IIR I CXT I 0I\
FARM, GARDEN, AND ORCHARD.
HENRY STEWART,
AITD G ENGUM, MEMBER OF THlE CIVIL ZNG~I"isl CILUB OF Th
WORTH-W3CST, ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF THlE A31ERICAN AGRICULTURIST.
WITH[ NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.
NEW YORK:
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY,
245 BRO&DWAY.
FOR THE
-BY 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by the
ORANGE JUDD COMPANY,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
CHAPTER I.
The Necessity for Irrigation............................................ 7-10
CHAPTER IH.
Importance of an Adequate Supply of Water.............................11 —20
CHAPTER  I.
Amount of Water Needed for Irrigation...................................21-30
CHAPTER IV.
Irrigation of Gardens......................................................31-39
CHAPTER  V.
Preparation of the Surface..............................................40 50
CHAPTER VI.
Irrigation by Pipes and Tiles..............................................51-57
CHAPTER VII.
Irrigation with Liquid Manure...........................................57 —7
CHAPTER VIII.
Culture of Irrigated Garden Crops.........................................78-87
CHAPTER IX.
Irrigation of Orchards and Vineyards...................................... 87-95
CHAPTER X.
Irrigation of Meadows....................................................9-105
CHAPTER XI.
Use of Springs in Irrigation.......................................105-117
CHAPTER XII.
Formation of Water Meadows.........................................118-133
CHAPTER XIII.
Irrigation of Meadows and Pastures..................................... 133-145
CHAPTER XIV.
Drainage of Irrigated Fields....................................14152
CHAPTER XV.
Management of Irrigated Fields.........................................152-162
CHAPTER XVI.
Irrigation of Arable Lands............................................. 16.188
CHAPTER XVIL.
Preparing the Surface for Irrigation...................................1206
CHAPTER  XVIIL
Supply of Water-Dams-Ptmps-Reservoirs-Artesian Wells..........207-237
CHAPTER XIX,
Canals and their Construction......................................237-252
CHAPTER  XX.
Reclamation of River Flats, Salt Marshes and Submerged Lands.......3-262
3
384373 
LIST OF WORKS AND PERIODICALS,
WHICH HAVE BEEN CONSULTED OR QUOTED IN THE PREPA                    RATION OF THIS WORK.
,tudes sur les irrigations de Pyrenees Orientales.  M. Vigan.
Economie Rurale. Boussingault.
}4rnces sur l'emploi des eaux dans les irrigations.  Herve Mangon.
ltalian Irrigation. M. Baird Smith.
Iigation in &ohet  Europe   C. C. Scott Moncrieff.
Des Irryations du  iemont, etc.  A. Vignotti.
Manual of Hydrology.  N. Beardmore.
tude sur le service Hydraulique.  De Passy.
Irrigations du midi de l'Espagne. M. Aymard.
panish Irrigation. C. R. Markham.
La  cience des Fontaines.  Dumas.
Hydrologie Agricole. De Buffon.
Traitd d'hydrauligues Agricoles.  Duponchel.
Outlines of Modern Farming.  R. Scott Burns.
Hydrauic Engineering. C. R. Burnell.
Hydraulic'ab>es.  John Neville.
Drainae, Irrigations, etc. M. Barrol.
Manud de l'Irriateur. M. Villeroy.
Irrigations et assainiment des terres.  Pareto.
TheoeH et rtiqet sur les igations.  De Cossigny.
Fratique des Irriqations en France et en Algereid. F. Vidalin.
Culture des plantes Industrielles. G. Heuze.
Reclion and   rovement of Agriultural Land.  D. Stevenson.
Jourmd d'Agriture pratique.  Paris.
rt of the Department of Agriwture.  Washington.
Ifc Rural Press.  San Francisco.
American Agriculturit. New York.
4 
PREFACE.
This work is respectfully offered to those American
Farmers, and other cultivators of the soil, who from
painful experience can readily appreciate the losses which
result from the scarcity of water at critical periods, as
well as to those enterprising pioneers whose efforts are
showing it to be possible to reclaim from sterility the socalled "Great American Desert." Being the first effort in
American literature in this direction, it is presented with
diffidence as a necessarily imperfect attempt to supply
the information anxiously sought for by the classes of
persons above indicated. The information here given
has been acquired during some years of observation and
study, and to some extent from rude, but effective practice. Hitherto there has been no work in the English
language in which the practical details of irrigation were
comprehensively described. The literature of the subject consists chiefly of the writings of French and Italian
authors.   Systems of irrigation are neither few nor
modern, but all the existing methods have been the slow
growth of hundreds or thousands of years. No one
would be so rash as to assert that no advance upon the
ancient, or even the modern methods, can be made by
Americans. A nation that has done so much in originating and developing steam navigation, railroads, and
the electric telegraph, can not fail to learn the best
methods of utilizing streams of water, or of storing the
excessive rainfall of one part of the year for use in a
season of drouth. The fact that land, which without
5 
PREFACE.
water has no salable value, immediately finds purchasers
at $50 to $200 per acre, when a supply of water has been
brought to it, can not fail to call attention to irrigation
and quicken enterprise in its practice.
The endeavor to popularize information upon this subject and hasten the benefits that may result from its
practice, is a work not without value or honor, even if it
may have no other effect than to point out the way which
some more competent laborer may follow with greater
success.
The present is a favorable time for such an attempt.
At the time these lines are written the expected seasonable rains are withheld in California, and the harvest of
1877 is endangered. Prices of wheat are rising; numerous flocks are in danger for want of water, and distress
is threatened in many quarters. Farmers and gardeners
in the East, who for some years past, for want of rain,
have seen the profit of their labors lost, are seeking some
cheap and effective methods of irrigation, by which such
calamity may be avoided in future. In the great West
millions of fertile acres are waiting to be reclaimed from
aridity, that they may furnish homes for enterprising
young men, and help to supply Europe with bread.
Irrigation is the only resource which can provide for
all these contingencies. To show what has already been
done; how it has been done; how our circumstances
match with or differ from those in which the older
systems have been applied; to offer plans and suggest
cautions which occur to one who is both a farmer and an
engineer, are the aims of the following pages. That the
work may be at least of some help to his fellow laborers
-the agriculturists of America-is the earnest wish of
TE, Author.
Hackensack,. J., January, 1877.
6 
IRRIGATION
FOR THE FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD.
CHAPTER I.
THE NECESSITY FOR IRRIGATION.
The American climate is especially subject to destructive
drouths, and scarcely a year passes in which the crops
do not partially or wholly fail over extensive districts.
That famines do not occur is not that there are no failures of crops sufficiently serious to cause them, but that
our social system is so instantly helpful in case of need,
that the want and misery that would otherwise certainly
occur are averted by immediate and generous relief. The
farmer, when rain fails, is helpless, yet there may be
abundant water flowing uselessly past his suffering crops.
We possess vast districts, the soil of which is of the highest fertility, but which remain barren and desert because
the climate is rainless, yet large rivers flow through these
arid tracts, and exhaustless subterranean streams pass
through the subsoil. Water only is needed to make these
tracts highly productive. The proof of this exists in the
fact that already several successful efforts have been
made to reclaim portions of these dry wastes by the application of a system of irrigation. But it is not only a
question whether or not crops can be produced where
they are now impossible, or whether or not the effects of
(7)
- 6 6 
IRRIGATION.
drouths may be averted by irrigation, but whether or
not the general average of the crops may be largely increased by the systematic use of partial irrigation, and
the use of such supplies of water as a majority of farmers
can readily avail themselves of in every part of the
country.
What farmer is there who has not, in the majority of
seasons, felt that some at least of his crops could have
been largely benefited and increased by a copious supply
of water at critical times? Market gardeners, whose
crops on the average reach a value of several hundred
dollars per acre, and to whom a loss of crop is partial or
complete ruin, every year experience a vast amount of
loss which might have been avoided were a supply of
water available. A portion of this loss, in the shape of
higher prices, necessarily falls upon the consumers, whose
resources are insufficient to meet the increased demand;
and the poorer of them are compelled in consequence to
deny themselves those articles of food which are necessary
to their complete health. The failure is then a public
calamity. The season of 1874 was especially disastrous
to strawberry growers, whose crops failed for want of rain
at the season when the fruit is formed. Here were losses
approaching in many cases the large sum of a thousand
dollars per acre to the growers, which might have been
avoided by the timely application of water. Every year
there are more or less of such cases in connection with
such special crops. The present year (1876) has been
equally disastrous to gardeners and market farmers over
a large extent in the East. The great difficulty experienced by the orange growers of Florida is precisely this
want of water at critical periods. It is unnecessary to
multiply instances.
No one doubts the absolute necessity of water to the
growth of plants. The value of water as a nutriment or
as a means of conveying nutriment to plants, however,
8 
WATER A FOOD FOR PLANTS.
depends upon some facts in vegetable physiology that are
not generally known or considered. These may be condensed into the following statement:
Growing plants contain from 70 to 95 per cent of water.
To the extent that water supplies this necessary constituent of a growing plant, it is an actual nutriment.
The solid portion of the plant consists of matters which
enter into it only while in solution in water. Water is
the vehicle by which the solid part of a plant is carried
into its circulation for assimilation. If water is not adequately supplied, an insufficient quantity of nutriment
only will be carried into the circulation of the plant, and
its growth will be stunted or arrested altogether.
No water, whether it be in the state of liquid or vapor,
can enter into any other part of a plant than its roots.
The common idea that water or watery vapor is ever absorbed through the leaves of a plant is unfounded.
The quantity of water that must pass through the
roots of a plant of our ordinary farm crops, and to be
transpired through the leaves, to carry it from germination to maturity, is equal to a depth of 12 inches over the
whole soil covered by the crop. This is the requirement
of an average crop upon a moderately well-cultivated soil.
If the crop is stimulated to extraordinary growth by large
applications of manure or other fertilizers, a still greater
supply of water is needed to meet the demands of the
crop. Thus the yield of a crop depends in certain cases
entirely upon the amount of water supplied, and to a
certain extent bears an exact ratio with it.
The summer rainfall in our climate is rarely, if ever,
adequate to the requirements of what would be a maximum crop, consistent with the possibilities of the soil.
