244. STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
This may also be necessary in order to provide greater pres- 
sure, in cases where streams are utilized. If the supply of 
water is limited it will be found necessary to prevent waste as 
far as possible. This can best be done by storing the water in 
a tank or cemented reservoir, where but little evaporation and 
no loss by soakage can take place. If tanks are used they 
must be strongly built and of large capacity. Tanks of 15,000 
to 20,000 gallons capacity are needed to supply water for five 
or six acres planted to a variety of crops. 
Reservoirs.—Where large quantities of water are to be stored 
the open reservoir is the only practicable plan. If this is used 
in connection with some pumping appliance the losses by soak- 
age and evaporation may be of serious consequence. ‘These 
losses may be reduced if the bottom is of clay and the banks 
are so constructed as to avoid soakage. Loss by evaporation 
may be lessened by having the surface area small, while the 
desired capacity may be gotten by having a greater depth. 
DISTRIBUTION AND APPLICATION OF WATER. 
The oldest and most common method of distributing the 
water over the fields to be irrigated is by means of small 
ditches. These can be made by turning a furrow with a plow 
along the highest part of the field to be watered. By having 
a number of lines of these ditches parallel to each other along 
the slopes of the land the water may be let out on the lower 
side of the highest ditch and distributed over the land between 
this and the next ditch, while the second ditch will catch the 
surplus water. A man with a hoe removes obstructions and 
directs the water by opening small water courses. With a 
little attention the water can be made to touch nearly all parts 
of the field. 
_ For crops like strawberries, when the water must be run 
between the rows, these should extend up and down the slope. 
Only a slight slope is needed to give free movement to the 
water; from three to six feet for every one hundred feet is 
better than a greater fall. With a heavy fall, and especially 
if the soil is sandy, serious washing will often result. In case 
mulch is used on strawberries it is found to interfere badly 
with the flow when the water is applied by surface flowage. 
If mulch is thought to be necessary to keep the fruit clean, 
