flooding, Checks and Basins. 175 
slide of the gate it will wash out. I generally shut the gate down the thick- 
ness of my finger. In this way each gate can be regulated very nicely. 
All flume material should be of the best soft redwood, as the hard warps 
and cracks.- 
At the Lower End.—As all conditions have to be very favor- 
able if there is no overflow at the lower end of the furrow-face and 
as the water has less chance to penetrate there it is common to 
1un cross-furrows or to make cross-checks which will retain 
water at this point until it soaks in. Others locate an alfalfa 
patch below the orchard into which the overflow passes and is 
utilized. 
The Number of Furrows.—There is a wide variation in prac- 
tise in the number of furrows employed for different soils and 
different ages of trees. This must be determined by local ob- 
servation. 
Flooding, Checks, and Basins —These are different methods 
of bringing the water to bear upon a broad expanse of surface, 
and are best fitted for deep, leachy soils, in which, from the di- 
rect downward course of the water, the distribution by furrows 
would be very imperfect. 
Flooding, as the terin implies, consists in allowing the water 
to flow over the whole surface of the ground, dirt being, how- 
ever, drawn up around the tree to prevent access of water to the 
bark, which is a cause of serious disease. Flooding is done by 
running a considerable head of water broadcast down each sev- 
eral row, shifting it from one to another as soon as the stream 
has run through. To use this method the ground must be quite 
level, or serious washing is likely to ensue, aad the soil must 
be of rather a porous character, for the water is not held in con- 
tact with the soil, as in other methods. It is obviously a bad 
method for soils disposed to run together, and is so uneven in 
distribution that it has been widely replaced by the check sys- 
tem, which is more rational. 
The Check System—The check system aims to hold a cer- 
tain depth of water, until it is absorbed, upon all parts of the 
surface except the fraction occupied by the banks or small levees 
which inclose the checks. It requires considerable displacement 
of soil, which necessitates hard work and constant attention while 
the water runs, which is not the case with the furrow system. 
The compensation must be found in the fact that, when well 
done, there is certainty that each tree has received a certain ade- 
quate amount of water in all parts of the soil-mass which belongs 
to it. 
There are various ways of practising the check system, ad- 
vancing in character from the simple plowing of furrows each 
* A. S, Bradford, Placentia. 
