The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1908-09-16
Preparation Of Land
For Irrigation
~*~
By w. L. Rockwell. Irrigation Man
ager u. S. Dept. Of Agriculture
CONTINUED from Saturday,
Contour Check System.

1 OpOhCA VI cUOhC5 III ILLS SlCln Tic
main lateral follows the high ground
in the field, the feeder bitches run
away from this along the command
ing ground, from six hundred to
twelve hundred feet apart, depending
on the texture of the soil and the lay
of the land. Near midway between
these feeder bitches runs back levee
so called, as near parallel to and
equidistant from these as is practical,
consistent with the slopes of the
ground. The contour leyees are built
out at nearly right angles from the
feeder bitches and from two to four
inches apart in elevation. They of
course run approximately parallel
to each other The back levee allows
the water to flow only one-half way
70 the next ditch. Thus if your
bitches are eight hundred feet apart
your checks will be four hundred
feet long. Stop gates are placed in
the feeder bitches to divert the water
to the checks, gates are placed in the
levees of these bitches, in each check
to allow this diversion, and gates are
placed in the contour levees to permit
the water to flow from each check to
the next lower one.
Irrigation With Contour Checks.
In irrigating, water is turned to
the feeder ditch, the gate to the up
per check is opened and water flows
to the check. When sufficient water
has entered for the irrigation, the
gate in the ditch levee is closed
and the next lower one is opened. At
ter the water has stood on the
ground long enough for sufficient
water to soak into the soil, the gate
in the levee is opened and the balance
flows to the next lower check, it get
ting its additional water direct from
the -eeder ditch. So we continue to
the lower side fthe field where any
excess water is taken away by a
drain. BY this method if the bitches
and levees are rightly located and
constructed, and the surface of the
checks leveled to uniform slopes, you
can put any amount of water into the
ground You can force it over the
entire surfacs, getting a fairly equal
amount on all parts. The same meth
DDS apply to the rectangular check
system and need no description.
Construction.
Your bitches should in all cases be
well constructed and ample in size to
carry as many irrigation heads as
you can possibly use in the height of
the irrigation season. The levees of
the smallest feeder bitches should
have not less than a two foot crown.
Your controlling levees should be
built three or four inches above the
water line, having a broad base, and
no trenches alongside. Thus con-
structed you can work over them
without inconvenience or harm to
farm machinery, greatly reducing the
expense of harvesting your crops.
Furrow Irrigation.
For the irrigation of orchards,
vineyards and rowed crops in general,
the best practice use the furrow
method of irrigation. There are ex-
ceptions to it however,on account of
soil and climatic conditions. AS an
instance orchars grown on a clay soil
that does not take water readily may
be irrigated by flooding after the
trees are large enough to shade the
ground. This shade largely prevents
the baking and cracking of the sur
face so necessary to be avoided Gull
tivation can begin under such condi-
lions before baking has begun.
However, by deep furrowing water is
put into the ground without flowing
over the surface. The dry dirt between
the burrows can very soon after irri-
CATION be thrown over the wet sur
face in the furrow, by harrow or 9TH
er surface cultivator and the evapora-
ton loss and rise of salts prevented. |
If the water is applied deeply the
roots go deeper and no harm is done
to the feeder roots by cultivation, nor
are these rootlets so quickly affected |
by sun and wind. Cultivation is the !
key to successful irrigated farming in |
the Rio Grande valley, and that sys-
TEN of applying water which is most !
conducive to continuous thorough |
cultivation is the method that should |
be adopted in every instance. The /
soil in all arid or semi-arid districts |
of our country has more or less of the !
and injurious salts in their
The lands of the Rio