274 SOILS 



Garden Vegetables. These are irrigated by flood- 

 ing, furrows, and various modifications of both 

 systems. A common method is to make furrows 

 between rows four to six feet apart or in 

 alternate spaces, the water not being allowed to 

 flow outside these furrows. Another method is to 

 lay off the garden into small basins surrounded by 

 ridges four to five inches high and six to eight inches 

 wide. In some cases furrows six inches deep and 

 about eighteen inches apart are made and the 

 plants grow on the high broad ridges between them. 

 Or each row of plants may be set in a narrow basin, 

 with a ridge between rows, the basin being short so 

 that it can be flooded quickly. Vine vegetables, as 

 cucumbers and melons, are commonly grown be- 

 tween irrigation furrows six feet apart, the seeds 

 being planted near the edge of the furrows and 

 the vines being spread on the broad ridge between 

 two furrows. Depressed and raised bed. irrigation 

 are also used extensively for vegetables. It is 

 especially important that garden irrigation be 

 followed by cultivation as soon as the ground can 

 be workecf. 



COST OF IRRIGATION 



This depends upon so many factors that nothing 

 at all definite can DC stated, as is illustrated in the 

 following general quotations: 



The yearly cost of water in southern California 

 is from $3 to $6 per acre. In Orange County, 

 California, water sells for about $4.75 per acre foot. 

 In Riverside County it cost as high as $15 per acre 

 in the dry year of 1900. In Los Angeles County 

 it was sold from 1898 to 1900 for $18 to $30 per 

 acre foot. Hydrant water bought from a city or 



