IRRIGATION SESSION 



243 



practice of it. Some muck land men simply close the ditch 

 and raise the water table to a definite height. 



Then, the type of irrigation that is most commonly practic- 

 ed by upland vegetable producers and also to some extent by 

 the muck land men is the overhead system. In past years we 

 had many types of nozzles. Many of them were so construct- 

 ed that they would be placed after the fashion of a lawn 

 sprinkler every fifteen to thirty feet or more along a pipe 

 line. With that sort of a system you are doing one of two 

 things. Either you cover circles and leave some space dry, 

 or else, if you make those circles large enough to cover every- 

 thing, then there are some parts that are receiving double 

 service. In other words, you do not get an even distribution. 

 That type of sprinkler has been practically discarded. 



Nowadays we are using chiefly an overhead system of ir- 

 rigation generally known as the Skinner System. An acre 

 is laid out with a feed line either through the middle or at one 

 side. Lines of pipe are established about every fifty feet 

 across that acre. These pipes are set up on posts. About 

 every three feet are nozzles. They are threaded, made of 

 brass. With forty pounds pressure they will throw about 

 thirty feet. Those nozzles must be in perfect alignment on 

 that pipe. We have a union which makes it possible to turn 

 the whole line by means of a handle. The Manaway System 

 is similar. 



Question: What about the wind? 



Mr. Work : If the wind is strong, it may blow the water 

 quite a little. With moderate winds and fairly steady winds, 

 it compensates very well. 



A Member: It works better if the wind blows than if it 

 does not blow at all — it throws it over the ground more evenly. 



Mr. Work : That water comes down as the very gentlest 

 mist. It takes eight and one-half hours to put on an inch of 

 water. A three hundred foot line is operated with one hun- 

 dred feet of one and one-half inch pipe, one hundred feet of 

 one inch pipe, and one hundred feet of three-quarter inch. 



A Member: I have seen a Skinner System eight hundred 

 feet long. 



