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Show r WATER APPLIED TO ALfALFi Systems Have Bee Planned In Moun tain States to Deliver Water In Quite email fttresme, flooding from field ditches or latei als la atlll the most common metho of applying water to alfalfa out In thl country, especially in the states o Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and to a large extent In Idaho, aayi the Denver Field and farm. Thb manner of wetting dry soil originate hare in the mountain state and ta past half century has witnessed i gradual evolution of the plan, ao tha now' It has not only become flrml established but is regarded aa the bee suited to the conditions under whlcl It la practiced. It can be profltablj uaed on slopes that are too steep foi pther methods. Fields having a firm oil and a fall of twenty-flve to on sundred feet have been flooded sno eesafully. From thla extreme thl slope may diminish to less than one tenth or a foot in 100 feet. Its cheap nese Is another feature which recommends recom-mends it to the farmer of limited means. Ordinary raw land oan be pre-l pre-l pared for flooding at an expense of ti to 5 an acre. Again, it Is adapted to the use of small water supplies. Hers In the mountain states the Irrigation 'systems have been planned and built to dnlJver water In comparatively small streams for use In flooding or la furrows, and water users should be certain that the larger volumes re-(julred re-(julred for checks and borders can be secured before going to the expense of preparing their fields for either of thoae system. In grading the land for this particular method It is not customary to make many, changes rn the natural surface. Only the smaller knolls are removed and deposited In the low places. An effort Is made always, al-ways, however, to make the farm lab erala fit Into the natural slope and configuration con-figuration of the tract to be watered ao as to bring the water to the high places. On steep slopes the laterals may be leas than fifty feet apart; on flatter slopes they may be 200 feet or more apart. Whatever the spacing It Is always desirable to have the slope between them as nearly uniform as possible. When the land in Its natural state Is uneven, the grading can be done with a scraper. If It Is compare, lively smooth and level a homemade drag or leveler serves the purpose fairly well. The main lateral Is usually usual-ly built to the highest comer of the field and the smaller laterals extend out from It, spsced 75 to 225 feet apart the epaclng depending on the slope of the ground and the coarse ness of the soli. The size of the laterals lat-erals Is governed by the head which may be had, but on ateep slopes and on soil that erodes readily, small bcada are best The proper location for field laterals Is usually evident to the irrigator without the use of our-reylng our-reylng Instruments, although In fields a-bere the fall Is slight It Is often nec-ary nec-ary to have a topographical survey made and the laterals located by an inglneer. Field laterals are always, o located that they cover the highest parts of the field and their distance i part In alfalfa varies from ten to wenty rods. The head required for loodlng from field laterals varies from wo to three cublo feet a second and s divided between two or three later lis. Canvas or coarae manure dams ire used to check the water In the lat iraJs and to force tt out over ths anka and down the slopes of the lelds. In less than three hours ths ipper foot of the soil Is usually thor-mghly thor-mghly moistened. To apply one wee-In g In this way costs from fifteen 0 thirty cents an acre. In Irrigating, canvas dam Is first Inserted In each lltch or set of ditches. 75 to 100 feet elow the head. The water Is then urned lnte each channel and flows as ar as the canvas dam by which It Is becked and aa a consequence rises nd flows over the low places of the Dwer bank or through openings mads rlth a shovel. When these small racta have been watered, the canvas am Is raised, dragged down the lat ral 75 to 100 feet and again Inserted ii the channel to serve the next tract fanure dams sometimes take the lace of the movable canvas dama. oma time before a field Is to be IrrV ated and after the ditching la dona, oarse manure Is placed In small eaps within each ditch channel at ultable Intervals and each heap la overed with earth on Ha npper face a depth of one to two Inches. When bis check has served Ita purpose II 1 broken and the water flows down ntll stopped by the next check. In otne Instances permanent wooden beck boxes are Inserted In each lat ral, while In others the canvas dan i used. The thorough irrigation of rur acres Is considered a good twelve ours' work for one man. By the use f 100 lncbee. two men can Irrigate even to ten acre la twenty-four ours at a coat of 45 to 65 cents the ere. la summarizing the advantages r the flooding method. It may be said tat in first cost It Is one of the cheap-it cheap-it It U adapted to the delivery of nail volumes of water in continuous reams. It la particularly well adapt 1 to forage anl cereal plants of all inde, the top soli la not removed ota the hjgh places to All up the iw places and firm soil, although on :ep and Irregular hfllaldes, can be loeesafulty watered. The chief die-1 die-1 vantage la the fatiguing labor re itred to handle the water. I |