Our intense heats cause a large proportion of the rain-fall
to be evaporated directlyfrom the soil. Our copious
summer rains are seldom wholly retained by the soil, but
frequently in large part escape into streams and water
9 
IRRIGATION.
courses, and are lost to vegetation. Our fall, winter, and
early spring rains come at times when the crops derive
the least benefit, or none at all, from them. The amount
of rain-fall that thus escapes paying tribute to our crops
is by far the largest portion of it. To estimate it at
three-fourths of the whole would not be unreasonable.
There would then be left less than 12 inches of water to
meet the necessities of the growing crops. That this
sufficiently accounts for the low average of our yearly production of grass and grain is not at all improbable. The
supply of water then becomes the measure of the fertility
of our soil, and our climate, subject to torrid drouths in
the midst of the growing season, is the obstacle to success
which meets the farmer rather than the impoverished soil
-a condition, indeed mainly due to a poverty of water.
To remove this obstacle to successful cultivation, it is
only necessary that a system of irrigation, be adopted.
An adequate supply of water, ready for use in case of
emergency, will render the farmer, the gardener, or the
fruit grower, to a very large extent, independent of the
vicissitudes of the season, and secure, beyond accident,
a full reward for his labor. If with a system of irrigation a proper system of drainage be also adopted, the cultivator of the soil will have removed two adverse influences, against which he is now called upon so frequently,
and so ineffectually, to strive. To irrigate economically,
and successfully, however, is a business which requires a
large amount of technical knowledge and skill, and the
expenditure of a considerable amount of capital either in
money or labor. Irrigation belongs, in fact, to a highly
advanced condition of agriculture, and can only be applied to lands of high value or capacity in the hands of
intelligent owners.
But it is clearly manifest at the present time, if it never
was before, that the farmer, or other cultivator of the soil,
who would succeed in keeping abreast of our progressive
10 
AMOUNT OF WATER USED BY PLANTS.
age must labor more intelligently, must greatly increase
the productive capacity and value of his land, and must
employ a larger amount of capital in money, or its equivalent in labor and skill, than he has hitherto done. One
of the means placed in his hands, by those circumstances
which ever favor the enterprising and industrious man,
to employ all these, is to make use of the supply of water,
from springs, wells, and streams, which may be available
to nourish and increase his crops when rain is withheld,
and their growth is consequently arrested.
CHAPTER II.
IMPORTANCE OF AN ADEQUATE SUPPLY OF WATER.
Water is not only necessary for vegetable growth, but
it is well established that to a great extent the amount
of growth depends upon the quantity of water supplied
to a crop. Years ago, when a large portion of the country was covered with forests, and when the cleared soil
was well filled with the decaying remains of the removed
woods, the produce of the newly cleared fields was more
than double that of to day. Then the soil was absorbent
of water, it was not subjected to the influence of sweeping winds; the rain-fall was held in the soil for a longer
time, and did not pass off in immediate  freshets and
floods. Consequently the crops had a constant supply of
water, and their yield was a maximum one. As a coincidence might be cited the comparatively large average
yield of the soil, in the so-called moist climate of England
and Ireland.  "So-called moist," because, as it happens,
the annual rain-fall in our so-called dry climate, is nearly, if not quite, double that of Great Britain. Here the
rain-fall is over 40 inches in the year, there it is not much
over 20 inches. But the English climate is insular, and
11 
IRRIGATION.
is influenced by the moist winds of the ocean, and the
fogs from the Gulf Stream. The evaporation from the
soil is therefore reduced to a minimum, and the light
rain-fall, more constant than with us, and consisting of
frequent light showers, is ample for the needs of vegetation. On the contrary our climate is continental and
subject to the influence of dry winds, and a higher
temperature, and our heavier but more inconstant rainfall is found inadequate. Hence our low average of those
crops which need a large quantity of water for their maximum growth, and hence the ineffective efforts of American farmers to reach the high averages of the crops grown
in England.
Some very interesting experiments showing this relation between the weight of grain produced and the quantity of water consumed by the plants, whether evaporated
through their leaves, or appropriated by their tissues,
were made in 1874, at the Agricultural Observatory of
Montsouris, France. The grain grown was wheat. Several kinds of soils and fertilizers were used, which gave
very varying results, but the variety in the amounts of the
product was remarkably illustrative of the facts proved.
The means adopted for determining the results were the
most complete, and there is no reason to doubt the entire
accuracy of the conclusions reached. The results are
given in the following table:
I.-Table showing the total qtuatity of water evaporated and the grain pro   duced; also the quantity of water consumed for one pound of grain in
nine eperiments with various fertilizers.
Pounds of water  Pounds of.rain Pounds of water
evaporated.  produced.   for one of grain.
No. 1........... 1,616         0.6         2,693
"  2........... 1,512         0.8         1,890
"  3............... 4,703     2.4         1,960
"  4.............. 2,202      2.7           816
"  5............... 3,262     2.9         1,125
6............... 4,327      3.1         1,395
"  7.............. 4,751      5.5           861
"  8............... 7,417     9.2           806
"  9.............. 7,702     10.6           727
12 
ILNSUFFICIENCY OF RAINFALL.
The production of straw was very nearly double that of
grain in every case, and the increase constant and regular.
In the very exhaustive experiments which have been
made by Mr. J. B. Lawes, of Rothamstead, England, to
ascertain the amount of water consumed by a growing
crop of wheat, it was very clearly shown, that for every
pound of dry matter produced, 200 pounds of water was
evaporated, and that for every pound of mineral matter
assimilated by the crop, 2,000 pounds of water passed
through the plant. Mr. Lawes therefore declared, that
for a maximum crop of wheat, in England, the supply
of rain water was totally inadequate. Leguminous plants,
(beans, clover, etc.,) required a still more abundant supply of water than wheat, and of course the more luxuriant the growth, the greater the expenditure of water.
Comparing the results of Mr. Lawes investigations with
those at Montsouris, a striking equality is found. In the
maximum crop there grown, 727 lbs. of water were evaporated for one pound of grain and two of straw, giving
242 pounds of water for one pound of total produce.
If, as is probably the case, the weight of the roots was
included in Mr. Lawes estimate, as it was not in the
other, the approach to equality between the two results
would be very close indeed. One therefore corroborates
the other.
These results show, in a very remarkable manner, the
absolute necessity for an adequate supply of water for the
successful prosecution of an advanced agriculture. The
plants grown in these experiments were supplied with
water at libitum. Those which grew luxuriantly under
the effect of the most active and valuable manure, viz.
a mixture of phosphate of ammonia, nitrate of potash,
and chloride of sodium-a very complete fertilizer-are
seen to have consumed a very large quantity of water,
and nearly five times as much as those which grew most
feebly.
13 
IRRIGATION.
The measure of the water consumed may thus be considered as the measure of the capacity of the soil to furnish itsproduct, for it is clear that if this large quantity
of water was not supplied, the excessive product of grain
could not have been grown. If this conclusion be correct, we have at once a satisfactory explanation of the
hitherto strange fact that our best farmers, in no way
less skillful or less enterprising, and with no less fertile
soil, than the English farmers, can very rarely reach, and
still more rarely surpass a crop of 40 bushels of wheat
per acre, while in England 64 and 66 bushels are common with the best farmers. Taking the minimum quantity of water, (viz. 727 lbs.) evaporated for a pound of
grain, a harvest of 40 bushels of wheat per acre, would
consume, or pass through its leaves, an amount equal to
6 inches in depth, over the whole surface of the ground.
But this is not a complete statement, for the average result of a large number of experiments made in the previous year, and these results as well, prove that a crop of
wheat of 40 bushels per acre, may consume, or evaporate, through its leaves, a quantity of water equal to a rainfall of over 17 inches; for the less vigorous the growth,
the greater is the proportionate consumption of water,
and the yield which consumed 727 lbs. of water for one
of grain, was greatly in excess of 40 bushels per acre. If
to this consumption of water is added the excessive
evaporation from the soil, consequent upon the hot suns
and dry winds of our growing season, as well as the loss
through the passage of water over the frozen surface of
the soil, during our long winters, the totally inadequate
supply of water, for a maximum crop, under our now
usual conditions, is very evident.  It is also evident, that
where crops can be grown by irrigation, and an ample
supply of water provided, there the success of the farmer
will be assured, and there the risks from untimely drouths
may be wholly avoided. It is also evident that every
14 
RAINFALL IN CALIFORNIA.
where that the conditions permit of it, our grass crops
may, by means of irrigation, be made equal to those of
the most favored climates, and that the productiveness
of our meadows may be increased greatly beyond that
which is now possible by the most skillful culture.
But a large portion of our territory is practically rainless and arid. The configuration of the surface is such,
that the passage of rain clouds is arrested by high mountains, and the precipitation is confined to very small and
elevated areas. This is the case with nearly the whole
of our territory west of the 100th meridian of longitude,
or a line drawn through the western part of Kansas and
Nebraska, from north to south. In this extensive district
are found some of the richest soils in the world, which
will yield, with irrigation, a yearly average of 30 to 40
bushels of wheat per acre. During the growing season
the rain-fall is the least; the greatest amount taking
place in the winter months in the form of snow.
The amount of the rain-fall decreases from the 100th
meridian, where it is less than 20 inches in the year, to
7 to 15 inches further west, and increases as the Pacific
Coast is reached, where it measures 9' 14 inches in Southern
California up to about 23 inches at San Francisco. But
the fall is very irregular, depending greatly upon local
causes.   This is shown  by the following facts, derived
from scientific observations at various points in California, where the contiguity of the coast range of mountains with that of the Sierra Nevada causes many very
surprising differences in the amount of the rain-fall.
Thus while at San Francisco the fall averaged 23 inches
yearly during 19 years, 14 miles distant at Pillarcito's
Dam it averaged during nine years, 58 inches yearly.
This irregularity is intensified by the dry winds which
absorb moisture to an extraordinary degree; a north wind,
hot and dry, which occasionally blows in the San Joaquin
and other rallies, has evaporated one inch of water in a day.
15 
IRRIGATION.
The following table gives the range at the various
localities for the period mentioned, viz.:
Locality.            Pmod.           Rain-fallU.
Fort Reading............... 3 years  15.9 to 37.4 inches.
