68 CELERY CULTURE 



Wooden Flumes and Open Ditches. Where the 

 open ditch system of distributing the water is em- 

 ployed, the water can be conveyed from the pump 

 to the ditches by means of a long wooden trough 

 constructed by nailing three planks together and 

 leaving the top open. Where a large field is to be 

 watered, the trough or flume may be run entirely 

 along one side and secondary flumes taken off at 

 intervals to distribute the water to the ditches. The 

 secondary or distributing flumes should cross the 

 ditches and be raised about I foot from the ground, 

 openings being provided in the bottom of the flume 

 for the discharge of the water into the ditches. The 

 openings or traps in the bottom of the flume should 

 be cut with sloping edges and a piece of plank 

 having the same shape fitted to them in order to 

 stop the flow of water into any particular ditch. 

 Where the distributing flumes join the main flume 

 they should be provided Avith gates to control the 

 water, or the end of the distributing flume may 

 be placed beneath the main flume and the water 

 discharged through a trap in the bottom of the 

 main flume. The flumes will necessarily be sup- 

 ported upon trestles or posts set in the ground and 

 the end next .the pump must be raised several feet, 

 unless the ground slopes naturally, in order that 

 the water may flow freely through the flumes and 

 into the ditches. 



Iron pipes may be employed instead of the wood 

 flumes, numerous tees being inserted in the lines of 

 pipe for the discharge of the water. These open- 

 ings should be plugged and the plugs removed 



