METHODS OF APPLYING WATER. 187 



soil by breaking down the open strudlure. It may be 

 said that, as generally applied, irrigation is apt to leave 

 the soil compadl and in condition to become very hard 

 as it dries. 



Underground Flumes and Stand-pipes. — In 

 Southern California, where water is scarce and most 

 economically applied, the preferred orchard system is 

 that of the underground lateral to convey the water to 

 the place of its application. The scheme is to have 

 the water delivered by underground cement or iron 

 pipes at the highest point of each ten-acre lot. This 

 delivery is ordinarily made by a cement hydrant or 

 pipe, opening into a flume made of wood, brick, or vit- 

 rified pipe, extending entirely across the plot to be 

 irrigated. If it be trees or vines that are to be irri- 

 gated, there will be from two to eight furrows plowed 

 between the rows at right angles with the flume and 

 extending in the same diredlion with the grade of the 

 land. Flumes made of redwood either V-shaped or 

 square are largely used, and opposite each furrow and 

 opening diredlly into it an auger-hole in the plank is 

 bored, which is covered with a galvanized iron gate 

 set in a slide, the whole thing being cheaply provided 

 but very effec5tive. 



The water having been turned into a flume from 

 the hydrant, the slides over the apertures are adjusted 

 so as to allow exadlly the amount to escape that is de- 

 sired. Slow saturation is the desideratum rather than 

 sudden flooding, and by using these gates the flow 

 may be adjusted to a nicety and the water then left to 

 itself, no watching being necessary, and no constant 

 labor with the shovel, as when water is applied from 