Sacramento................17 "      11.2 to 27.5   "
Millerton.................. 6 "     9.7 to 49.3   "
Stockton................... 3 "    11.6 to 20.3 
Fort Tejou................ 5  "     9.8 to 34.2 
Monterey................... 5 "      8.2 to 21.6
San Diego..................12      6.9 to 13.4 "
Benicia.....................12 "   11.8 to 20.0   "
During these years in which the rain-fall marked the
lowest range, the distress amongst farmers was extreme.
South of Monterey, in the three years from 1868 to 1871,
neither grass nor grain grew. Hundred of farms were
abandoned, and stock men drove their cattle, horses, and
sheep up into the mountains for food and water. In the
Spring of 1870 the great Santa Clara valley was entirely
destitute of grass, and the plains of Los Angeles, comprising over a million acres of land, were barren to the
borders of the streams.   Elsewhere  the same  effects
were visible, and over the entire State hundreds of thousands of horses, cattle, and sheep, starved to death. The
estimate of the farmers, in the southern part, of the great
valley of California is, that but two crops can be secured
in five years, without irrigation, but in the extreme south
this is to be still further reduced. In 1850 only 7 inches
of rain fell at San Francisco.
Further east, in Nevada, Utah and Colorado, where
the soil is rich and arable, no dependence can be placed
upon the rain-fall, which does not even serve to start the
growth of the crops. A great depth of snow, however,
falls upon the mountains, which in melting fills the rivers
and can be made to furnish an adequate supply during the
growing season. Through the whole of this western territory the total supply of water is sufficient to ensure
good crops yearly, if it can only be secured and utilized.
The first difficulty lies in arresting its escape, and the
16 
VALUE OF THE GRASS CROP.
secondin distributing it where it is needed, in an econom ical manner.
The great valley of California includes an area of 57,200
square miles, which is equal to that of Illinois or Michi gan. The area of the lesser valleys is equal to 18,750
square miles, or 12,000,000 acres, susceptible of irrigation.
For every one of these acres capable of irrigation, there
are three which serve as a water shed, thus, as it were,
quadrupling the rain-fall of the valleys, if the water shed
of the hills can be utilized.
The area of land that may be brought under irrigation
in other parts of the comparatively rainless district, and
the area of water shed, has about the same relative proportion, but are of far greater extent. Altogether, the
increase of wealth that must accrue from the reclamation
of these vast fertile tracts, which want only water to
cover them with verdure, is beyond computation. But
this increase of wealth, great as it would be, cannot fail
to be exceeded by that which would result from the general application of irrigation in those parts of the country
where only partial watering is needed; and the prevention
of losses by drouth, and the ravages of destructive insects
to which moisture is fatal, which every year, in one portion or another of the country, reduce farmers profits, or
cause them to disappear entirely. As an example the
single case of the grass crop may be considered.
The value of the grass crop of the United States, including hay and the products of pasture, is greater than
the combined value of all other crops. This statement
will doubtles be a surprise to many, nevertheless it may
be substantiated by the following figures.
The total hay crop of 1870 was 27,316,048 tons, the
average value of this at a moderate estimate would not
be less than $10 per ton, or over 273,000,000 dollars. The
total dairy products, which should be credited to pasture, were estimated, in 1870, as 1,000,000,000 lbs. of
17 
IRRIGATION.
butter, 100,000,000 lbs. of cheese, and 400,000,000 gallons of milk sold or used. The total value of these is not
less than 400,000,000 dollars. Then there should be
credited to the grass crop, in large part, the value of the
wool and lambs produced, or at least 100,000,000 dollars;
also one half at least of the value of the yearly increase
of live stock, which is supported on grass the greater
part of the year, and this would reach a sum of 200,000,000 dollars. To place these in tabular form would further
impress the importance of the grass crop upon the mind
of a reader; this may be done as follows:
Yearly value of the hay crop........................... $273,000,000
" " of dairy products, produced from grass... 400,000,000
"     " of lambs and wool, due to pasturage...... 100,000,000
"     " of increase of other live stock............ 200,000,000
Total annual value of the grass crop................$973,000,000
This vast amount is in excess of the value of all the
rest of our farm products, in which may be included cotton, corn, wheat, and other grains.
When we consider that by a complete system of irrigating our grass lands alone, the crop could easilybe doubled
in value, the immense importance of the subject to the
agricultural interestof the country is at once seen. There
are, comparatively, few cases in which some system of
irrigation, more or less complete, could not be applied at
least to grass lands, or to now useless lands that could
be turned into luxuriant meadows.
But there is still another view of this matter which
ought to be considered. It is not only true that water is
needed to supply the requirements of plants, but when
used in irrigation, it brings withis reach of the plants a
largely increased amount of nutriment.
Water is the universal solvent. No water in its natural
condition is pure. The water of springs and streams
holds in solution or suspension a quantity of mineral and
gaseous matters, that possess high fertilizing value. The
18 
MINERAL MATTER CONTAINED IN WATER.
rain water washes the soil, and whether it flows over its
surface or percolates through it to the subsoil, it takes up
in its course a portion of the soluble matters which it
meets. Thus the water of the earth contains lime, magnesia, soda, potash, iron, sulphur, silica, ammonia, carbonic acid, nitric acid and oxygen, in solution. Besides
this, many solid substances are held mechanically and in
suspension, and are deposited whenever the flow is arrested and the water becomes still.
In Professor Geo. H. Cook's valuable work on the Geology of New Jersey, the following examples are given:
Analysi of water of the Delawoare river,  de by Henry Wurtz, NV.. State
Chemist.
Grains.
Whole solid matter contained in a gallon..............3.97
Consisting of carbonate of lime...................... 1.30
"     Carbonate of magnesia..................0.89
"    Carbonate of potash.....................0.17
"    Chloride of sodium......................0.11
"  "Chloride of potassium...................0.01
"     " Sulphate of lime........................0.19
"     " Phosphate of lime......................0.14
" Silica...........................0.50
" Sesqui-oxide of iron.....................0.03
"    Organic matter containing ammonia......0.63
The water of the Delaware is considered as exceptionally free from impurities. It is interesting to notice the
composition of its impurities in connection with the
practically inexhaustible fertility of the flats of this river,
which are annually overflowed and thereby enriched.
A comparison of the solid matters contained in 100,000
parts of the waters of several of our rivers is here given,
as follows, viz.:
Rivers............... Passaic.   A.chuylkill.  CGroton.   Hudson.
Solid contents......... 12.75  9.41     18.71    18.48
Inorganic.............. 7.85  7.29      11.32    14.52
Organic................ 4.90  2.12       7.39      3.96
Numerous other examples might be given were they
needed; it will be sufficient for the purpose to notice
19 
IRRIGATION.
that these examples are taken from streams, the waters of
which were carefully examined, with a view to their value
and use for domestic supply of various neighboring cities;
and if these waters, selected for their purity, contain so
much foreign matter, how much must be contained in
those turbid streams, the waters of which are not only
highly charged with soluble matter, but carry in suspension solid matter of which vast banks are sometimes deposited in the course of a few weeks or months.
The value of all the water which now passes away uselessly, but which might be arrested and made to deposit on the
soil, or convey to the roots of crops, its burden of fertilizing matter, if it were made useful in irrigation, is more
than can be readily calculated. An estimate made by
Herve6 Mangon in his work entitled Experiences sur
l'emploi des eaux dans les irrigations, of the yearly value
of the solid matter conveyed into the ocean by the river
Seine, may be cited.  He says:  "each 200,000 cubic
meters of water employed in irrigation, will produce a
quantity of alimentary substances equal to one average
butcher's beef. Then the waters of the Seine that are
lost from the services of irrigation carry into the sea the
equivalent of one fat ox every two minutes, or 720 every
twenty four hours, or 262,800 in the year." As compared with American rivers the Seine is a small stream; what
then might be the value of the Missouri, or the Mississippi, with its affluents, or any one or all of our other rivers
and streams, great and small, that now pay no tribute to
us in this direction in any way whatever.
20 
LANDS THAT MAY BE IRRIGATED.
CHAPTER III.
THE AMOUNT OF WATER NEEDED FOR IRRIGATION.
There are but few fields or gardens so situated that
water may not be applied to them in one or more of the
methods which have been at one time or another, or may
be, adopted to irrigate the soil. The only prerequisites
are, the supply of water and the power to bring it into
such a position that it can be spread over the land.
Where, however, the cost of procuring and applying
water will be greater than the profit to be derived from
its use, it may be concluded that there irrigation is impossible.  There are some lands situated so far above the
supply, that the cost of raising the water and of providing
reservoirs to receive and hold it until it could be distributed, would be greater than the value of any benefits
likely to accrue from its use. There are others so low
that to irrigate them, without at the same time providing for a perfect system of sub-soil drainage, would be to
turn them into marshes and ruin them for agricultural
purposes. In these cases, if the cost of drainage should
exceed the value of the benefits received from the land,
it would manifestly be impossible to irrigate them.
On the other hand, where these hindrances do not
exist, there are very few physical features of the land
that could stand in the way of irrigating it. Level lands,
or lands level in one direction with a slope in another;
lands sloping in every direction; hill sides either of moderate slope or such abrupt slope that terraces must be
made to retain the soil; all these may be prepared by
simple methods of engineering to receive any supply of
water that can be economically brought to them. Equally
those lands which happen to lie beneath the level of a
stream or tidal river; a marsh, submerged wholly or par
21 
IRRIGATION.
tially at certain seasons, or land in similar situations, but
not overflowed, may frequently be brought under reclamation and made subject to drainage and irrigation with
great profit.
There are also numerous tracts of lands along the borders of many rivers and streams that have been washed
and injured by freshets so as to be in their present condition worthless for cultivation, which at a small outlay
may be covered with new soil of a most fertile character, and again rendered useful and profitable by the use
of appropriate methods of irrigation.   Besides  these,
there are extensive tracts of land at the mouths of tidal
streams or estuaries, or at the confluences of large rivers,
which are always under water or exist as mud banks,
which may be reclaimed by judicious engineering, and
converted in a few years into agricultural land of the richest quality. All these processes belong to the art of irrigation, and the cases in which one or another of them are
impossible of application are very rare indeed.
