Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1908-12-17
METHOD OF AP-
PLYING WATER
Second Article In the Series on Pre-
pairing Rev Sage Brush Lands
For Cultivation

ia, shallow burrows five inches wide
and inches deep are made and water
run in them. BY means of these fur
rows the water is distributed evenly
over the land and the surface of the
ground is not puddled and compacted
as when flooding is practiced.
The turnover consists of a plat
form 3x5 feet to the under side of
which are bolted 8 runners, 16 to 18
inches apart The front ends of the
runners are pointed and shod with
steel, A tongue is fixed solidly to the
platform This tool is drawn by two
horses and makes burrows at stoke.
A crude way of letting the water
into the burroughs is to cut the ditch
bank with shovel To distribute the
water evenly in that way is difficult,
especially where the bitches are new.
1t is therefore advisable to set tubes
in the ditch bank through which the
water flows into the burrows The
tubes are made of lath, four lath
making 2 tubes, each two feet long.
They are set just below the surface
of the water and the stream that is
sues from each is divided among to
a burrows on fiat land.
At certain distances in the head
ditch boxes are set to check the water
and hold it at the desired level, the
excess water in each section flowing
through the check into the section be-
low The distance apart of the check
boxes will depend upon the grade of
the ditch. With fall of rs of a
foot per 100 feet the check boxes will
be 135 feet apart. When the splash
boards in the check are out the water
n l, A.
tubes
To divide the water from each
spout evenly among several burrows
Ter tubes, one for each furrow, are
sometimes used. These are made of
tin and are one half inch in diameter.
The tubes should be at least 18 inch
4es long. Set one half inch below the
surface, they discharge one quart of
water in 16 1-2 seconds, which amount
is about right for one furrow.
For small grain and other crops that
are not intertilled the burrows are
made with the marker immediate
ly after planting For potatoes and
other rowed crops the furrows are
made with double shovel plow be-
fore the first irrigation
Where the slope is slight and uni
form, levees, called borders may
be made 3 to rods apart. The
borders confine the water to narrow
strips of land extending down the
slope and permit of flooding or the
use of large heads of water The
strips of land must be perfectly level
across burrows are made at the out
set on these strips called LANDS -
The border system is suitable for the
irrigat ION of alfalfa on fat land.
Where the slope is considerable and
not uniform the furrow system with
out borders is the proper one
The borders are about one foot high
and four feet wide at the base They
are made by throwing together four
furrow slices and smoothing them
over with a ridger- These borders
should be seeded in order that weeds
may not get foot hold on them
The length of time it will REQUIRE
to irrigate will depend upon the char
acter of the ground An irrigation
generally consumes from Is to "a
hours Soils that contain an ample
amount of humus absorb water much
more readily than those that lack that
essential constituent. The irrigation
should be continued until the water
has percolated across between the
burrows, not necessarily on the sur
face, but a few inches underneath
Crops suffering for lack of moisture
take dark green color. Water
should be applied when the soil four
inches below the surface is so drv
that 1T will not mould when pressed
together in the palm of the hand
Orchards and smaller grain require
three irrigations during the season
and alfalfa about six
To be very successful the farmer
of today must specialize to a certain
extent He must decide upon some
particular line of farming and adapt
his cropping to the production of one
main product 1t may be some or
chard fruit small fruit or milk or
butter or wool and mutton, or pork,
or potatoes or sugar beets or fine