THE IKBJGATION AGE. 



819 



flow from the first or highest ditch may be troughed to a 

 lower one and so on indefinitely. Wooden troughs of four- 

 inch stuff nailed together in the form of a V, with two 

 or three cross-cleets at the top to prevent warping, are 

 very serviceable, and being about sixteen feet in length, 

 comparatively light, and therefore easy to handle, may 

 be made to reach any desired distance by overlapping. Or, 

 the overflow from a series of these ridge d : tches may be col- 

 lected into a ditch and carried to small fruits or joined with 

 a large stream. The simplicity of the arrangement, though 

 requiring some labor at first in establishing the proper grade, 

 fairly compensates for that work and care, for during the 

 rest of the season the irrigation is automatic, that is, it goes 

 on uninterruptedly and without any ass : stance. All the 

 repairs needed will be a few strokes of the hoe, a trifle of 

 raking, and the land will always be ready for any kind of 

 crop or succession of crops. Care should be taken not to 

 puddle the bottom or sides of the ridge ditches, as in case of 

 a reservoir. On the contrary the water should occasion- 

 ally be shut off and the ditch raked up to open the soil, 

 for the object of these ditches is not to store or hold water, 

 but to enablj the water to seep or leach out into the soil. 



There is never any danger of the soil becoming soggy, 

 for the quantity of water is small, regulated to suit the 

 demands of the plants, and to allow for a slight evaporation. 

 Depressed Beds. 



Growing out of the ditch-bank irrigation is the depressed 

 or sunken bed system, which is quite similar, the water being 

 ted from ridge ditches, but instead of percolating the water 

 is run directly over and upon the soil after the manner of 



For the hot, dry season, where there is no danger of 

 over-saturating the soil, the depressed bed is available for 

 all kinds of vegetables, small fruits and flowers, the use of 

 it showing marvelous results. 



The system is in common use in Europe, where the heat 

 is not excessive, and where a light sandy soil is under culti- 

 vation. It is the system adopted by the market gardeners 

 in the sand hills south of the city of San Francisco, where 

 the vegetable gardeners have transformed large areas of 

 apparently worthless land into terraces, and on these have 

 arranged depressed beds in which enormous quantities of 

 succulent vegetables are grown for the city market. The 

 water is raised by windmills and pumps from wells sunk in 

 low spots, and delivered to small flumes which run from 

 the windmill towers to the opposite hillsides. The water, is 

 flowed upon the highest terrace and conveyed thence by 

 means of troughs and small ridge ditches from terrace to 

 terrace and all the beds filled. 



In all cases of surface or ditch irrigation the land must 

 be laid out to suit the flow of the water, which is neces- 

 sarily down hill, so to speak. If the land is not smooth on 

 a level or slope, it must be leveled or graded by means 

 of a scraper or other device for removing uneven portions 

 and hillocks. If the land is too uneven to be irrigated uni- 

 formly, then sub-irrigation is the only remedy, or piping 

 water to the tops of the ridges, or by establishing a reser- 

 voir on the highest spot, and thence running ditches in every 

 direction after tracing or laying out the courses with the 

 leveler as related in another and previous chapter. 



As much cure must be taken proportionately in field 



Hart-Parr Engine, Owned by Armstrong Live Stock Co. Breaking Gumbo near t'aco, Mont. 



This engine is hauling a ten disc Emerson Engine Gang Plow. The sub-surface packer is 

 so set as to pack the ground twice as it laps one-half. The ground in the center of the 

 picture shows the effect of this combination while that at the extreme right where no packer 

 was used gives the contrast and shows the great value of doing the work in this way. By pack- 

 ing the ground twice with a sub-surface packer a* it is plowed capillary connection is restored 

 and a surface mulch made thus breaking the sod,*and preparing an excellent seed bed at one 

 trip. It is in such ways as this that one gets the most good from the epoch-making Modern 

 Farm Horse. 



flooding. The land is not sloped but is flat, or level, a small 

 flow, however, being desirable rather than objectionable. It 

 is adapted to very light and unretentive soil and for shallow 

 rooting plants like strawberries. 



The land is laid out in rectangular checks, or any other 

 desired form, and round the sides of the checks are elevated 

 ridges upon the top of which are laid ditches in which the 

 water flows slowly and quietly. The water is admitted to the 

 checks from several points at the same time and distributes 

 itself over the surface uniformly, slowly soaking into the 

 soil. 



In the hot summer months when it is desirable to main- 

 tain the growth of shallow rooted plants, it is an admirable 

 system, and is enhanced in its effects by spreading over the 

 soil a mulch of rotten straw, or coarse manure under which, 

 protected from the sun, the water slowly spreads with very 

 little evaporation. It possesses more beneficial aspects than 

 mulching and sprinkling, for the reason that the water is 

 retarded by the presence of the mulch from reaching the 

 roots of the plants, where it is needed, and evaporation is 

 much more rapid. 



culture as in the case of small kitchen gardens, the principle 

 being the same. 



To put land in shape to irrigate it should first be plowed 

 as deep as possible and then cut into beds of a larger or 

 smaller size, depending upon the quantity of land to be 

 irrigated and the amount of water at the disposal of the 

 farmer. This may be done by means of a drag constructed 

 in the shape of the letter A, from eight to twelve feet 

 and more at the bottom, running to a point at the top. The 

 land is dragged by drawing the A-shaped contrivance point 

 first across the field from side to side. The wide spread- 

 ing ends of the drag gather in the loose earth, clods and 

 other rough material and heap them up behind in the 

 shape of a ridge. These beds may be made from sixteen 

 to eighty feet wide and ten to forty rods long ; it all depends 

 upon the quantity of water at hand to fill them. 



After the field has been laid off into beds, the ground 



between the ridges must be leveled if uneven or humpy, 



and for this purpose a scraper will be serviceable. By it 



the humps should be scraped into the low places, and then 



(Continued on page 840.) 



