32 



BULLETIN 917, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



heavy vine growth and cause uneven ripening. Beets should not 

 have water on their crowns. To irrigate before the crop is large 

 enough to shade the ground causes crusting of the soil. 'Potatoes 

 should be deeply ditched, so that the water will flow between the 

 rows, the surface of the stream being lower than the location of the 

 potatoes in the hill. Care must be taken to avoid an excess of water 

 in the soil and to prevent heavy crusting or packing. Good subsoil 

 drainage is necessary for the successful irrigation of all the crops 

 studied. At Rocky Ford the climate is somewhat different from that 

 of northern Colorado, and the crops need different care in the practice 

 of irrigation. 



Fig. 2j. —The cook wagon. This is the boarding house for the thrashing crew. 



Alfalfa was irrigated on an average of 3.5 times; oats, 2.6 times; 

 wheat, 2.7 times; beans, 3.8 times; beets, 4.1 times; cantaloupes, 6.6 

 times; and cucumbers, 4.7 times. A man irrigating alfalfa but three 

 times would turn on the water the first time May 1 to 15; next, June 

 1 to 10; and lastly, June 25 to July 5. If a fourth irrigation is given 

 it usually comes in September, or after the last crop is harvested. 

 Some farmers irrigate as often as six times for alfalfa. Grain, beets, 

 and beans are usually irrigated at planting time, so as to furnish 

 moisture for the germination of the seed. Cantaloupe and cucumber 

 crops are irrigated to germinate the seed. Water to germinate the 

 seed is applied to row crops by making furrows at the time of plant- 

 ing by attaching ditching shovels to the planter. Other irrigations 

 are applied by methods similar to those explained for the northern 

 Colorado regions. In the latter part of May cucumbers are given an 

 irrigation to bring up the seed. The other waterings follow at 

 regular intervals up to about August 25. 



