WINDMILLS FOR IRRIGATION. 67 



tour ditches hither and thither until every corner of the 

 very irregular slopes is reached. Short lines of vegeta- 

 bles are planted about at right angles to these small 

 permanent ditches and short spurs made with the hoe 

 so that the water is brought beside each individual plant. 

 As the slope is so broken and the soil so open, anything 

 like uniform seepage is out of the question. The appear- 

 ance of these gardens is exceedingly picturesque with 

 the little beds tucked in here and there, showing varying 

 shades of green o nminiature terraces and 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 weg upon the verdure. 

 All this is hand work and back work in cultivation and 

 irrigation, in carrying manure up and produce down, 

 and represents a fragment of the south of Europe cast 

 upon the map of California. 



Small Furrow Distribution. All the foregoing methods 

 of distribution 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, accomplishing complete moistening without flood- 

 ing of the surface, is the system to be adopted and con- 

 scientiously 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 

 proportional to the size of the area to be irrigated, and 

 with many openings, 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 



