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OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



out in the same length of time to a radius of ten feet from a valve 

 buried in the ground, or from a mere post hole three inches in diameter, 

 or from a hole that is one foot in diameter, or from a hole that is two 

 feet in diameter. This may seem a strange statement, yet if we will 

 consider that the area of a circle 20 feet in diameter is 314 square feet, 

 and that by making a hole 2 fee't in diameter we would only take away 

 3.14 feet, or about one per cent of the soil within the larger circle, it is 

 apparent that little is saved in point of time by making a large hole to 

 be filled up with extraneous and perhaps expensive material. 



As the cost of such a system as is recommended above would be about 

 $100 per acre, it still puts the system beyond the reach of most of the 

 ranchers, although the annual saving would be about 15 per cent on 

 this investment in labor, etc., without any reference to saving the water. 

 It is also impracticable where the water is distributed in open ditches, 

 as it requires some little pressure in order to distribute the water 

 through an inch pipe. Other means less expensive were therefore tried, 

 one of which has been quite successful. This system is called 



Inter-Irrigation. — It consists in distributing the water above ground, 

 but in disseminating it below the surface. This is done by means of 

 holes the width of an ordinary shovel dug to the depth of from 10 to 24 

 inches, according to the nature of the soil, in the center of each square 

 formed by four trees. On ground that is level or nearly so, a single 

 furrow is run down a little to the side of these holes; a furrow at right 

 angles to that furrow is dug to the hole, and the water is allowed to run 

 in and fill up the hole, which is kept full during the period of irriga- 

 tion. The water then passes on down the furrow and into the next 

 hole, and so on to the last hole in the orchard. Where the water can 

 be run diagonally through an orchard, or if the orchard is set quincunx, 

 there need be but one furrow in every other row. Where the ground is 

 rolling, or on side hills, it will be necessary to have wooden or other 

 troughs or a system of movable pipes to keep the ground from washing, 

 and it is always best to have troughs or pipes. The troughs in use at 

 Lenapuente are made from wooden strips 1x2 nailed on strips 1x3, 

 making a V-shaped trough. No joints are required, as a single length 

 is run from hole to hole. The cost of such troughs is about $18 per 

 acre where they run on the squares, or $12 per acre where they are run 

 every other row diagonally. The pipe used at Lenapuente, where the 

 water is delivered under pressure, is one-half inch iron, with a valve, 

 such as is above described, over each hole. The pipes are connected and 

 disconnected by means of a Wilgus union. Both troughs and pipes 

 can be easily transferred from one portion of an orchard to another. 



As to the objections to the system, there are apparently but two. 

 The first and most important objection is the difficulty of getting a 

 sufficiently long run of water to be able to irrigate in this manner; for 