The supply of water is a more serious consideration
than the shape or configuration of the land. Where this
is not naturally available no art of the engineer can provide it.   The only safe dependence is upon streams or
springs, and reservoirs in which the rain-fall of winter
and spring may be gathered and stored. Wells can only
be depended upon for such a small supply as would serve
to irrigate a garden or small market farm, where the large
value of the crops would admit of the cost of raising
water for a lengthened season and storing it in reservoirs
for use in emergencies. The idea that artesian wells may
be made a source of supply for completely irrigating large
tracts of land, if ever held by any over-sanguine persons,
must be abandoned. For partial irrigation they may be
made available, but the quantity of water needed for the
irrigation of a few acres of land only, in localities where
there is no summer rain-fall, as upon our Western plains,
22 
CORRECT ESTIMATES OF WATER NEEDED.
is far beyond the capacity of any artesian well to supply,
unless it be one of extraordinary volume.
It is very important that the quantity of water needed
for irrigation should be accurately estimated. A mistake
in an estimate may lead to the construction of inadequate
works, and the useless expenditure of much money.
Estimates generally err upon the side of insufficiency
rather than otherwise, and much error has been spread
abroad by persons and journals having considerable influence. Not long ago the "Scientific American" editorially announced that one artesian well would supply a
farm of 640 acres upon the plains with water for irrigation, and would also form a nucleus for many large stock
farms." The late Horace Greeley, who, although an enthusiast upon this subject, was more nearly correct,
thought one artesian well would serve to irrigate a quarter
section of land, or 160 acres. The wildly excessive estimates of the value of a certain amount of water might
be easily disproved by the careful use of a few figures,
and a little common sense. For instance, let any person
who has ever watered a garden plot and who knows the
effect of one inch in depth of water upon a dry soil, consider the following facts, and then apply them to the matter in question, and he will readily see the absurdity of
the estimates above referred to.
lst. There are 6,272,640 square inches in an acre.
2d. One inch of water, or a stream one inch wide and
deep, flowing 4 miles an hour, will equal 6,082,560 inches
in 24 hours.
3rd. Therefore 1 inch of water flowing 4 miles an hour,
for 24 hours, will cover one acre nearly an inch deep.
4th. One inch of water per week equals 52 inches per
year, or more than the yearly rain-fall.
5t. Therefore 1 inch of water should serve to irrigate
only 7 acres once a week, at least as well as the average
rain-falL
23 
IPRRIGATION.
6th. One inch of water flowing 4 miles per hour, equal
one and one-fifth quart per second.
7th. One quart per second, flowing for 24 hours, will
cover an acre five-sixths of an inch deep.
8th. One inch of water flowing 4 miles an hour is equal
to 18 gallons per minute, or 1,080 gallons per hour.
9th. An artesian well, 6 inches in diameter, would give
a stream of 28 square inches, and would deliver 32 quarts
per second, if the flow were at the rate of 4 miles an hour.
o10th. Such a well would furnish an inch of water per
day for 28 acres, or an inch a week for 196 acres, which
would be a very insufficient quantity to irrigate dry open
soils in places where the climate is arid.
11th. The cost of such a well would be at least $5,000
to $10,000, or more than the value of the land when
irrigated.
The estimates made by various authorities upon irrigation, as to the -quantity of water needed, vary considerably. As a rule, the quantity of water used by some
irrigators, would seem to be extravagant. Thus we find
standard authorities upon irrigation, and practical irrigators, recommending and using quantities of water varying from one to four quarts per second, continuously
flowing for 24 hours for each acre, at intervals of from
five to fourteen days. It is evident, however, that the
quantity of water needed to moisten the soil thoroughly,
depends on certain conditions, which are very variable.
These conditions are:
First-the nature of the soil.
Second-the character of the climate.
Third-the nature of the subsoil.
As to the Soil.-Soils differ greatly in their power to
absorb and retain water. Those which absorb most water retain it for the longest time. The power of absorption is due to the surface attraction of the particles of
soil for water. The finer the particles of the soil, the
24 
POROSITY OF SOILS.
greater will be the amount of water absorbed, because
the total surface of the particles is greater, and the longer
will it be retained. Thus a soil consisting of coarse
gravel will not retain water. A soil of pure quartz sand
will absorb but a small quantity, and will soon part with
it, while a fine alluvial soil will absorb a large amount,
and retain it a long time. The following table gives the
results of experiments made by Schu-bler, to determine
the capacities of different soils for water and their comparative power of retaining it. In these experiments the
different soils were thoroughly wetted with water up to
the point of saturation, and the increase of weight noted;
this is shown in the first column. In the second column
are given the quantities of water which evaporated in
four hours, the samples of soil being spread over equal
surfaces.
Per cent of water  Per cent of water
absorbed.    evaporated in 4 hours.
Quartz sand.............................25        88.4
Limestone sand.........................29          75.9
Clay soil (40 per cent sand).............. 40     52.0
Loam.................................51           45.7
Common arable land.....................52         32.0
Heavy clay (20 per cent sand)............61       34.6
Fine Carbonate of lime..................85        28.0
Garden soil..............................89       24.8
Humus (peat or decayed vegetable matter)181        25.5
Thus the greater capacity a soil possesses for the absorption of water, the longer it retains it. It is obvious
that upon this depends to a very great extent the quantity of water that will be needed for the irrigation of any
particular soil. Before any calculation, as to the needed
supply, can be made, this point will have to be duly considered and determined by the irrigator or hydraulic engineer. The difference arising from the variations in the
texture and composition of soils has been closely studied
by  the French irrigators and engineers.   M. Gasparin,
who stands at the head of the numerous writers upon
this subject in that country, states that a soil which con      2
25 
IRRIGATION.
tains 20 per cent of sand needs to be irrigated but once
in fifteen days, while under similar circumstances, another
soil which contains 80 per cent of sand, should be irrigated once in five days. The difference would be still greater
between soils varying still more in their character, and
less with those which may be classed between these
limits.
As  to the Climate.-As already  stated, by far  the
largest portion of the water which falls upon the earth's
surface is removed by evaporation. Observations made
at Abbot's Hill, England, by Mr. Dickinson, during
eight years, showed that 90 per cent of the water which
fell in the summer, or between April 1st and October 1st,
was removed by evaporation, and only 10 per cent found
its way into the drains which were from 3 to 4 feet deep.
The total quantity of waterwhich fel in those six months
was equal to 2,900,000 lbs. per acre, and of this more
than 2,600,000 evaporated. It should be remembered
that this occurred in a moist, cool climate, the verdure
of the meadows in which is hardly equalled in any other
country, unless it be in the still more humid Ireland,
" the emerald isle." In England showers occur almost
daily, and the winds blowing in any direction from the
sea, seldom more than a hundred miles distant, and generally much less than that, are charged with moisture;
the maximum summer temperature rarely reaches 80
degrees, and also from the more northern latitude, the
sun's rays fall at a comparatively low angle; if then,
under these conditions, evaporation carries off nine-tenths
of the moisture from the soil, what allowance must be
made in our climate, where the atmosphere is drier, the
summer temperature 20 degrees higher, and where the
sun's rays fall upon the surface more directly, and more
ardently. And further, if a large allowance must be
made in those parts of the country where the rain-fall
amounts to 40 inches and over, how much more liberal
.26 
FRENCH UNIT OF SUPPLY.
must the allowance be for those districts where the rainfall is 10, 15, or 20 inches, and where the winds, almost
completely deprived of moisture, thirst intensely for it?
Here is a consideration of great importance,  and one
which cannot be disregarded.
It will be evident to the thoughtful reader, that much
will depend upon the condition of the surface of the
soil maintained by the cultivator. The amount of evaporation can be largely controlled by keeping the soil in a
finely divided and mellow condition, in   hich it holds its
moisture with the greatest tenacity. But there are crops,
such as wheat, oats, etc., which do not admit of cultivation
during their season of growth, and these must necessarily
require a larger quantity of water than such crops as corn,
or roots, which can be cultivated.
In the dry and hot climate of Provence, a district in
the south of France where irrigation is extensively practiced, it has been found necessary to use for each watering of the soil a volume of water equal to a depth of 31 12
to 4 inches over the whole surface every 10 to 12 days,the usual interval betweenthe waterings. This is equal
to about 24 cubic inches, or nearly half a quart per second,
continually flowing for each acre of surface. This allowance, which in French measures is equal to 1 litre per
hectare, or 61 cubic inches (=1 litre) per 107,640 square
feet (-1 hectare), is the basis for all contracts between
the government which controls or supervises the water
supply, and the owners of the canals (compagnies concessionaires de canaux), and between the latter and the
farmers who buy the water from them. It is the official
and legal unit of supply, as it were, and is a valuable
general indication, applicable to any locality or country,
where water may be used to irrigate soils of different
characters and for different crops. This may be taken
as the mean quantity, to be decreased or enlarged as circumstances may necessitate the change.
27 
IRRIGATION.
As examples of the nature of these varying circumstances, the following are cited:  M. Herve6 Magnon (a
frequently quoted authority in works upon irrigation, and
already referred to here), determines the limits of supply
as from one to four litres per second per hectare, which
is equal to from one pint to two quarts per acre, per
second, continuously  flowing.   Gardens  and  market
gardens require the larger extreme. M. Pareto, another
French author, in his work upon the irrigation and drainage of lands, (Irrigation et assainissement des terres),
mentions some cases in which a quantity equal to one
quart per second was sufficient to effectively irrigate eight
acres.   This  may be taken as the extreme minimum
limit of supply, very rarely occurring, and altogether exceptional.
The Italian canals, which irrigate 1,600,000 acres, supply 24,000 cubic feet per second for this area. This is
equal to one cubic foot (30 quarts) for 66 acres, or a flow
of 26 cubic inches per second per acre; or very nearly
one quart (which is 57'1 4 cubic inches) for each two acres.
