266 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



they have put out the second leaves they are thinned 

 to eight inches apart in the rows and then irrigated. 

 If the bugs bother we use tobacco dust. The tillage is 

 all done witii a plow and no hand-work is given except 

 to pull the weeds out of the rows. From the time 

 when the plants begin to run and set fruit we give an 

 irrigation every ten days or two weeks, and after the 

 picking season opens we irrigate every other day. 

 The cucumbers are always gathered early in the morn- 

 ing or late in the evening. We have never failed to 

 have a good crop. ' ' 



Cabbage. — Plant early varieties in rows two feet 

 apart and eighteen inches in the row. Late kinds 

 should be set three feet apart in two-foot rows. 

 Manuring is quite essential, and if negledled in the 

 preparation of the ground, liquid manure may easily be 

 supplied through the furrows and the plants will re- 

 spond readily by putting on a healthy growth. In 

 transplanting, the water should follow the work, and 

 another irrigation should be given the succeeding day ; 

 then lapse a day and irrigate again. Allow two more 

 days to go by and give still another but lighter irriga- 

 tion. All this is done to assist the plants to put forth 

 new roots and also to prevent wilting down. In irri- 

 gating cabbage it is essential not to allow the water to 

 flood the plants under any circumstances. If the work 

 of preparation and planting is properly done the water 

 will run through the furrows between the ridges, and 

 from their termination will run from one furrow to 

 another, until all the field is finally covered. It is the 

 small running stream long drawn out that counts, and 

 after a cabbage patch once receives a good wetting 



