Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 267 



1. Construct your main ditch from the source of water supply to 

 the land to be irrigated sufficiently large to carry all the water you 

 want, giving it a grade of not less than eighteen inches nor more than 

 six feet to the mile, depending upon the size of the ditch and the soil 

 through which it runs. 



2. Construct your lateral ditches so as to command the highest part 

 of your land ; for it is a maxim in this business that, if you thoroughly 

 irrigate the high places, the low ones will take care of themselves. 



3. When you irrigate, do it thoroughly ; wet the ground at least 

 eighteen inches deep. 



4. After irrigating, always (except it be grass or grain land) stir the 

 surface soil as soon as its condition will permit. This is imperative, 

 if you wish to enjoy the full benefit of irrigation and enrich your 

 land every time you water it. 



5. Don't irrigate too much ; a thorough wetting every three weeks, 

 where there is no rain-fall, is amply sufficient. Too much irrigating 

 causes a spindling, unhealthy growth. 



6. For gardens, small fruits, etc., irrigate under the surface by means 

 of covered tiles or boxes, and you will see a growth on poor soil that 

 will far surpass the growth on the richest land unirrigated. I have 

 been experimenting the last five years on this peculiar system of irri- 

 gation for gardens and small fruits, and know it to be a thorough 

 success. Any person having a small piece of land and the command 

 of a little water can have a certainty of a crop, and bid defiance to the 

 seasons. 



Ceows, Enemies to Birds. 

 Mr. J. H. Parsons, Franklin, N. Y. — "We have in our yard more than 

 100 trees, large and small. Orioles, robins, cat-birds, wrens, sparrows 

 and other birds seem to appreciate the situation, and warble forth their 

 thanks every morning, to the infinite delight of the family. Last year, 

 in June, during the earliest morning hours, the crows would come 

 within twenty feet of the house, searching among the trees, not for 

 " grubs," but for birds' nests. Later in the morning they would be 

 seen in the orchards, flying from tree to tree on the same nefarious 

 business, or pursuing parent birds on the wing. Admit that a crow 

 destroys several hundred grubs during the season, it is equally true 

 that he destroys every bird's nest he can find. Meadow larks, which, 

 twenty years ago, were numerous, have nearly disappeared with us, 

 and the bobolinks are becoming fewer every year. The mowing- 

 machine may have contributed to this result in part, but the crow, a 