In that country the rain-fall equals 37 to 38 inches per
annum, the most of which occurs in the irrigating season,
when there are on the average 71 rainy days in the six
months from March to October. There the summer temperature is from 70 to 90 degrees. It will be observed
that the climatic conditions of Italy closely approach
to those of the rainy portion of the lUnited States. The
mean water-supply may therefore be taken as closely approximating the quantity required in this country-viz.,
one pint per second, constantly flowing, or 10,800 gallons,
or 17221',0 cubic feet every 24 hours for every acre. In India,
one cubic foot per second is made to serve for 200 acres of
grain crops. In some parts of Spain the same quantity serves
for 240 acres; in others the same quantity is spread over
1,000 acres, and the legal allowance in some recent Spanish grants, varies from 70 to 260 acres per cubic foot per
28 
SUBSOIL ABSORPTION.
second. Rice culture requires a supply equal to one
cubic foot per second, for each 30 to 80 acres. These
examples will serve as a basis for calculations, needed to
meet the widely different circumstances which exist in
the United States, where possibly the variations of soil
and climate, over our extensive territory, are unparalleled
in any other single country in the world.
As to the Subsoil. -This point needs very little elucidation. From the preceding remarks, the effects of loose
or compact subsoils will be seen to exert a considerable
influence upon the requisite water supply. There are
soils which rest upon open, coarse, gravelly subsoils,
which may be compared to a sieve. Other soils, with retentive clay subsoils, furnish examples exactly the reverse.
These are unusual cases, but as they may occur, they
ought to be considered.  It does not seem necessary to
discuss this point further than to call attention to the
importance of ascertaining the character of the subsoil
of any tract which it is proposed to irrigate, as a serious
element in calculating the needed supply of water. The
minimum direct loss through absorption by the subsoil
should not be estimated at less than 15 per cent of the
supply, and a much larger allowance should be made
when, upon examination, the subsoil is found to consist of
coarse sand or gravel.
When  we consider the quantity of water needed for
irrigation, it is clearly seen that springs are rarely of sufficient volume to be ef material value, excepting for
meadows, and then only for small surfaces or partial
watering. They may be made, however, to serve an important purpose in such cases as these where the area to
be irrigated is small.   Storage reservoirs, in which is
collected the water of those temporary courses, which
flow only when the rain-fall is largest and the amount of
evaporation is least, may be made important sources of
supply. It is by means of these that a large portion of
29 
IRRIGATION.
the irrigation needed to make the dry plains of India
fruitful is accomplished.   But by far the most important sources of water for irrigation are rivers and streams.
In these there is an abundant supply, and there is generally ample provision for elevating the water, by means
of dams with canals or by water wheels, to the highest
portion of the adjacent land which is to be irrigated.
The scope for the utilization of rivers and small streams
in irrigation in the United States is of vast extent, and
the statement which has been made that there are 500,000
homesteads in the country that could be brought under
a partial or complete system of irrigation, does certainly
not overestimate the reality, but on the contrary is doubtless greatly below it.  It is for every cultivator of the
soil to closely scan his own resources in this respect,
wisely determining to turn them to accouut as soon as he
shall have discovered their existence and perceived how
to employ them. The cost of works for irrigation will
be greatest where the area to be irrigated is the smallest,
as for instance in gardens and market gardens; it will be
least in the case of meadows, where the distributing
canals are permanent in character, and between these extremes upon arable lands, where for each crop the surface
must be disturbed, and furrows for spreading the water
must be made anew at each plowing. The cost will also
vary greatly, as the facilities for procuring and elevating
the water may differ. But it may be accepted as beyond
doubt that there are few gardens, market farms, orchards,
or meadows that might not be brought under a more or
less systematic irrigation, and few localities near the
borders of rivers in the great Western plains, or other
rainless localities, in which the present arid desert may
not be redeemed and made to blossom and become fruitful beneath the beneficient influence of the fertilizing
waters which now flow uselessly by them.
a
30 
IRRIGATION OF GARDENS.
CHAPTER IV.
IRRIGATION OF GARDENS.-THE SUPPLY OF WATER
Gardens and market farms, by reason of the greater
value of the crops raised upon them, in constant succession, will permit the application of more costly methods
of irrigation than any other cultivated grounds, and from
their smaller area there is less difficulty in procuring an
ample supply of water. Few gardens are so situated that
water can be procured from a stream without the employment of a water wheel or other motive power, a force
pump, and pipes laid underground, and a reservoir in
which water may be stored when not needed. But nearly
every one may be supplied from a well by the use of a
windmill. A windmill of the smallest size made, and of
the best construction and self-regulating, costing about
$100, is able to raise two quarts of water per second to a
hight of 25 feet. A windmill may be constructed by any
fair mechanic at a cost of from $10 to $25, which will
answer every purpose of those manufactured and sold at
higher prices, excepting that of regulating themselves
to the varying forces of the winds. A mill of this character may be fixed in a frame over the well, and the arms,
of which there may be six, eight, or more, with fans fixed so as to present their faces at an angle of 45 degrees
to the wind. are kept in position by means of a vertical
vane behind them. Another, which consists of six arms
mounted upon a rotating frame, carries cloth sails. This
mill requires to be changed as the wind changes, and a
ladder is attached to the frame upon which it is mounted
for this purpose. The frame on which to mount it may
be of timber, as shown in the engraving (fig. 1), or it
may be a stone or brick building if desired for a substantial machine for heavier work. The power is con
31, 
IRRIGATION.
structed in the shape of arms-shorter or longer, accord ing to the power needed-fixed to a center-wheel or hub,
which is mounted and keyed on to an axle. Sails are
carried on these arms, of sail-cloth or heavy sheeting, of
a triangular shape,
as shown in the en                                     graving, which are
fastened closely to
one arm  and by a
cord in the corner,
shown at a, a foot
1  or less in length, to
cJ1 I _  ~     another. This gives
=, l  7      sufficient   inclina                                     tion backward to the
sails to gain the mo                                     tion required with a
I5  2!front wind.  On the
:.,    Zart_  axle  is  a  crank                                    wheel, b, which
moves the rod to be
connected with the
pump, or it may be
connected by means
of pulleys and bands
to get  an upright
rotary motion, or a
Fig. I.-WINDMILL WITH SAILS.     pair of bevel-wheels
pair of bevel-wheels
will give a horizontal rotary movement. A frame, c, is
carried on a circular table, on which it may be revolved
so as to enable the sails to be presented fairly to the
breeze; a box, d, at the rear end of the frame is weighted
with stone, to balance the weight of the arms and sails.
A pin passed through holes in the circular table retains
the frame to the position needed, and keeps the sails
faced to the wind.
32 
CISTERNS AND TANKS.
A mill with arms six feet long may be made to do work
equal to one-fourth of a horse-power, if all the working
parts are well fitted and kept well lubricated, as all
machinery should be. When out of use, the sails are untied and removed, or they may be furled and dclewed to
the arms until again required.
A one-horse railroad-power would also serve a useful
purpose in raising water from wells into an elevated reservoir, where it could be stored for use. For small
F
t.          _~~~~~
Fig. 2.-SQUARE To
gardens the water from the roofs of buildings may be
collected in tanks or cisterns raised a few feet above the
level of the ground.
A round tank, hooped with iron bands, 12 feet deep
and 15 feet in diameter, will hold over 15,000 gallons. A
square tank (fig. 2) may be made of jointed and matched
planks, which are forced closely together by wedges, acting upon a timber frame which encloses the planks. This
t
33 
IRRIGATION.
is the cheapest kind of tank that can be made. One 16
feet square and 10 feet deep will contain nearly 20,000
gallons. Tanks of this character can only serve for small
gardens, or to store water which is pumped at night for
use during the day time. Either of these tanks, if filled
during the night (to do which will require a stream from
a pipe of an inch and a half in diameter constantly running), and replenished during the day, will furnish
enough water to give more than one inch in depth over
an acre of surface. This is the least quantity that could
be depended upon in a dry season for any effective purpose, and would need repeating after an interval of four to
seven days, so that the maximum effort of a tank of this
size, with a well, windmill or horse-power attached, would
suffice only in an emergency to water four to seven acres
of land. Where the ground to be irrigated is of larger
extent, the tank room and water supply must be enlarged,
or the diameter of the pipe and power increased. The
capacity of the pipe increases as the square of the diameter, by which is meant that if the diameter is doubled
the capacity is quadrupled. Thus if a pipe one inch in
diameter supplies one quart per second, a pipe of two
inches diameter will furnish four quarts per second (or
two multiplied by two), and a pipe three inches diameter
will yield nine quarts (or three multiplied by three), per
second. At the same time the power must be increased
in proportion to the amount of water elevated; or disappointment will result. In estimating power a large allowance must be made for loss. A horse working in a railway-power can only raise an equivalent of three-fourths
of his weight; the rest disappears in friction; and when
a stream of water is forced through a pipe of small diameter for a considerable distance, the loss of power in
friction is very large, and another fourth of the horse's
effort must generally be allowed to compensate for it.
One horse may be expected to raise 180 quarts one foot
34 
MEASUREMENT OF STREAMS.
high every second, or 6 quarts to a hight of 30 feet. The
small size windmills are about one-sixth of one horsepower.
Where streams are available, the supply of water will
be found most ample and most economical. No storage
tanks are needed in which the water must remain for a
time, that its temperature may be raised nearly to that of
the soil, as when wells are used. The water may be
taken directly from the stream and flowed upon the
ground. A low dam of two feet in hight may be constrtucted of planks across the stream, by which power to
run a small undershot wheel may be secured. Where
there is facility for backing the water to a greater extent,
or of procuring a greater fall, a breast-wheel may be used.
A dam four or five feet high will be sufficient for a wheel
of this kind, if the stream is four feet wide and six inches
deep, and runs with a velocity of two miles per hour.
Such a stream with this fall of water would give sufficient
power to elevate 11 quarts of water per second a hight of
30 feet, or a sufficient supply for about 12 acres of ground,
or more in proportion to the less hight that the water
would have to be raised.   To  calculate  the nominal
horse-power furnished by a fall of water, the velocity of
the stream in feet per minute, the hight of fall, and the
sectional area (the width and depth) of the stream in
square feet, must be multiplied together, and by 62'1,,
and divided by 33,000.
For instance, it the stream is found to be 5 feet wide
at the surface, and 3 feet at the bottom, with banks evenly
sloping from the surface to the bottom, the mean diameter is found by adding the surface and bottom widths together and taking half the sum. In this case the mean
width will be 4 feet. If the depth in the middle is 6
inches or half a foot, this mean width is multiplied by
the depth and the product is the sectional area, which in
this case is two square feet. To find the velocity of the
35 
IRRIGATION.
stream a thin shaving or other light floating substance is
thrown upon the surface, and the exact time in which it
moves over a definite distance, say 10 rods or 165 feet, is
carefully noted by walking along the bank watch in hand.
