66 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



for more than one season unless a high velocity is used, and it will not 

 stop the activities of burrowing animals. Clay puddle will not prevent 

 the burrowing of animals and weeds grow rapidly, especially since the 

 velocity of the water must be small in order to prevent the eroding or 

 washing of the lining. A concrete lining has none of these disadvantages 

 and the only objection is its higher first cost. But where water is valu- 

 able its expense is well justified. In southern California the use of con- 

 crete lining dates from about 1880, when the increasing value of water 

 made it necessary to do away with losses. Since that time practically all 

 canals in that section have been lined with concrete, and in some cases 

 replaced with concrete pipes. Prof. B. A. Etcheverry. 



Oiling Irrigation Hose. 



What is the kind of oil to soak cloth hose in, to preserve it and' 

 to keep it from leaking water? 



Use boiled linseed oil, to which has been added a liberal amount of 

 litharge, for drying purposes. Apply with an ordinary paint brush. 



How Much Water for Four Acres? 



How much water do I need for four acres of heavy loam in fruit 

 trees mostly young trees? 



It requires local experience to tell how much water is needed in any 

 place, and some wideawake neighbor can advise you exactly. Theoreti- 

 cally you might expect to carry 950 trees, while they are young, with one 

 miner's inch continuous flow, delivered in multiples, of course, according 

 to the number of days intervening between the runs. The duty of that 

 much water will depend upon the retentiveness of the soil ; also upon 

 how well you handle the water and how much you conserve by good 

 cultivation. 



Water Conduits to Take Less Land. 



I am laying out some ditches to carry about 4.2 second feet of 

 water. There is a ditch described in Farmer's Bulletin 375, having this 

 capacity of 4.2 second feet. It takes up too much land as it is 12 feet 

 wide over all. Would it be possible to make a ditch with very much 

 steeper banks than the one mentioned by oiling it with an asphalt base 

 oil to protect it from erosion? The soil is clay loam. 



The ditch to which you refer can be built with steeper slopes, so 

 that it will not need to take over about eight feet of ground if slopes of 

 1 :1 are used. The use of the asphalt base oil would not probably be of 

 any particular advantage, as a clay loam soil would probably stand on 

 this slope. To save the land, an 18-inch pipe would give about the same 

 capacity as this ditch. Also a flume, 18 inches wide by 12 inches deep, 

 would carry the same amount of water. The pipe could be buried, so 

 as to require practically no space and the flume would also need little 

 width. 



