CHAPTER IX 



IRRIGATION 



As previously stated trees and vines are usually 

 irrigated on the furrow system, that is, one or more 

 furrows are ploughed on each side of the rows, and 

 the water is allowed to run along them until the 

 orchard has had sufficient. The check system 

 flooding the land with an even sheet of water is 

 sometimes practised on level land of a rather stiff 

 nature ; but owing to the heavy cost of grading 

 where the land is at all hilly or undulating, this 

 method is not practised to any considerable extent. 



As it is necessary for the success of the orchard 

 that every tree should have as nearly as possible 

 the same amount of water, the watering should be 

 so managed that the water does not take too long 

 to reach the last trees of the row, nor should it be 

 so rapid as to cause a washing away of the soil at 

 the beginning of the row. As far as circumstances 

 will permit, this end may be attained by the appli- 

 cation of the following principles to the varying 

 conditions of soil and grade. 



Firstly: Fairly level land of a stiff nature. This 

 class of land, whether watered by flooding or by 

 furrow, may be irrigated with a large stream of 

 water running into the checks or along the furrows, 

 as the grade (if any) is insufficient to cause a wash- 

 ing away of soil, and the soil too tenacious to absorb 

 the water quickly. On the river flat land it is, on 

 the whole, not quite so essential to economize in the 

 use of water as it is on the highlands, as the under- 