Let this time be supposed to be one minute. Then the
sectional area of the stream being 2 feet, this is multiplied by 165 and the product 330 is the number of cubic
feet of water passing down the stream in one minute.
A cubic foot of water weighs 62' 12 pounds, therefore 330
cubic feet weighs 20,625 lbs.  If the dam is 4 feet high we
have 20,625 lbs. of water per minute falling 4 feet, which
is equal to 82,500 lbs. per minute falling one foot. This
would, as a matter of course, exactly balance the same
weight rising the same hight. The whole power of a horse
attached to suitable machinery is equal to that necessary
to raise 33,000 pounds one foot high in a minute. The
force exerted by the falling of 82,500 pounds in a minute
is equal to 2'11 horse-power. But a considerable allowance must be made for friction, when waterwheels are
used, and especially where the fall is so small as here supposed. It would not be safe to expect to gain more than
one half of the whole effect in this case. The power
gained would therefore, under ordinary circumstances,
be about 1'14 horse-power, or sufficient to raise about
40,000 lbs. or 20,000 quarts a foot high per minute. This
is equal to about 11 quarts, 30 feet high, per second.
If it is found necessary to store the water thus elevated
so as to extend the area that may be irrigated, cisterns of
substantial construction will be required. These should
be of brick or stone laid in cement, or hydraulic lime,
and strengthened with buttresses upon the outside. A bank
of earth should then be heaped up around it and sodded,
and if the bank be terraced, it may be utilized by planting it. A remarkably elegant structure of this kind is
to be seen in a market garden at Astoria, Long Island.
It consists of a large cistern of stone work surrounded by
36 
TANKS AND CISTERNS.
earth sodded in part and in part planted, and surmounted
by a rustic stage and summer-house built of cedar boughs
and roots. Above the whole, towers a powerful windmill
which serves to pump the water from a well near by into
the tank and force it from thence into the extensive
greenhouses and other buildings upon the farm. Although
the cost of such a structure is large, yet it is in such a
case as this no more than a necessary outlay of capital,
without which the business could not be carried on, and
is simply an expenditure made in a true spirit of economy.
Such a tank of considerable size and great utility (see
fig. 3), may be dug in the ground at the highest part of
fig. 3.-BRICK CISTERN.
the garden, to such a depth that the soil excavated will
make a retaining bank to support the portion of the wall
that is above the surface of the ground.  This  tank,
which is circular, may be covered with an arch of brick
work, and may be surmounted by a tool-house or other
useful building. In this case a brick shaft 2' 1, feet thick
each way should be build in the center from which the
arch would spring to the circular wall of the cistern; the
wall should be 9 inches thick and the bottom may be
either of bricks laid flat or of cement laid upon the earth.
37 
IRRIGATION-.
This cistern, if 20 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep,
would hold 30,000 gallons, or enough to water over three
acres at one time. If the cistern is open the wall could
slope outward, making an inverted frustrum of a cone
(as seen in fig. 4), 32 feet wide at the surface and 8 feet
wide at the bottom. The earth thrown out at the bottom will form a support for the upper portion of the
wall. But before the wall is built the earth thrown out
should be solidly rammed down in layers made hollow or
of the form of a basin. The form is shown by the curved lines in that part of the engraving.
There is a large variety of pumps adapted to the purpose of irrigation, but the severe uses to which they are
put make it desirable to have only those which  are constructed entirely of metal or wood. Leather valves are
soon worn and become useless, causing delays, and serious
loss of time in repairs. The double action force pumps,
with metal valves, or the rotary pumps of the ordinary
kinds with metal pinions which work into each other
similarly to cogwheels, or those which work upon the oldfashioned principle of the Archimedean screw, but which
nevertheless are protected by a modern patent are all suitable for this work on account of their durability. A
double-acting force pump of the most simple character
(fig. 5), made almost entirely of wood, is one of the best
for this purpose on account of its cheapness and the ease
with which it is kept in working order. It is formed of
a block of wood, A, A4, in which two parallel holes are
Fig. 4.-OPEN CISTERN.
38 
PUMPS.
bored lengthwise. In these holes the plungers, B, B,
made of wood-maple  being preferable-are worked  by
rods affixed to a rocking shaft in connection with the
hole, shown by the dotted
lines, is bored. - This bore
5~'1  ~      is made  to communicate
U l[I             with the other two by a
I  lhole bored from the out                 ~~I I~ l      side (seen at C, that por                              tion  shaded  and where
l1/~,  the letter C is seen being
~                   ~   ~~~~~afterwards plugged up).
A     leather valve is placed
</  /        // -   ~so as to close the ports of
g    ==~~~i ~aerandis placged anpfxe'i
this last bole  and turn the
current  of water into the
o pump tube.  This valve is
th inserted into a dove-tail
jmortise, cut in the bottom
of the block.    A s lotted
plug, D, holds the  valve,
and is placed and fixed in
a proper position in the
-mortise. The  lower por                              tion of the  mortise is closed
with a plug. To insert
the slotted  plug   a h ole  is
bored and the bottom of
Fig. 5.-DOUBLE-ACTING FORCE PU~. the block is sawed into to
give room to chisel away the space in which the valve works
back and forth. The pump tube may be a log bored and
inserted into the block, as shown at E. Half-inch iron
rods may be used to work the plungers. This simple and
useful pump requires for its construction only those materials that are available everywhere, and only such skill as
39
power above the ground.
Between these holes a smaller 
IRRIGATION.
is possessed by any village carpenter or mechanic. It has
been patented by Mr. Ed. Buzby, of Shamong, N. J.
Where metal pumps are preferred, the American Sub
merged pump made by the Bridgeport (Ct.) Manufacturing Co., and which are entirely of metal and almost indestructible, would be found very suitable. For lifting
larger quantities of water a great variety of wholly metallic pumps are manufactured by the Hydraulic and
Drainage Company of Brooklyn, N. Y.
CHAPTER V.
PREPARATION OF To  SURFACE.
An adequate supply of water having been obtained, the
preparation of the surface of the ground to be irrigated
is the next work. For gardens this should be very complete, as the work will be permanent, and the first outlay
will be the last, if the work is properly done. The method
of laying out the ground will depend greatly upon the
nature of the surface. If it is perfectly level, with no
perceptible slope in either direction, the method of bedding should be employed. Tlis is done by plowing the
land in ridges of such a width as are most convenient
for the culture carried on. For market gardens, where
horse cultivation is practiced, these beds may be from 20
to 30 feet in width. In smaller gardens, in which the
hoe is used and hand labor employed in cultivation, ridges
of 10 to 12 feet in width will be found more convenient.
Where the spade is used altogether and horses are never admitted, the ridges may be made of even less width; the dimensions depending altogether upon the convenience or the
necessity of the cultivator. The system described applies
to each of these cases. The ground is laid out into plots
40 
PREPARING THE SURFACE.
of a convenient size, which run completely across the
garden or inclosure, in a direction parallel with that of
the main water-furrow from which the supply is to be
derived.  In case the garden consists of four, eight, or
ten acres, or less or more, a proper width of these plots
would be 210 feet. This size would be the more convenient, as 210 feet is as nearly as can be had in practice
the length of the side of a square acre. Besides, this
distance is as great as water can be made to run in a furrow in ordinary garden soil without being all absorbed
before it reaches the extremity. Between the plots sufficient spaces will be left for roads, if any are needed, for
carts or wagons to go through. These plots are then
divided into other plots of the width designed for the
ridges.  They are then plowed, and the ridges "twice
gathered "-to use a plowman's parlance-which means
Fig. 6.-OUTLINE OF THIE BED.
that a back furrow is made in the center of each of these
secondary plots, and the furrows are thrown each way
toward the back furrow until the ridge is completed.
The ground should then be rolled. Then another back
furrow is made over the first, and the ridge is plowed as
before, making each of the furrows shallower than the
preceding one, so as to leave a gentle slope from  the
crown of the ridge toward the open furrow on each side
of it. The ridges will then show an outline as seen in
fig. 6. At the head of each row of ridges or beds the
ground is plowed into a headland or ridge, which is
thrown toward the first made ridges, and which slopes
gradually away from them to the fence or outer boundary
of the inclosure, the last furrow made, next the fence,
being plowed deeply so as to provide a ditch for draining
41 
IRRIGATIOX.
the headland. The principal canal of supply for the
range of ridges below it will run along the crest of this
headland, and a canal of distribution will run along the
crest of each of the secondary ridges. Each headland
or principal ridge, with its canal, and the range of ridges
starting at right angles from it, each one of them having
its distributing canal, will then form a system of irrigation independent of the other series of ridges. Every
seven of these secondary ridges, if they are 30 feet wide
and 210 feet long, will occupy one acre of ground. At
the foot of each series of ridges will be needed a draining
A                   -
Fig. 7.-SYSTEM OF BEDS.
furrow, unless the ground is underdrained with tile, to
carry off the surplus water. A tile drain between each
pair of beds or secondary ridges wouild be the best method
of drainage, and the supply of water should be regulated
so that the whole is absorbed and none is allowed to flow
away unused. The tile drains are shown at a, a, a, fig. 6.
The series of beds and canals will then appear as shown
42 
FORMATION OF BEDS.
in fig. 7, in which three secondary ridges, a, a, a, with
the head-ridge, A, B, and the canals, c, c, c, belonging to
each are shown, with an open drain, d, d, d. The arrows
show the direction in which the water flows. Fig. 8
shows the profile of the ridge and section of the headridge with its canal of supply as if they were cut down
A
Fig. 8.-PROFILE OF BED.
through the center, A, being the head-ridge with its canal,
a, a, the bed or secondary ridge, c, the drain at the foot of
the bed, and the dotted line shows the course the tile
drain would take below the surface, should one be laid.
Where the ground has a slope in either direction the
system to be adopted will be much simpler than the preceding one. At the head of the slope will be placed the
canal of supply. This will be the only permanent work
undertaken. The method of cultivation of the field or
garden will control the method of distributing the water.
