BETTER FRUIT 



Page J ? 



Figure S^PUMPING PLANT FOR RICE IRRIGATIOX 



or are removed by stump pullers, dyna- 

 mite or fire. 



Flooding the surface of land from 

 field ditches or laterals is the most 

 common mea'ns of wetting soil. This 

 method is general in the Rocky Moun- 

 tain States, and the conditions which 

 prevail there seem to be well adapted 

 to this mode of applying water. It 

 can be used on quite steep slopes and 

 in various other ways fits in with the 

 requirements of the irrigator on the 

 more elevated lands. It consists in lev- 

 eling, grading and smoothing the sur- 

 face of fields to such a degree that water 

 will readily flow over it. As a means of 

 distributing the water over the field 

 small ditches or laterals are located 

 along the best routes. These form a 

 network of channels which cut up the 

 field into small strips, which are usually 

 from fifty to one hundred or more feet 

 in width. Custom differs as to the direc- 

 tion of these field ditches. Sometimes 

 they extend down the steepest slope of 

 the field regardless of the fall, at other 

 times they follow grade lines and extend 

 from the head ditch in more or less 

 curved lines across the field, Figure S. 



In preparing a field for this method it 

 is first plowed and harrowed and then 

 graded. Several good home-made imple- 

 ments are used to reduce the surface to 

 an even, uniform grade. A convenient 

 implement to make field laterals is shown 

 in Figure 7. It consists of a lister plow, 

 either fourteen or sixteen-inch, attached 

 to a sulky frame and drawn by three 

 horses. When th& ditches extend down 

 the steepest slope of the field they are 

 located by eye, but when they are located 

 on grade lines, as in Figure 8, some kind 

 of a surveying instrument is frequently 

 required to establish the grades. A suit- 

 able fall for these small channels is one- 

 half to three-fourths inch to the rod. 



The check method is illustrated in a 

 general way in Figure 0. It consists in 

 the division of the field into checks, or 

 compartments, each having a compara- 

 tively level floor space surrounded by a 

 low, flat levee and a bordering sup- 

 ply ditch. 



The checks are made in one of two 

 more or less distinct ways. These are 

 known as the "rectangular," Figure 9, 

 and the "contour." The boundaries of 

 the former are straight, forming rec- 

 tangles which are usually much longer 

 in the direction of the least slope, while 

 the boundaries of the latter conform to 

 the natural slope of the land. 



The field should first be carefully sur- 

 veyed and the margins of the checks 

 marked by a plow furrow or in some 

 other way. The levees are formed by 

 scrapers, which remove the earth from 

 the high parts of the floor and deposit it 

 on the levees. Leveling devices of 

 various kinds are subsequently used to 

 grade the floor and trim the low embank- 

 ments. An essential feature in checking 

 land is to arrange each tier of checks 

 in such a way that each can be flooded 

 from a supply ditch. Wooden gates in 

 the ditch banks admit the required 

 amount of water. 



In all essential features the basin 

 nictlmd does not differ from that just 



described. The fact that basins are used 

 in the irrigation of orchards and checks 

 in the irrigation of alfalfa, and the further 

 fact that basins are much smaller and 

 last but for one season, have served to 

 distinguish between them and' to accord 

 to each a separate place. 



Orchards are prepared for irrigation 

 by this method by forming ridges of the 

 loose earth midway between the rows of 

 trees in both directions in the manner 

 shown in Figure 10. These ridges are 

 made with ordinary walking plows by 

 throwing up two furrows or else by a 

 ridger. When the top soil is light and 

 free from weeds only the ridger is 

 required, but in more compact soils and 

 on soils covered with weeds the surface 

 should first be disked. This method is 

 well adapted to the warmer portions of 

 California, Texas, Arizona and New 

 Mexico, where the winter irrigation of 

 orchards is becoming a fixed practice. 

 Water is then abundant and large quan- 

 tities can be applied when the land is 

 thus formed into small compartments. 



One of the most common ways of fit- 

 ting the surface to be flooded is to divide 

 each field into narrow strips or "lands" 

 by means of low, flat ridges of earth. 

 These ridges extend from the head ditch 

 at the upper margin of the field down the 

 steepest slope to the bottom. When the 

 slope is too steep they follow a diagonal 

 course. In either case the field is divided 

 into bands or borders, each of which is 

 watered separately. Figure 11 shows a 

 portion of the head ditch having three 

 gates, through which water is flowing 

 into as many borders. The tract is first 

 plowed or disked and then laid out in 

 narrow parallel strips by plow furrows, 

 which mark the locations of the levees. 

 On an average the levees are spaced 

 about fifty feet apart and extend a dis- 

 tance of 800 or more feet. They are usu- 

 ally formed with a scraper, which is 

 driven back and forth in a direction at 

 right angles to that of the markings, 

 and as each full scraper crosses a mark- 

 ing it is dumped and the surface is again 

 skimmed over to collect earth for the 

 next levee. The ridges or lc\-ees thus 



formed are too steep and irregular and 

 ihey are trimmed and flattened by suit- 

 able implements until their height is not 

 more than eight to ten inches and the 

 base is six to seven feet wide. The land 

 between the levees is carefully leveled 

 and graded so as to permit water to flow 

 in a thin sheet from the top to the bot- 

 tom of each border. 



With the exception of flooding from 

 field laterals, the furrow method is more 

 generally employed than any other. In 

 its main features it is extremely simple. 

 There is only the making of a furrow in 

 cultivated soil for the passage and 

 absorption of a small stream of water. 

 From so simple a beginning many modi- 

 fications have been evolved, most of 

 which pertain to devices employed to 

 distribute water among the furrows. 



The common practice among unskill- 

 ful irrigators on poorly prepared fields 

 results in an uneven wetting of the soil, 

 waste of water and reduced yields. 

 Before watering orchards or such crops as 

 sugar beets, potatoes and corn furrows 

 are made between the rows with a light 

 plow or cultivator. Water is then admit- 

 ted into the head ditch at the top of the 

 rows, its surface is raised by checks to 

 the required height and the furrows are 

 supplied with water by making openings 

 in the head ditch. The chief objection 

 to this crude and inexpensive plan is 

 the unequal distribution of water to the 

 furrows. - 



A more even division of water among 

 furrows can be made by using short 

 tubes in the lower bank of the head ditch. 

 These tubes are most frequently made 

 of laths or slightly larger strips of 

 boards, but may be made of cement, 

 iron or tin. Bj' means of check gates, 

 spaced near or far apart according as 

 the grade is steep or flat, the surface of 

 water is kept up to the proper height, 

 and the tubes are so placed that their 

 upper surfaces will be on the same level 

 and some little distance under water. 

 Figure V2 shows the distribution of water 

 from such boxes. In the Northwest, 

 where lumber is cheap, wooden flumes 

 with small openings on one side are 



