Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1911-11-17
MANY CROP FAILURES
Faulty LeyeIing Causes More
Than Any Other One Thing.
Lands Are Expensive to irrigsSe and
the Plants Are So Uneqraily
Watereo That Unsatisfsc-
tory Crops Result

More crop failures on the irrigated
lands may be traced to faulty level
ing than to any other cause under the
control of the farmer. Poorly ieveled
lands are expensive 10 irrigate, both
with regard 10 the amount OF water
and the amount OF labor required, and
In addition, the plants In the different
parts of the field are so unequaliy wa
tered that unsatisfactory crops are
the result The machinery necessary
fer leveIing on the small farm is am
pie and inexpensive, and should be
kept, in order that ali spare time OF
men and teams can be used 10 the
best advantage On the small farm
all that is necessary is small scraper,
a plow and plank drag
In leveling, the first thing 10 do is
to decide just how the land can be put
into shape by moving the least amount
of dirt A good way to begin is to
set STAKES 20 represent borders. and
see how they may be located in order
10 obtain the best results. 1t is not
necessary that an entire field should
be level. but only that the soil within
a border be so; and each border may
drop lower or rise higher than the ad-
Joining. without any serious incon-
venience in either seeding or harvest
ing Borders should not be spaced
too wide. Forty-five TO sixty feet will
be a good width If the field is at all
sIoping; and It is not best to make
them more than 100 feet apart, even
when the land is level Locate each
border. definitely. and mark il by
throwing up a couple OF burrows. or
in any other way that Is convenient
Then beginning the high end OF the
field. work out the first border. taking
all excess dirt from the high places
and spreading 1t where needed in the
low places. In sandy soils the Dor
de-s should not be more than 200 TO
300 feet il length. but on clay soils
no limit need be set for the length
For the location Of the borders. es-
pecially If they are long. II is almost
necessary that a level be used These
may be purchased for about SIS TO
$50 Permanent borders should be
built at the time OF ieveiing- These
should be just high enough TO control
the movement of water, and should be
wide enough 10 prevent any danger OF
their being dragged down by machin-
cry or washed down by the running
water. A convenient and very salts
factory way to build such borders is
TO drag up the dirt with scraDer and
deposit il along the lines OF the Dor
der: where it should be smoothed In
the desired shape. II the borders are
built with a broad base and slowly
sloping sides. crops can be grown
along the sides and top without any
difficulty. The base of such borders
should not be less than eight 10 ten
feet wide After all borders and the
checks or cross borders. are complete,
il is best to go over each section OF
the field and true up all slight in
eouaIities that may have been missed
in the first leveling- Here again the
level is Of great value. as il points
OUT these errors much more closely
than the best trained eye II there is
free and abundant supply OF water.
and the field win not need it for some
time. 1t IS well to give it trial irri-
cation; making note of all the points
that are either low or high. and cor
recting these as sooD as the soil is
dry