THE important part that water plays 

 in promoting plant-growth is, in 

 an indefinite and general way, ap- 

 preciated by everyone. Of all the factors 

 having a bearing on plant growth, water 



Suggestions to the New Irrigator 



A. E. Meighen, Irrigation Engineer, Kamloops, British Columbia 



obtained by grading. It is impossible to 

 get the best results on a piece of land 

 of uneven surface. Some portions of it 

 will get too much water, and others too 

 little. For furrow irrigation, the ideal 



A Level Stretch May Be 



Kor orchard irrisating, the furrow systeta is used. 



is next in importance only to light and 

 heat, but even in irrigated countries, the 

 fact that results depend on the amount 

 and times of application, is little under- 

 stood. 



Scientific irrigation is the application 

 of water in such quantities, at such times 

 and in such a manner that, with proper 

 cultivation of the soil, the most favor- 

 able conditions for plant life are ob- 

 tained. There are five factors which in- 

 fluence plant-growth — light, heat, water, 

 soil-texture and plant food. In arid 

 countries, the first two are generally 

 bountifully supplied by nature. The other 

 three the irrigator largely controls. 

 When it is understood that the last two 

 arc greatly influenced by the knowledge 

 and skill displayed by the irrigator in the 

 application of water, it will be seen how 

 important it is that an irrigator should 

 study the best methods and have his land 

 in such shape that he can apply these 

 methods. 



A settler coming from a non-irrigat- 

 ^ing country to take up land under an 

 irrigation system would be wise to take 

 ^certain precautions. He .should, of 

 I course, a.sccrtain that the water-rights 

 'of the .system are what they are repre- 

 sented to be, that the water supply is 

 ample, and the distributing system satis- 

 factory. 



In the selection of a lot, the main 



thing to consider, after soil, is the sur- 



[facc of the land, whether or not water 



ican be evenly and ea.sily distributed 



[over it; if not, the proper slope must be 



Irrigated in This Manner 



See ilhiHtrations on front cover and on page 212. 



lot should have a gradual slope in one 

 direction of from one to two and a half 

 feet in the hundred, depending on the 

 character of the soil. 



BEST SYSTEMS FOR ORCHARDS 



Having secured such a lot, the next 

 thing to consider is the method to be 

 adopted for irrigating. For fruit trees, 

 the most satisfactory is the furrow sys- 

 tem. This consists of running a number 

 of plowed furrows (the number depend- 

 ing on the age of the trees) between 



the tree rows, in which very small 

 streams of water are run for a couple of 

 days, supplied from a lateral along the 

 high end of the lot. By this method the 

 soil is evenly and thoroughly irrigated, 

 leaving the land in the condition it would 

 be after several days of light rain. 



The streams entering the furrows from 

 the lateral should be under control, and 

 easily regulated. For this reason, in- 

 stead of a dirt ditch, a square wooden 

 flume should be made of one and one- 

 quarter inch by twelve inch boards. On 

 the side of this flume next to the orchard 

 and just to clear the bottom, one and 

 one-quarter inch holes are bored every 

 two feet. Each of these holes furnishes 

 the water to one furrow. Over the holes 

 are nailed gates made of galvanized 

 iron two and one-half inches long by two 

 inches wide, the sides of which are turn- 

 ed over to form grooves. A hole one 

 and one-quarter inches in diameter is 

 cut in the gate and a slide of galvanized 

 iron is made to fit in the grooves. By 

 means of this slide, the supply to each 

 furrow can be regulated to a nicety. 



Irrigation under these conditions is a 

 pleasure. A man can easily irrigat£ ten 

 acres in two or three days with absolute- 

 ly no waste of water. 



QUANTITY OF WATER REQUIRED 



The quantity of water required to pro- 

 duce the best crops is a matter in which 

 no fixed standard can be made, depend- 

 ing, as it does, on climate, kinds of 

 crops and character of soil. It is almost 

 an invariable rule, however, that irriga- 



Irrigationitts Vititing Head Gate of Grey Canal 



At time of rcccnl convention of Wenlern Canada IrriiiHtion AsHoeiatloii 



