l80 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



The Dammer. — An inexperienced farmer fre- 

 quently attempts to force water over too great dis- 

 tances in irrigating a grain field by the flooding system^ 

 The plow furrows or diagonal laterals, instead of being 

 from 50 to 100 feet apart, may be three times the dis- 

 tances, and in irrigating with a small flow it is diffcult 

 to cover all the intervening space. When the laterals 

 have been made in the grain fields with a ditch plow, 

 it is customary in some localities to run over them with 

 an implement called a dammer, usually drawn by one 

 horse, although a spiked team is often employed. The 

 dammer consists of a large shovel attached to handles 

 resembling those of a plow. As the horse travels, the 

 shovel collects the loose dirt in the bottom of the 

 double furrow, and when the driver raises the handles 

 it is deposited in a heap to form a dam. 



These dams are spaced from 40 to 75 feet apart, 

 depending somewhat on the slope of the furrow. 

 The objedl of these earth dams is to create a check, 

 and, throwing out the water, permit it to overflow the 

 lower bank. This being accomplished, the dam is 

 broken and the unused portion of the water, together 

 with the flow of the irrigation stream, is temporarily 

 checked by the next lower earth dam. I^ittle piles of 

 manure or dirt may be placed in the furrows for the 

 same purpose. These manure dams are not water- 

 tight, but are made so for a short time by covering the 

 up-stream face with two inches of earth. Much water 

 is often allowed to run to waste by locating the field 

 furrows on inclines too steep. In irrigating from steep 

 furrows more dams are required and the water is all 

 distributed from one point, whereas, on medium slopes. 



