THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



363 



lever. Each crosspiece is shod on the wearing side 

 with plates of steel three-eighths inch by six inches; 

 thus each acts as a scraper. The machine weighs 1,600 

 to 2,000 pounds. It is drawn by sixteen horses at- 

 tached by chains and eveners to the ends of the side 

 timbers. Cross braces of two by six-inch timbers give 

 rigidity against strains in drawing and turning. The 

 leveler is shown in the upper part of Figure 1. 



The machine is practically six levelers, each made 

 more effective by the total weight including the oper- 

 ators. The large chains and eveners by which the team 

 is attached are of no small value in preparing the way. 

 If the hummock is capped with brush the tops are 

 broken by the eveners, the stems are scattered, and 

 the earth is loosened. The first leveler carries before 

 it and gradually crushes most of the brush and re- 



MODIFIED BUCK SCRAPER. 



This implement is especially useful on slightly un- 

 even ground, small detached hummocks, or sma'll washes. 

 For this class of work it is preferable by far to any 

 other known to the writer. A similar machine has 

 been used in the San Joaquin Valley of California. 



This leveler, called a planer (Fig. 2), is composed 

 of a fourteen-foot horizontal or base timber four by 

 twelve inches, and a back of two-inch lumber eighteen 

 inches high. The timbers are held together by the 

 extension of the steel plate with which the base is shod, 

 and also by one-fourth and one and one-half inch iron 

 straps from the top of the base to a point near the 

 top of the vertical piece. The base is beveled toward 

 the front and shod with plate steel to make it take 

 dirt. Each end of the base extends one foot beyond 



First Irrigation by furrow on New Plymouth Colony Co's land near Payette. Idaho. 



moves the top of the knoll, spreading the sand in a 

 fan-shape in the nearest depression. The second lev- 

 eler takes off more earth and carries it farther; the 

 third continues the process. Scraper No. 4 is con- 

 trolled by the lever and can be raised and lowered at 

 will. This is of particular advantage if the knoll has 

 become compact; for as much of the weight of the 

 machine as desired can be applied to this scraper. 

 The fifth and sixth levelers complete the process. The 

 machine has the additional weight of the driver on 

 the front and the lever tender on the rear. If there 

 is uniformity in the size and position of the knolls, and 

 this is where this leveler has its greatest value, the 

 field is worked over in long narrow lands, from one- 

 half a mile to a mile long and 100 or 200 yards wide. 



the end of the vertical portion to which footboards 

 are bolted. Outside of and below the footboards are 

 the iron straps to which the teams are attached. On 

 each footboard stands a driver of four mules, and 

 together they govern the action of the planer. On 

 approaching a small mound the drivers stand on the 

 forward ends of the footboards, thus depressing the 

 blade. As the planer moves forward a layer of earth 

 is shaved off and gradually scattered as the weight of 

 the driver is shifted to the rear of the footboards. 

 The teams may be readily turned and the same mound 

 again approached. The manipulation is very simple, 

 easy and effective. The planer is of especial value in 

 conjunction with the rectangular leveler described. 

 (To be continued.) 



