Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1909-11-19

I the Sunnyslde style as they think II
Is easier ard quicker. A glance al
1 the illustrations of scrapers adver'
tised in the magazines devoted to ir'
rigation will give better idea Of the
various kinds than can be given here
Some irrigators have their own pei
idea of scraper and, in the begin
ming, many made their own.
After scraplng comes levelling
Usually, in new irrigation districts
the leveller is home made and con
sists of two poles, 80 feet long, fast.
ened about four feet apart with
boards. Some irrigators consider sc
feet too long and unwieldy, claiming
25 feet. or even Is feet, to be long
enough, but the majority seem tC
think the longer the better. The
idea is to run the leveller over where
the scraper has been and to keep al
II until water will run down the
grade without finding low spot
to fill,
When the land Is In shape, start
in to dig bitches, build fumes or lay
pipes. Whichever you can afford
or think is best.
II you put in bitches you will find
1t convenient to have little wooden
spouts, u inches square, for taking
water from the ditch in irrigating
alfalfa or garden. These spouts car
be made from lath and should be al
least s inches in length. When put.
ting them in the ditch bank, be sure
to have mud all around or they will
wash out and be troublesome.
With much of grade, bitches re-
quire drop boxes, so as to run the
water in levels, A good way to make
these boxes is to construct flume 2
feet long by IL inches wide and 12
inches nigh. On each end place wings
| s inches to the right, is inches to
the left and Is inches deep under
meath. In placing the boxes in posi-
tion have the rear end lower than the
front, so that the water will not dig
a hole, At the beginning of the
, hume nail cleats so that piece of
board can be so placed as to check
the water the height wanted In the
ditch. When putting In drop boxes
be careful to do the same as with the
spouts, pudding the earth around
and tamping firmly, otherwise there
VIII be serious washouts which may
damage quite large area of level
ling.
AL turns at right angles In a ditch
should have turn boxes. These are
built on the same principle as the
drop boxes with wings to prevent
washouts, only they are built in the
shape of a lazy l..
To reach across low ground, flume
ought to be used by the ditch build
er.
cedar Is considered the best wood
for the purpose as II lasts longer.
The objection to flume Is that Il
warps and, like ditches, needs CON
siderable attention. Like lots OF
other things, there are many ways of
building fumes and on how good the
work Is done depends how well It
will work. Use Judgment in placing
end supporting them and don't put
mp two foot flume to carry an inch
of water. Remember that II the
fumes leak and are not properly
supported, the supports will gave
way, causing the fumes to either
fall down Of become sway-backed.
To strengthen the fumes and
TO a certain extent prevent warn
ing, nail cleats at frequent intervals,
not lust on top, but all round In
lrrigating from flume bore holes
with an augur an inch or less in dl-
anoter. If bigger flow Is required,
bore two holes Place the holes the
distance apart that the land win sub
irrgate Have plugs made for each
hole so that the flow OF water can
be stopped or regulated when need
ed. Place checks I'm the flume so
fun force OF water can be put
through the holes to be watered
from.
IN sub-irrigatlng marking out"
IS often used This Is a method Of
running channels q certain distance
apart, depending on how far the soil
viii sub-irrigate. In some cases
q distance OF or feet Is close
enough, while In others 3, or even 2,
feet Is none TO close. Sub-irrlgatlon
is Influenced by the grade, soil and
subsoIl As rule, sleeper the
grade and closer the channels have
90 be- But with a hard subsoil the
channels can be placed farther apart.
Some irrigators tTy tn so place the
channels and 20 so regulate the flow
of water that sub-lrrlgation keeps
pacc with the water running down
the marking out.
For marking ont channels not
more than 4 feet apart rough sled
with 2 shoc-tipped runners Ia quite
commonly used. The runners are ad-
Unstable, so that channels can be
made from " 10 feet apart The
driver stands on the sled TO give II
weight, while little runner Is hung
ont on the side to mark out where
the next channel should come. In
this way the channels are kept at an
even distance. This method OF
channel making is used on plowed
ground. On land I'm crop or when
the channels are far apart. n culti-
vator can be used.
The above Is not intended ms a les
son in irrigation, but just as an In
PRODUCTION. An expert. or even be-
glnner could tell OF other methods
and add many things not mentioned
here. They could tell OF irrigation
by flooding, sub-lrrlgation with
pierced pipes, and even OF attempts
to initiate rain, method which,
while all right for n lawn. In rather