American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1912-05-02

most common practice on land with
uniform slope is to run the supply
bitches down the slope along the
highest boundary Of the field, and
from this ditch run the laterals
through the field across the slope and
contour with just enough grade to
carry the water.
The laterals running across the
fields are placed at more or less regu-
lar intervals from $50 to 900 feet ae-
cording to the slope and nature Of
the SOIL On light sandy soils they
must be placed close together or the
land next to the ditch will get too
much water before the land farther
away has received enough, but on
heavy soils the bitches may be placed
farther apart as the water soaks in
more slowly. The fact is most people
use more water than is necessary and
do great deal Of harm to their soil
and also their crops. In the appli-
cation Of water to land and crops, the
choice of method is to be made in
accordance with general conditions,
the slope Of the land, the character
Of soil, and the labor required and
the application Of crops.
Probably the most common method
of irrigating crops is flooding from
field bitches and flooding between
levees, this is called the border and
furrow method. These methods are
described as follows: Flooding from
field bitches or laterals is the most
common method Of applying water
to grain alfalfa and other grass
crops. It requires the least prepara-
tion for fields and therefore, appeals
to the new settler. Ordinary raw
land can be prepared for flooding at
an expense Of from three dollars to
six dollars per acre. In grading for
this particular method it is not GUS
tomary to make many changes in the
q long time to allow it to soak in
As the irrigator does not
have to watch the water, this slower
process is not great drawback.
The cost per acre for preparing
land for the border method Of irri-
natural surface Of the land. Only the
knobs are removed and deposited in
the low places. Fields having a firm
Soil and fall Of 25 feet and over
up to 100 feet have been flooded
successfully by this method. This
method consists Of running contour
through the field at right
Anel1e to the supply lateral. These
are run on q Light grade
from so to 600 feet apart and rum
ming es-Ho4ers 1kua ~thoess laterals
over the surface Of the field without
other direction than Is given to it
by the irrigator with his shovel. It.
requires more labor in applying water
than any other method and requires
. large head of water.
The direction Of sowing, if the
drill is used, is Of Importance where
land is to be flooded. The miniature
drill furrow can be taken advantage
Of where they can run with the slope,
to run the water quickly over the
land and when it is desirable to check
The rate of flow on soils which
have rather steep slope. This would
appear to be Of considerable assis-
lance in flooding and is worthy Of a
trial.
In flooding the device most COM
monty used to turn water from q
ditch on the land is a canvass dam.
It consists simply of a rectangular
piece ~of canvass, one side Of which
is rolled around and nailed to piece
IF 2x4 or round piece Of wood long
enough to reach across the ditch.
Check gates are sometimes put in
but not often.
Water is run in one or more lat
erals at the same time, depending
upon the size Of the stream delivered
to the irrigator. The usual stream
run in lateral is from one to one
md one-half second feet. Water is
turned into one or more laterals and
flows down to the first dam, where it
IS held up and made to flow through
The openings in the lower bank Of the
hitch and flow across the field to the
next ditch. When this section has
received enough water the dam is
taken up and removed farther down
he ditch and the operation is re-
oeated until the entire field is irr-
gated. If the land is in good shape
one man with as large a stream of
water as he can handle can water
about ten acres per day.
Continued on page s.