It will be necessary, however, to cultivate the ground in
drills or hills or subordinate beds, upon which the water
a                                     &a
Fig. 9.-FURROWS FOR A REGIULAR SLOPE.
may be turned when it is needed, leading it by small furrows or canals made with the hoe or a small hand plow
in whatever direction, down or across the slope, as may
be desired. Generally the arrangement of the canals of
supply will be as shown in fig. 9, in which the supply
canal is seen at a, and the drain which carries off the
surplus water is seen at the foot of the slope at b. A
low ridge separates the latter from the next supply canal.
In this method of irrigation the water may be supplied as
43 
IRRIGATION.
a thin sheet flowing over a smoothed surface, or as a
number of small streams, flowing in a network of courses
over the surface, or in regular channels between the drills
or rows of plants. The ground may be laid out upon
various plans, as the method of cultivation adopted
may require.  A  plan (see fig. 10), adapted for a crop
CI fr' -'    4;      If_ 
!
:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I
f    \,:     I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- --!'1""',isle
Fig. 10.-ARHANGEMENT FOR HILLS OR DRILLS.
cultivated in hills or drills, each drill forming its own
furrow of distribution in which the water may flow, is as
follows: A supply canal, seen at a, b, is made at the
highest part of the ground, with several short canals connecting it with a distributing canal, c, d.   From  this
distributing canal the water flows into the furrows, shown
by the fine lines. The field is watered in sections by
closing the canal at any desired place, as at e, f, with a
sheet-iron plate or wooden gate, shown at fig. 11, in
t c.
I I -'i    i
II
II
I.I
I
I
I
II I
;.               i I.
f!
I I
11
.     i      -. I I I
r
p
I
44 
IRRIGATION OF SLOPES.
which is seen the gate, and at fig. 12 the method of its
use.   Obviously by shutting the canal in this manner
the irrigation is confined to the
portion of the field circumscribed
by the closed furrow, shown by the
dark dotted line, f, f, in fig. 10.
The direction of the water is shown
by that of the arrow. Where the
1.-HN-GAT.  slope of the ground is too abrupt
Fig. 11.-H —OATE..
to admit of very long furrows, a
different plan, shown in fig. 13, may be adopted. In
this the supply canal, seen at a, b, is the same as previous                       F -
Fig. 12.-MODE OF USING HAND-GATE.
ly described. From this the lateral canals, c, c, c, are
made, each of which supplies its own dependent furrows,
and no more water is admitted to these canals than will
_
-- _
v -
I (;         ar ~ -       - 1[c  
.                                    lG
Fig. 13.-FURROWS FOR A STEEP SLOPE.
water the surface to which it is tributary. These canals
gradually decrease in size until they disappear at the
I
45 
IRRIGATION.
boundary of the field or garden. The water flowing from
these lateral canals takes the direction shown by the
arrow. A more elaborate arrangement will be suitable
to market-farms, where a variety of crops, each needing
especial treatment, are grown. (Such a one is shown in
A         f                         o
p                                                                  1
K
e
L
Fi. 14.-ARRGENT FOR A    T  FA.
Fig. 14.-A.RRANGEMENT FOR AL MARKET FARM.
fig. 14.) In this the water is supplied by one or two
canals, A, B and A, C, as may be consistent with the slope
of the ground. A road, d, d, is laid out at one side of
the plot, crossing the supply canal or feeder by a culvert
at a, a portion of the ground, e, e, being retained for culti.vation, leaving room to turn a cart or wagon at each
end of it.  The water is turned from the main  supply
canal, A, B, into the main distributing canal A, C. The
I
t
II
i
I
46
la
G6
CZ 
MARKET GARDENS.
ground to be cultivated is laid off into plots such as are
suitable to the system of culture as at G, H, 1, J, K, L.
These may be irrigated in diverse ways, as for example
by long furrows, at L, in smaller beds with shorter furrows, as shown at G, or in furrows running in an
opposite direction, at H. The flow of water in the
distributing canals is controlled and diverted by means of
the hand-gates already described, as at f.
A modification of this plan of arranging an irrigated
garden is as follows (fig. 15). An alley-way or cart-road
I       I                          )\1  I/
H /
Fig. 15.-METHOD FOR AN IRRIGATED GARDEN.
may be made opposite the entrance A, which crosses the
canal by a culvert, and a path is continued quite around
the enclosure. The beds G, H, I, J, K, are watered
from the distributing canals as in fig 14, and the flow is
diverted and controlled by means of the hand-gates already
described, (fig. 12), which when placed as seen at a, a,
turn the water on to the bed H.   This water may be directed amongst the hills or drills, wherever it may be
.1
47
A
LV
G
i
K
6
b 
IRRIGATIO(N.
required, by means of small canals made with a hoe and
the surplus will be caught in the foot drain, b, b. A great
variety of methods may be used with this and the previous
plans, so as to meet the necessities of all sorts of crops.
The renowned Erfurt cauliflowers are grown in gardens
irrigated on such a plan as this; the water flowing in
permanent ditches being dipped up with long-handled
scoops, and scattered about the plants daily. These cauliflowers are grown upon what was originally low, wet
soil, and the ditches serve at the same time for drainage
and irrigation.
A plan for a garden very completely irrigated by means
of a well or reservoir may be laid out as follows, (see fig.
16). A road passes through the center and around the
A
Fig. 16.-PLY FOR IRRIGATING FROM A WELL.
Fig. 16. —PLA FOR IRRIGATING FROM A WELL.
plot. The well and reservoir, windmill or horse-power,
are situated at the highest part of the ground, (see A).
From this the water is conveyed by channels, (shown by
dark lines), to the lower parts of the garden. From these
channels it is distributed in small furrows to every row of
plants or vegetables. For a small garden this system is
-------------- --
48
I
L
-6 ----- ----- 
WATER FURROWS.
doubtless the most perfect of all methods of irrigation
by surface channels and furrows; while for larger ones or
market farms, in which the supply can be procured from
wells or carried into reservoirs for final distribution, it is
equally perfect. The form of the channel deserves consideration. The typical canal or furrow, (shown at fig.
17), is one in which the earth thrown out forms a bank
above the channel, preventing the influx of water from
Fig. 17.-FORm OF FURROW.
a neighboring channel, while the lower bank is not raised,
and permits the escape of a thin sheet of water over the
ground below it. There are many forms of furrow available which will occur to the practical operator as they
may be needed. But there are some methods of strengthening the furrows against wearing away by the currents
Fig. 18.-PROTECTED FURROW.
of water worthy of notice. One of these (shown at fig.
18), consists of a trough of wood, two strips of four or
six  inches in width being used.   These are nailed together by their edges, and imbedded in the furrow.
The water, in passing along, is prevented from escaping
into or from flowing over the soil except at the open
side of the trough. A portable wooden trough (fig. 19),
with cross channels, may be used to convey water over
ground that is under cultivation, or is not in a con
3
49 
IRRIGATION.
dition to be disturbed with the hoe. This trough is
peculiarly adapted for use in the system of bedding before
described, as it may be laid upon the crest of the head
ridge, and the cross channels connected with the furrows
upon the crests of the beds. These latter may be made
of common open horse-shoe drain tiles inverted. The uses
Fig. 19.-TROUGH FOR CROSS-FURROWS.
to which this kind of drain tiles may be put in surface
irrigation are very numerous, but they will be so obvious
to those interested that it is necessary only to suggest
their usefulness in this regard.
For carrying the water beneath roads or paths a wooden
pipe should be provided, (fig. 20). This is made of stout
plank, placed longitudinally for the sides and cross-wise
Fig. 20.-CULVERT FOR ROADS.
for the top and bottom. This method of construction
gives the extreme strength of the material where it is
most wanted, and prevents the crushing of the culvert
by the weight of a loaded cart or wagon, the wheels of
50 
PIPES AND TILES.
which might otherwise split the covering.  These pipes
are placed in the channels beneath the roads or paths, and
the earth is heaped over them gradually, sloping in each
direction.  These pipes should be used wherever there is
danger that earth may fall into the channels, or that they
may be injured by rough usage. If made of seasoned
oak plank two inches thick and bedded in waste lime or
mortar, they will last many years without deterioration.
CH A P T ER VI.
IRRIGATION BY PIPES AND TILES.
Many elaborate improvements have been made within
the past few years in the practice of irrigation.   The
costly character of these improvements renders them inapplicable to any lands except those devoted to'crops of
great value.  The minimum value of the crops that may
be profitably raised by the methods of irrigation here referred to may be placed at $400 per acre. In some cases
where the profitable use of land depends entirely upon
these costly plans, this minimum  may be reduced considerably. Thus, rather than have land idle it may pay
to expend a permanent capital of $250 per acre, the yearly interest of which, with the annual cost of water, and
labor, may on the whole result in a yearly outlay of $100
per acre, to produce crops which may realize $250 to $300
per acre. For a market garden these amounts are much
less than the average value of the crops produced, and
many seasons occur in which the losses by reason of dry
weather at critical periods will amount to more than-or
many times-the total value of the improvements here to
be described. It is therefore a question of serious import
to market gardeners, small fruit raisers, and the proprie
51 
IRRIGATION.
tors of private vegetable gardens, whether or not they
could profitably adopt some of these methods which have
actually been put in operation upon grass farms in England with very satisfactory results as to profit. From a
careful consideration of this question, there will doubtless
result a very decided opinion as to its feasibility and its
profitableness. The simple fact that in many cases the
crops which, under favorable circumstances, should have
realized $600 to $1,200 per acre, have been so injured by
drouth as to fail to pay the cost of production is sufficient
to prove the propriety of this opinion, and to induce
gardeners and fruit growers to adopt methods of securing
a full crop in spite of the adversity of the season.
There are many cases in which the methods of surface
irrigation previously described are unsuitable.   Where
the surfaces are irregular, where the crops are changed
several times in a season, where the ground is under biennial or perennial crops and furrows cannot be maintained,
or where the ground is too valuable to be occupied by
furrows or water channels, these and other conditions
will be favorable to the use of one or another of the following plans. The first to be treated of is that of underground pipes and stationary hydrants, from which water
may be distributed under pressure through india-rubber
hose and sprinklers. An elevated reservoir is provided,
from which an iron pipe having a capacity equal to an
inch and a half in area for each acre to be irrigated is
carried along the center of the garden. A two-inch pipe
will be required for two acres, a three-inch one for four
acres, and a four-inch one for eight acres. From this
other pipes are carried at right angles 200 feet apart to
within 100 feet of the boundary upon each side.  The
pipes are laid a foot beneath the surface, or so far that
they can never be disturbed by the plow, (see fig. 21.)
