Show f SUIT still SOIL CONDITIONS Irrigation Becomes More Expensive Expensive Expensive sive Year by Year I I. I I 1 Most Most Economical Distribution of Water f Will D Depend pend on Running It Proper i Distance Distance Careful Careful Preparation i f Is N Necessary Sary t Water Vater becomes more expensive year year and much more money money is now pent to make Irrigation in the field than formerly Given skilled J help and big heads of water our coI com com- man non system of at laterals 35 or 40 yards ards apart is a good one and the amount of Ot water that can be handled by a jg cod man by bi using several ditches is only limited by the size of the head pitch Itch dItch though the ordinary hand will willave have ave enough to do to run two or three t ditches full fuJI There are now much better bet betS ter Ler ditch plows than formerly which heave leave a better ditch bank to keep the Water from breaking back into the laterals laterals lat lat lat- rals from which It has been forced good banks are the measure of a ditch fi flow which h must be suited oo w. w us to the laying tile banKs back tack In friable triable soils solis than on stiff loams barns or clays clas or the they will cave in when the water strikes them The heels of ot the lays should have three to five fire inches cut of off them or they ey will cut In under the bank and the water will find the crack and undermine undermine under under- mine the embankment which will fiat fiat- ten out With really good banks to our Itches the upper parts of the land landwe landwe landwe we have laid off are watered in practically the same wa way as by the check system where we merely merel depend on the head ditch to carr carry water and larger karger arger or small smaller r embankments are put hut through th theY field leaving level spaces between The distance water shou should d be run from tram the head ditch without running a n supply down the laterals will depend on how easily it ills is Is' controlled and how much it soaks into the ground in Its passage down the field On some Impervious impervious impervious im Im- im- im pervious soil son It ft Is better to run It the whole way if it we have a fair head and the lands do not exceed a quarter of a mile This is exceptional however and would only apply to old alfalfa fields or meadows meadoW's which have become very hard from lack of cultivation The irrIgator ir- ir with his shovel can tell when lan land l has taken w water ter enough and should never be d deceived In this respect respect respect re re- re- re with ordinary crops though of very deep rooted ones like alfalfa roo roots reach down beyond our ken Iten Some soils will absorb water so easily that It must be assisted over the surface by the u use ue e of the tor tor and nd frequent changes in the laterals laterals laterals lat lat- whilst on others It merely fills the plowed soil soll and passes on easily over the surface A good loam will stand up much better than a clay in which the particles are so fine that when thoroughly wetted they become soapy soap settling as as the they dry Into a hard compact mass which It Is very hard for air to re reenter Clay soils however however however how how- ever will grow good crops crops' If they are ire carefully watered and conditions are such that the crop comes away fast ast shading the ground so It will not scald or q- q crack rai Where checks are made made their size should be governed by the he above conditions As u well wen as the ability of the water supply to flood a given area without waste of water and the levels of the land which of course necessitate small areas or the checks will have to be made inconveniently incon Incon- high i I The area to be flooded may run from a few feet of at lawn up to thirty acres cres a a. a very Tery usual size being from fourths three to one and one-half one acres The economy of the check will depend on how closely Its size is adapted to the most economical distribution distribution distribution dis dis- of water and the amount necessary necessary necessary essary for the plants |