised a little by the 

 dirt thrown out in excavating narrow ditches about four 

 or five feet apart through which the water is allowed to 



