52 GARDEN FARMING 



made by sewing the two edges of a strip of muslin about nine 

 inches wide together. Such a tube should be thrown down along 

 the line of the plants to be watered, and a flow of water under 

 sufficient head to fill the tube should be supplied. If a seed bed 

 is being moistened, the tense tube can be rolled over the bed from 

 side to side, and the water which oozes through the meshes of the 

 cloth will moisten the bed sufficiently. This plan can be adopted 

 for small plants in rows as well as for seed beds ; in fact, it is 

 sometimes used to irrigate celery. 



The furrow system. Crops, such as head lettuce and celery, 

 which will not permit the use of water on the foliage can best be 

 irrigated by the furrow system. This does not require water under 

 pressure, but the land must be carefully graded and leveled and the 

 rows run so as to lead the water at a uniform rate of flow from one 

 end to the other. To irrigate by this system it is necessary to have 

 head ditches on the highest ground, from which water can be 

 drawn by diversion dams or by pipes or lath boxes inserted in the 

 bank of the head ditch to supply the furrow between the row of 

 plants to be watered. As a rule, a small stream of water flowing 

 slowly through the furrows is more effective than a large volume of 

 water flowing quickly. The furrow plan is adapted only to field 

 operations and is essential for only those crops which will not 

 tolerate overhead watering or for those which suffer severely from 

 blights and rots developed by the presence of moisture on the 

 leaves. The most annoying pests of this character are celery blight 

 and cucumber mildew. 



In intensive industries where valuable crops are being grown, 

 irrigation is a most important factor and should be considered as a 

 regular part of the equipment in the culture of certain crops. 



Subirrigation. Subirrigation, as the name implies, is the method 

 of applying water beneath the surface of the soil. This system of 

 watering is used to a limited extent. It is employed in a few green- 

 houses devoted to the culture of lettuce, and in a few gardens 

 where intensive cultivation is practiced. It is economical of water, 

 places the moisture where it will serve the plant best, and is of 

 special advantage for plants susceptible to leaf diseases. A variety 

 of devices are used to carry the moisture into the soil. The most 

 common is drain tile placed in a carefully graded ditch or furrow 



