AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
375 
1875.1 
the whole length of the bank, all the better, if not, 
It will have to be let out little by little, through 
temporary notches in the bank, one set being closed 
and another opened consecutively as one strip after 
another has been sufficiently watered. In a field 
of this character, especially where there is an abun¬ 
dant supply of water, it is best to begin t'he irriga- 
Fig. 1.—FIELD WITH IRREGULAR SLOPE. 
tion with the highest gutter ; and indeed, if there 
is water enough, the whole field may be irrigated 
from this point, each subsequent gutter arresting 
and concentrating the diffused flow of the one 
above it, and starting it again in a uniform sheet. 
The whole will finally be collected and withdrawn 
by the outlet drain. Where the amount of water 
at command is slight, and more care is needed in 
its distribution, it may be well to begin with the 
lower pair of gutters and, in whatever way the 
work is done, it will usually be best to irrigate only 
one side of the field at a time, concentrating the 
whole flow in one volume. The direction of the 
water in the ditches may be most easily changed 
by the use of several hand-dams made of iron 
about Vie inch thick, and formed as shown in fig. 2. 
This dam must be large enough to close the chan¬ 
nel entirely. Placing one dam in the main channel 
below the lowest gutter, and another at the en¬ 
trance of gutter 5', the whole flow will be thrown 
into gutter 5; when the area reached by this gut¬ 
ter is thoroughly watered, by moving the dam to 
its entrance, the flow will he turned into 5 1 . By 
moving the dam in the main channel to a point just 
below the next pair of gutters, the water will be 
turned into these, and so on until the field is fin¬ 
ished. These portable dams will bring any part of 
the system under perfect control. 
2nd. Fig. 3 6hows the arrangement for a field 
having a uniform slope 
from N. to S. In this 
case the lateral gutters 
are to be managed as 
directed for the preced¬ 
ing case, but as the 
slope is uniform, they 
will be straight. The 
water after having com¬ 
pleted the irrigation, is 
carried to the outlet by the drains d, d. In this 
case, an in the other, the whole field, or the whole of 
each side may be flooded from the highest gutter, 
or it may be flooded little by little, according to 
the amount of water at command. 
3rd. Fig. 4 shows the arrangement for a perfectly 
level field. Here the expense of preparation will 
be greater, but still not beyond what the result will 
amply justify. The whole area must be thrown 
into “ lands,” or ridges, say about 20 yds. wide, each 
land having its crest at the positions of the black 
lines numbered from 1 to 10, with valleys between 
them as represented by the dotted lines. Nearly 
the whole of this work of grading can be done with 
the plow, back furrows being turned for the crests 
of the lands, and the dead furrows being in the 
valleys. For lands 20 yards wide the difference in 
elevation between crest and the valley should be 
about 18 inches. After sufficient earth has been 
thrown to the ridges to make the necessary differ¬ 
ence of elevation, a certain amount of hand-work 
will be necessary to give uniformity to the slope. 
After this, the whole field should be seeded down 
to grass and allowed to form a good 6od. Then 
the irrigating gutters and outlet drains should be 
formed on the crests and in the valleys, the sods 
being laid carefully aside and the small amount of 
earth excavated, spread where it will fill any irreg¬ 
ularities of surface that may be left. Then the sods 
should be returned to the gutters and drains and 
allowed sufficient time to take a good hold on the 
soil before the water is let in. This preparation 
may take two seasons, but it is to be considered 
that an irrigated meadow need never be brokeu up, 
so that the work now done is done for all time. 
If there is enough water to maintain its fertility, 
it will continue productive for generations. The 
“section” at the left-hand side of fig. 4 shows in 
an exaggerated form, the manner in which the 
slopes, gutters, and drains are arranged. On level 
land the water may be admitted and withdrawn at 
any point, and I have arranged for it to enter at one 
corner, the channel of supply passing across one 
side of the field, and escaping at the corner diago¬ 
nally opposite through a drain lying opposite to 
the inlet channel. The inlet channel must be on a 
ridge a trifle higher than the crests of the lands, com¬ 
municating at each of these by an opening into its 
gutters, unless the amount of water available is am¬ 
ple to make a perceptible flow over the whole area 
at once, it should be admitted to only one or more 
of the lands at a time. This question is to be de¬ 
cided by the capacity of the stream, which must be 
sufficient to overflow the gutters with considerable 
rapidity, so that too much of the water will not be 
lost by infiltration. Irrigation by this plan is quite 
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INLET 
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Fig. 3.— FIELD WITH UNIFORM SLOPE. 
rapid, as the water has only to run about 30 feet 
before it reaches the drain by which it is carried off. 
