Laying out the Land 17 



have a grade of one in thirty or less, should not be 

 longer than three to four chains, the principle to 

 follow being: the steeper the grade the shorter the 

 rows. By this means the land can be watered by a 

 small stream running down the rows, which, while 

 strong enough to reach the end, is still not too 

 strong to cause much washing of soil from on top. 

 Long rows require a strong stream to flow along 

 them to reach the end, and this, on the steep slope, 

 washes deep gutters into the top portion of the land. 

 Where earth irrigation ditches are used it is 

 advisable that these should be on the lower part of 

 the holding. A certain amount of water, depending 

 on the nature of the soil, soaking out of an earth 

 channel on top of a rise, may, in time, cause seepage 

 to appear lower down the slopes. Hence an earth 

 channel should be situated on the lower portion of 

 the slope, and, to prevent washing out, should be 

 run along a level contour. 



