Laying out the Land 1 5 



sistance, as compared with the lime concrete chan- 

 neling, to the attacks of such alkalies as are often 

 dissolved by irrigation water; and to the fact that 

 if buried in the ground so that cultivation may take 

 place over them, less land is wasted for headlands 

 than is the case with open channels. 



During the last few years some hundreds of 

 chains of reinforced cement piping have been put 

 down at Berri for irrigation purposes, and where 

 these have been well laid the results have been very 

 satisfactory. 



POSITION OF CHANNELS. 



The greatest care should be exercised as to where 

 the channels are put down. Upon the position of 

 the channels depends the length of the rows of trees 

 and vines to be watered. Experience has shown 

 that in loose, sandy loam, rows five chains long are 

 enough, and that on no consideration should rows 

 over six chains long be watered in one section. On 

 hard flat land it "is possible to water with longer 

 rows than on sandy rises, but even here it is not wise 

 to have rows over 10 chains long. 



As by the furrow system of irrigation the water 

 is flowing for a considerable time past the first trees 

 of a row before it reaches the last one, therefore, the 

 longer the rows, the longer will the water take to 

 reach the end. On very long rows the first tree will 

 have had too much water before the last tree has 

 had enough, and the top of the land will in time 

 become water-logged, to the injury of the trees. In 

 any case, the surplus water will soak down the 

 slopes along the sub-soil, and should this in any case 

 come close to the surface of the ground, the water 

 will come up there in the form of seepage, bringing 

 the alkalies contained in the soil with it, and killing 

 the plants in its vicinity. Having short rows means, 



