ipll 



BETTER FRUIT 



P('g<^ 35 



begun. One man can water from about 

 two to five acres in twelve hours. 



The fine soils found in parts of the 

 Northwest have a tendency to run 

 together and form a crust after water is 

 spread over the surface. In order to 

 prevent puddling and baking, which 

 injure crops, the soil is moistened from 

 furrows. The spacing of the furrows 

 varies from twelve to forty-eight inches, 

 depending on the readiness with which 

 the water moistens the dry earth on each 

 side of the furrow. The furrower shown 

 in Figure 15 or some modification of 

 this implement is used to make the fur- 

 rows. Water is turned into these from 

 head ditches, usually through spouts or 

 tubes, Figure 12. When a field is prop- 

 erly prepared the task of irrigating b3' 

 this method is easy. In sandy loam, and 

 with furrows 500 to 1,000 feet long, the 

 water is allowed to run for about two 

 days. At first a larger head is used, but 

 after the bottom of each furrow is wet 

 a smaller stream will suffice. 



In irrigating alfalfa in checks. Figure 

 9, large heads are the rule. In the 

 Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts 

 of California ten or more cubic feet per 

 second is commonly used. With this 

 head three or four checks, each aver- 

 aging about three-fourths of an acre in 

 extent, are flooded at one time, and in 

 ten hours it is possible to irrigate six- 

 teen acres to an average depth of six 

 inches. With such facilities for dis- 

 tributing and controlling water the wet- 

 ting of the soil becomes an easy and 

 simple task. 



In irrigating alfalfa in borders in the 

 Yuma Valley. Arizona, a head of about 

 four cubic feet per second is divided 

 between three or four borders, and the 

 time required for the thin sheet of water 

 to traverse a field forty rods long 

 depends on the slope, soil, crop and 

 thoroughness of irrigation desired. The 

 usual time is one hour. 



Grain occupies an important place in 

 irrigated farming. Such crops as alfalfa, 

 beets, potatoes and fruit give much 

 greater returns, but grain growing must 

 needs be practiced to round out the 

 requirements of most diversified farms 



under irrigation. To the new settler 

 with little means it brings in quick 

 returns; it is one of the best preparatory 

 crops to sow on raw land, and it fits into 

 the ordinary crop rotation of the West 

 made up of grain, alfalfa and sugar beets 

 or potatoes. 



Grains of all kinds are irrigated mostly 

 by the flooding method. Figure 8, but 

 borders and furrows are also used to a 

 limited extent. The process of flooding 

 grain fields from field laterals is very 

 much the same as that for alfalfa, except 

 that the laterals are spaced closer. Less 

 care is likewise taken in forming these 

 channels, since they are not intended to 

 last beyond one irrigating season. After 

 the last watering, and before the grain is 

 ready to harvest, the field ditches are 

 filled in so as not to interfere with the 

 reaper. 



In the Yakima Valley in Washington 

 grain is irrigated from furrows spaced 

 twenty-four to thirty inches apart, and 

 in the Imperial Valley in California it is 

 flooded in borders about fifty feet in 

 width, and often a quarter of a mile long. 



The low duty of water on grain land 

 is largely due to the newness of the 

 ground and the rough condition of the 

 surface. Results of measurements made 



in different states of the West show that 

 large quantities of water, often exceed- 

 ing six acre feet per acre, are frequently 

 applied to grain fields. It is apparent 

 from the low or average yields obtained 

 that the greater part of the water is 

 wasted. Under skillful use more than 

 two acre feet per acre is seldom needed. 



The growing of sugar beets under irri- 

 gation is highly profitable when a heavy 

 tonnage can be secured. To accomplish 

 this desirable end alfalfa fields are fre- 

 quently plowed under to make way for 

 sugar beets, and when no rotation is 

 practiced the best soil is usually selected 

 for this crop. Perhaps the best soil for 

 sugar beets is a well drained clay loam, 

 with just enough sand or silt in its com- 

 position to work freely. Deep plowing 

 is essential, and as a rule it pays to sub- 

 soil. The two operations loosen the soil 

 to a depth of fourteen to sixteen inches. 

 Outside of California sugar beets are 

 irrigated by furrows. These start from 

 a head ditch running across the upper 

 margin of the field and extend down the 

 steepest slope, or diagonally if the slope 

 be too great. The furrower shown in 

 Figure 15 may be used to form the 

 furrows, provided the runners are spaced 

 to correspond with the beet rows, and 

 also provided that the soil is loose and 

 free. Shovels attached to cultivators are, 

 however, the most convenient imple- 

 ments for this purpose. It is well nigh 

 impossible to distribute water evenly in 

 long furrows, and for this reason their 

 length should not exceed a general aver- 

 age of 350 feet. Fields that are 600 to 

 1,000 feet long should be provided with 

 at least two head ditches, the lower one 

 acting as a drainage channel for the 

 upper half of the field and a supply ditch 

 for the lower half. 



Deep plowing, thorough cultivation, 

 leveling, grading and furrowing should 

 all be done with skill and care, but none 

 of these is so difficult to manage as an 

 even distribution of the water among 

 the furrows. In perhaps ninety per cent 

 of all beet irrigation too much water is 

 forced into some furrows, resulting in 

 flooding parts of the crop, which invari- 

 ably suffers in consequence. Some device 

 like those shown in Figures 12, 13 and 

 14 should be used to regulate the quan- 



FiGURE 9— CHECK METHOD OF IRRIGATION 



