Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1907-01-03

issued the following bulletin for
the instruction of beginners on the
irrigation of alfalfa:
In the border method of irriga-
ton a large head ditch capable of
carrying about ten cubic feet per
second is first built across the high
est boundary of the field which is
usually about 1900 feet long.
After being plowed the field is
marked off into parallel strips of
land IS to IFS feet wide. These |
extend down the steepest slope from (
the head ditch. The field is then
crossed with teams drawing SCI a |
pcrs, which removes dirt from the
knobs and high places and deposit
it along the borders. This opera
ton is similar to raking hay into
be made high, but should be
straight, compact and rounding, so
as to retain the water and facilitate
the passage of mowers and reapers-
In preparing the land care should
be used to obtain an even slope
water which is admitted through
box in the head ditch to flow in
thin sheet from top to bottom of
each strip.
Alfalfa is mos. commonly irriga-
ted by being flooded from field lat
erals. In certain localities it is
irrigated by checks, in others by
borders, and in few localities by
burrows. Sowing alfalfa seed with
a nurse crop like oats or wheat was
more common fifteen years ago than
at present. The prevailing usage
now, except in Utah and parts of
Colorado, is to sow only alfalfa
seed. The soil should be thorough
1y prepared. This holds true for
each of the methods previously
named. Alfalfa is tender plant
for the first few months of its
growth and requires favorable con-
ditions. The soil when the seed is
sown should contain sufficient
moisture to nourish the plant until
it is several inches high and covers
the ground fairly well. Ill the
colder and higher states of the west
the ne cessary moisture may be Sc
cured by preparing the fields the
previous fall and permitting the
deeply plowed land to absorb large
part of the rainfall and snowfall.
Then in the spring, as early as the
ground is fit to work, it is again
cultivated, after which the seed is
sown. In the warmer states the
fields are likewise prepared in the
fall, but instead of depending or
rain from passing clouds the soil is
well irrigated, and this added mo1s-
ture sinks deep into the soil, which
is subsequently cultivated ano
seeded.
If skill is used in providing al
ample supply of moisture before the
seed is sown there will be no neeC
of early irriagtion. Mistakes arr
frequently made by sowing thu
seed on soil too dry and then ap
plying water at frequent interval
when the plant is young. Thi
practice causes the roots to brancl
out near the surface and depend OF
food and moisture from the top lay
ers of soil, which are subjected t
extremes of drought and moisture
When the soil is fairly moist a
the time of planting and the sur
face is thoroughly cultivated so a
to retain the moisture there will
no need of applying more until tn
crop shades the the ground. Mean
while the alfalfa may suffe
slightly, the leaves, and even tn
stems, may become brown, but
its effort to survive by gcttin
moisture it will extend its taprot
far down into the subsoil. Forcin
the plant to hunt for moisture frol
beneath and keeping the surfae
laycr dry and well pulverized, will
out any crusting or baking, produce
fine root development which wi
not be affected by the alterna
droughts and saturations of the su
face layers.
In irrigating alfalfa by flooding
field laterals are run out from II
head ditch IS to 100 feet apart on
grade of one-half to three-fourths
an inch TO the rod, or from thr'
to four and a half inches fall
each 100 feet. These laterals a
large enough to carry the head use
which may vary from so to II
miners inches, and should be ma
at the time the crop is plante
One irrigator can attend to tv
streams which are kept running
adjacent laterals. At given di
tanccs, varying from IS to l.