122 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



TURN-OUT BOX WITH WEIR S3S 



The accompany- 

 ing illustrations 

 show methods for 

 taking water from 

 the main flume or 

 pipe line for the 

 purpose of meas- 

 urement by means 

 of weirs. 



Fig. 1. Weir 

 m e a s uring box 



with turn-out '' lg 



from open flume. This arrangement is extensively 

 used and well adapted for fairly correct water meas- 

 urement. The wooden gate shown in the flume is 



Fig. 2 and 



Fig. 3 show meth- 

 ods for taking off 

 water from pipe 

 distributing lines. 

 An open wooden 

 or concrete box is 

 used, fitted with a 

 weir or a miner's 

 inch plate for 

 m e a s u r ing the 

 amount of water 

 passing to the irrigator. A sliding gate or an ad- 

 justable valve is used for taking off the proper quan- 



Fig. 2. 



partially closed so as to direct the proper amount of 

 water over the weir in the measuring box to the 

 irrigator. 



Fig. 3. 



tity from the main supply flowing through the pipe 

 line. 



YOUR WOOD LOT? IT'S MONEY, FUEL, FERTILIZER 



EVERY farmer needs fuel ; every farmer needs 

 fertilizer ; and every farm woodlot needs im- 

 provement. Why not kiH all three birds with one 

 stone? By judiciously planned thinnings the con- 

 dition of the woodlot can be greatly improved ; the 

 material removed in the thinnings can be burned 

 as firewood, and the -wood ashes left are so rich in 

 potash as to make a valuable fertilizer. 



The woodlot is, perhaps, the only farm crop 

 to which the farmer has not considered it necessary 

 to devote any care. His grains are sowed on care- 

 fully prepared soil ; his vegetables are cultivated, 

 and his fruit trees are pruned and sprayed; his 

 forest trees alone are left to look out for themselves. 

 This is the more remarkable when it is taken into 

 consideration that any labor expended on the wood- 

 lot not only improves the final crop, but ordinarily 

 pays for itself as well. No detailed technical knowl- 

 edge is required for the work, all that is necessary 

 is the exercise of common sense. 



It is obvious that the trees in any woodlot are 

 not all of equal value. Some are taller, straighter, 

 thriftier, and of species which yield more valuable 

 wood than others. It is also obvious that there is 

 a constant struggle going on between the trees for 

 light and growing space. The object of thinning 

 is simply to give the best trees the advantage in 

 this struggle by removing the poorer ones which 

 interfere with their development. 



First of all, defective trees should be removed. 



This includes trees attacked by insects or fungi 

 (conks), trees with fire-scarred butts, with tops 

 broken off by wind or lightning, and in general all 

 trees which are unthrifty from any cause. Next 

 come the trees of poor form, such as very crooked 

 or very branchy ones, which are interfering with 

 the growth of better formed neighbors. And finally 

 are the trees of less valuable species, such as dog- 

 wood, ironwood, and hornbeam. These not only 

 take up space that might better be occupied by 

 such species as oak, hickory and ash, but also, as a 

 rule, produce seed more abundantly and so repro- 

 duce themselves at the expense of more desirable 

 trees. 



While the wood removed in these thinnings 

 is frequently of no value for other purposes, it can 

 practically always be used to advantage for fuel. 

 In this way the work can be made to pay for it- 

 self, particularly when the future use of the wood 

 ashes for fertilizer is borne in mind. The essen- 

 tial point to remember in making such thinnings is 

 that the woodlot is a tree society, in which the best 

 trees should be given every chance to attain the 

 greatest possible development by the removal and 

 utilization of the unfit. 



SEND $1.00 FOR THE IRRIGATION AGE 

 ONE YEAR AND THE PRIMER OF 

 IRRIGATION. 