The foregoing plans assume that the quantity of 
water available is enough for the complete irriga¬ 
tion of all the land reached by a single gutter. If 
it is not enough for this, it will not effect the profit¬ 
able irrigation of level ground under the system 
shown in fig. 4 ; but it may still be made to answer 
a good purpose on all ground having an inclined 
surface, either by the use of the occasional outlets 
described above, or by laying the gutters not level, 
but with slight inclination, say I inch in 100 feet. 
Such inclined gutters will tend of course to carry 
the flow to their extreme ends, overflowing say tho 
last 50 feet, (more or less), of their length. When 
the ground reached by this overflow has been suffi¬ 
ciently watered, by striking in a dam 50 feet above 
the end of the gutter, a further section will be 
watered, and so the whole field may be reached 
successively. 
The application of irrigation water should not 
take place as a rule when the grass is large. Copi¬ 
ous waterings at frequent intervals throughout the 
autumn are beneficial, and if the intervals are long 
enough for a complete draining and aeration of the 
soil, the watering can hardly be too frequent in the 
spring of the year, say until the crop is a third 
grown. Then, unless the grass is visibly suffering 
from severe drouth, the water should be kept en¬ 
tirely off until after mowing. After this, during 
Fig. 2.— IRON HAND-DAM. 
hot weather, light irrigations at night and in cloudy 
weather will be beneficial, and if judiciously man¬ 
aged, may be made to produce a good second cutting. 
Irrigated fields may be pastured by cattle or 
sheep, (preferably the latter), but only when the 
inletY 
J. OUTLET 
Fig. 4.— LEVEL FIELD. 
ground is dry and firm, so that the edges of the 
gutters will not be disturbed by poaching. Whether 
used for pasturing or for mowing, it is beyond per- 
adventure that the crop will be very greatly in¬ 
creased, and that under conditions at all favorable, 
the cost of preparing the ground and of the slight 
labor needed in directing the watering will be large¬ 
ly repaid. I know of no American experience to 
which I can point in illustration of this fact, but 
only because there is no American experience on 
the subject, (this side of the far western states and 
territories, where irrigation is a necessity for all 
crops). In many parts of Germany, Italy, France, 
Spain, and the East, and in Mexico, the value of 
pure water irrigation is amply attested by constant 
practice, and any one who will study the records of 
its effect, will see that in assuming an increase of 
crop from li tons per acre to 3 tons per acre, I have 
by no means exceeded the truth. Aside from this, 
as irrigation meadow's are permanent meadows, the 
whole cost and inconvenience of frequent breaking 
up and re-seeding is done away with ; and so much 
of the farm as is brought under this system may be 
depended on for regular and permanent productive¬ 
ness, without reference to the frequent drouths 
which interfere so 6adly with- our calculations in 
ordinary farming. 
The gutters and ditches will interfere slightly, 
but not very materially, with the use of the mowing 
machine, and with two or three portable bridges, 
both this and the hay wagon may be easily taken 
to any part of the field. It has not, of course, been 
possible in a short sketch like this, to give clearly 
the detailed directions which fill volumes of scien¬ 
tific books on the subject, but I have tried to give 
enough of the leading features of tho work to ena¬ 
ble an ingenious and enterprising American farmer 
to experiment in a small way without the dangpr 
of going very far wrong. 
—- —, , e > i — - 
Bee Eotes. 
BT L. C. ROOT, MOHAWK, N. T. 
[The Department of the Apiary, formerly so ably conduct¬ 
ed by the late Mr. Quinby, will hereafter be in charge of 
Mr. Root, who was Ihe partner of Mr. Q., and therefore 
familiar with all the details ofhis successful practice. Ed.] 
Preparing Bees for Winter. 
Success in wintering will depend very much upon the 
pi'esent month’s operations. If colonies are sufficiently 
populous, and have a prolific queen, the next important 
step is to ascertain the amount of honey in eacli hive, 
and if any are found wanting, to give them a supply. We 
must first know what the hive, combs, and bees, will 
weigh without honey, and add 20 lbs, for in-door winter¬ 
ing and 30 lbs. for out of doors, which will be a sufficient 
supply. To determine the amount necessary, weigh an 
empty hive and frames, and allow 10 lbs. for bees and 
combs. In some cases this will be an over-allowance, 
but with old combs, containing bee-bread, it will be, 
found to be a fair average. 
