238 DKY FARMING 



the stream, to allow this to be done. Proper sluice gates 

 are, of course, installed in these dykes. 



189. The Border System. This is a modification of the 

 flooding system and is very successful on hay and past- 

 ure lands and will doubtless be used to a greater and 

 greater extent on the prairie farms as development goes 



Fig. 84. The "V" Ditcher at Work. 

 Making contour ditches for irrigating a grain field. 



on. The field (before seeding) is laid out in strips, two 

 or three or four rods wide, up and down the slope of the 

 land. Separating these strips, ridges six to eight inches 

 high are thrown up. They are so arranged that where 

 water is turned into one of these strips it will spread 

 out evenly between the ridges and irrigate the whole 

 length of the strip uniformly with less labor than is 

 usually required with the ordinary flooding method. The 

 entire field, ridges and all, are seeded. 



