244 



IRRIGATION PRACTICE 



only where there is an abundance of water, the small 

 grains are irrigated by the check or basin system. The 

 furrow method of irrigating the small grains is rapidly 

 coming into use, and promises to displace the more 

 extensively used flooding methods. Under the flooding 

 method, much labor is required to apply the water to the 

 land, but little labor to prepare the land for irrigation. 

 Under the furrow method little labor is needed to apply 

 the water, but the land must be carefully prepared before 

 the method can be employed. 



The method to be chosen depends on the soil and the 

 scarcity of water. Lands with a baking tendency, sown 



FIG. 58. Irrigating wheat. 



to grain, as already suggested, are cultivated with diffi- 

 culty. When the furrow method is employed on such 

 lands, only the soil touched by the water in the furrows 

 bakes, and cultivation is not so necessary. Other lands 

 wash easily. They are usually of very fine texture, and 

 are rich either in calcium sulphate with other somewhat 



