50 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



apt to be careless about it and to trust to frequently rilling 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 flow slowly if the ground is nearly 

 level; if slightly sloping, small dams are made at such distances 

 apart as are necessary to hold the water at about uniform depth 

 below the surfaces of the beds. In this system the distribution of the 

 water is very largely accomplished by the capillarity of the soil, 

 though the market gardeners who affect this method also shower 



Depressed Beds and Irrigation System. 



Raised Beds or Ridges Irrigated by Capillarity. 



the plants from time to time by throwing the water up from the 

 ditch with a scoop shovel or a shallow pan. The narrow ditches 

 serve as walks in working around the beds and rubber boots are in 

 request. By this system ample water supplies are constantly had 

 within reach of the roots and as the surface is never puddled it is 

 easy to keep it loose and open to the air. When the crop is gathered 

 the whole field is deeply broken up with the plow and harrow and 

 the whole system laid out anew, as soon as, in the course of rotation, 

 a crop requiring such hydropathic treatment comes again to the 

 ground. 



