CHAPTER XX 

 IRRIGATION TOOLS AND DEVICES 



FARMING under irrigation may and does use practically 

 every approved farm tool found desirable under humid 

 conditions. Every refinement known to agriculture may 

 be practised with profit by the farmer under the ditch. 

 Plowing at the correct time, to the best depth and by the 

 accepted methods, lies at the foundation of successful 

 irrigation-farming and humid-farming. To plant correctly; 

 to supply the plants with sufficient food; to remove weeds, 

 and to harvest wisely are all practices to be observed as 

 carefully by the irrigation-farmer as by the rainfall- 

 farmer. 



The special tools and devices for irrigation farming are 

 those only that are used directly for the distribution upon 

 the land of water from the canal and the conservation of 

 it in the soil. 



251. Clearing and breaking the land. The pioneer 

 irrigationist will usually find his new farm unbroken. 

 It is either covered by sage-brush or similar plants or in 

 the firm sod of the plains. Sod land may be easily broken 

 by a breaking plow, many forms of which are found on the 

 market. 



Sage-brush land is, however, much more difficult to 

 clear. One of the most effective methods is to drag over 

 the land two parallel railroad irons which pull up most of 

 the sage-brush. The remaining clumps must be grubbed 

 out by hand. Sometimes the railroad irons are joined in a 



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