UTpon the lateral pipes, which should be at least an inch
and a half in diameter, so that the flow shall not be un
52 
THE UE OF PIPES.
duly interrupted by friction, upright pipes or hydrants
are attached which project at least three inches above the
surface of the soil. These are about 200 feet apart. They
are furnished with valves which operate by means of a
square head and a key. Each one is fitted with a cap
which screws on or off, and which is attached to the hydrant by a short chain for its preservation. When this
cap is unscrewed a section joint affixed to the end of the
hose may be screwed in its place.
When this apparatus is in operation, the water descending from the elevated tank or reservoir passes through the
pipes and the hose, and escapes with some degree of force,
depending upon the hight of the head, through a flattened nozzle, which scatters it in a thin sheet or broken
shower. With this apparatus one man may water copiously five acres of ground in a day or night. Each hydrant being the center of a plot 200 feet square, serves
to irrigate, with 100 feet of hose, very nearly or perhaps one acre of ground. To irrigate five acres in 10
hours would give an hour and a half to each plot, an
Fig. 21.-IRRIGATING BY PIPES AND HOSE.
53 
IRRIGATION.
amply sufficient time for an active man to get around a
plot of 200 by 200 feet. The plan here described is illustrated in figure 22. The well, with reservoir, windmill
and force-pump, is situated in the center of the plot to
be irrigated at A.   From this the pipes, shown by the
double lines, are carried as has been described. The points
I
Il
I
(
\
'
I
I
Il
I
Fig. 22.-PLAN OF PIPES AND HYDRANTS.
marked upon the lateral pipes show the positions of the
hydrants, and the dotted circles around a few of them
show the extent to which the hose covers the ground.
A modification of this plan has been successfully introduced in England, where it has been patented, for the
irrigation of meadows.   In this method the distributing
pipes are laid upon the surface of the ground, 30 feet
apart, and are perforated in such a manner that the water
is discharged in a shower of spray upon the ground, (see
I I
.0
I
i
t
54
I
I
I
II
I
A
N 
THE USE OF PIPES ON THE SURFACE.
fig. 23.) This distance, however, will depend altogether
upon the force with which the water is discharged or upon
the amount of head given to the supply reservoir. The
operation of this system is illustrated herewith. It has
the disadvantage of increased cost, but the merit of economy of application. One acre is irrigated at a time and
during one hour. The irrigation is done, as it always
should be, at night, or between the afternoon and the
morning. The apparatus is self-operating and needs only
the turning on and off of the water by an attendant, who
can be occupied with other work in the intervals. A plan
Fig. 23.-IRIGATING BY SURFACE PIS.
of subsoil irrigation by means of drain tiles has been in
operation for many years, although a recent patent has
been granted in the United States for the invention. The
patent only refers to perforated tiles. But the common
drain tiles will answer every purpose that the perforated
pipes can or will. The plan is very simple. It is exactly
the reverse of draining by tiles. Large pipes-the size
being chosen to suit the system tributary to them-are
laid down, a foot beneath the surface, at the highest part
of the tract to be irrigated. From these, smaller pipes
branch as the secondary channels of supply, and from
them one-inch pipes again branch as distributing chan
55 
IRRIGATION.
nels to the limits of the tract.  The water escapes through
the joints of the pipes, and rises by capillary attraction
or absorption to the surface of the soil. As the water
will naturally tend to sink in the soil in a greater measure
than it will rise to the surface, the distributing pipes will
need to be placed very closely, a distance of from six to
eight feet being the greatest that should be allowed. This
system has the advantages of cheapness of material,
of permanence and of economy in applying the water.
But it possesses the disadvantages of large cost of labor
in laying the tiles, and of a very wasteful expenditure of water, a large portion of it escaping downward
and useless to the crop. The trenches in which the tiles
are laid may be very cheaply made by plowing twice or
thrice in the same furrow until it is twelve inches deep,
and when the tiles are laid, most of the earth may be plowed back into the furrow again. But one other objection
will occur, in that for any sort of favorable result the
slope of the ground must be regular, or the arrangement
of the tiles must be made with costly exactness. Of the
three systems here described, this last is the least promising, and should only be adopted in those special cases
when, under a combination of favoring circumstances, it
offers special inducements. Under such circumstances
it has been successfully applied in California, and a correspondent of the "Rural Press," of San Francisco, from
Santa Rosa, wrote recently to that Journal as follows:
"I have practiced it on a small scale for several years.
I lay down two-inch tile ten feet apart, so the top of the
tile is just below the plowshare. I give them just fall
enough to run the water along, and fasten up the lower
end. I make the entrance large enough to have plenty
of head, than turn in a good stream of water that will
force its way through. By this process the land never
bakes, but keeps moist and loose. I believe one-fourth
the water used under the ground is better than the whole
56 
LIQUID MANURE.
on the surface." This opinion as to the economy of the
practice will very probably be found premature on further
experience.
CHAPTER VII.
IRRIGATION WITH LIQUID MANURE.
The ordinary cultivation of gardens exhibits a most
striking want of economy.   Farm gardens, and those
smaller ones attached to village dwellings, ought to be
cultivated in the most careful and economical manner.
Not a drop of rain water ought to be allowed to go to
waste. The house-slops should be carefully utilized. The
cesspool, the stable, and the garbage-heap ought to serve
the useful and appropriate purpose of aiding in the production of the household vegetables and fruits. But, on
the contrary, it is doubtful if they are so utilized completely in any single homestead upon this continent. In
some few cases they have been made to partially serve
their proper purpose with the best effects. It is, however,
in more densely-populated countries that liquid manuring
has been practiced, and these valuable materials made
serviceable. Without going so far as China and Japan,
for examples of this economy, it may be stated that Belgium, the most thickly-peopled country of Europe,
offers the nearest and most conspicuous example of the
preservation of every kind of animal manure, both solid
and liquid, and its manipulation in tanks for the purpose
of applying its solution or dilution to gardens and small
farms. In many parts of England, too, this system is
closely followed, and the market farmers adjoining towns
and cities carefully collect the waste of the dwellings for
use upon their crops.
57 
IRRIGATION.
But in these instances, by reason of the abundance
and cheapness of labor and the high value of the crops
raised, rude and cumbersome methods of gathering, preparing, and applying these fertilizers are in use. It is very
rarely that one can see even in England, in a small way,
the thoroughly economic system of using liquid manures
that are made use of in a large way for irrigating farms
with the liquid waste or "sewage" of towns and cities.
Their usual cumbersome methods are not adapted to our
uses, yet we may gather from them some ideas applicable
to our circumstances. There is, however, an arrangement
of house drainage combined with garden irrigation recently introduced that has been tested with satisfactory results, and that is full of promise for its future general
adoption. This grew out of the successful application of
the system of earth closets to some cottages in a village
in the county of Essex. The vast superiority of these
over the common filthy cesspool, made more conspicuous
than ever the inconvenience, insalubrity and waste of the
usual slop holes where the liquid waste of the house was
disposed of. For sanitary purposes a method was devised to dispose of this waste, and for economic purposes a
plan of utilizing it was adopted.
From the sink of the kitchen a pipe, furnished with an
air-trap, is made to discharge into a tank built of cement
concrete outside of the wall of the house. The water from
the roof is carried to the tank by a pipe, which also serves
for ventilation. The tank is simply an above-ground
cistern made water-tight and lined with hydraulic cement.
The overflow from the tank is made intermittent by the
ingenious use of a siphon, or bent pipe. The operation
of this overflow is simple. When the cistern is filled to
the movable cover, the water then trickles over the
bend of the siphon into the drain. When this occurs
the discharge of a pailful of water into the sink and
through the pipe into the tank suddenly fills the pipe,
58 
UTILIZING HOUSE-WASTE.
flushes the siphon and sets it in operation, and the tank
is drained to the level of the shorter leg of the siphon,
The contents of the cistern flow away by a pipe, which
leads from the drain.  This tank is called the "self-acting flush tank." The cover is a movable plank floor
which serves to allow access to the tank for any purpose.
But this leads to the real subject matter in hand, the irrigation of the garden with liquid manure.
By this plan this can be secured whenever it is desired
by simply introducing into the tank sufficient water to
set the siphon in operation. The liquid than passes into
the drain, and from that into subdrains of one-inch drain
tiles placed one foot beneath the sur                face, and escapes through the joints of
I          I   these into the soil.  This arrangement is
I I seen in the plan given in the accom                panying illustration, fig. 24.  The outer
lines represent the boundary of the gar                den plot, supposed to be an eigth of an
acre, or 50 x 100 feet. The tank is seen
at T; the dark lines are the irrigating
drains; the square dots are inspection
wells, covered with a square stone or
plank cover, by which examinations are
occasionally made as to the condition of
Fig. 24.-PLAN    the drains, and the parallel lines between
OF DRAIN.     the drains are pipes which carry off any
excess of moisture. This plan is capable of very extended application where the land to be irrigated may be
beneath the level of the site of the house and the tank,
and no house should be built on a lower level than the
ground around it.
An improved tank suitable for dwellings of a somewhat superior character is shown in figure 25. The principle is exactly the same as that previously described, the
material of the tank being different. It is cylindrical in
59 
IRRIGATION.
form, and may be of galvanized iron, of zinc, lead, or
wrought iron, or of hard brick laid in cement.  The discharge pipe may be of cast iron. This form of tank
has been found to work with the greatest ease; two quarts
of water suddenly discharged into it when full being sufficient to set the flush into operation.   This apparatus
consists of the cylindrical tank, A, with a trapped inlet,
A
Fig. 25.-SELF-DISCHARGING SLOP-TANK.
which also forms a movable cover to give access to the
inside of the tank. The pipe from the sink discharges
over the grating of the inlet, B, as shown in the figure.
A socket, c, is prepared for a ventilating pipe. There is
also the siphon, D, and what is called the " discharging
trough," f, consisting of a small chamber made to turn
round, so that its mouth may be set in the direction that
is
60
i:~~~
An'~~~~AL 9nf
,f  
FLUSH TANKS.
is required for connecting it with the line of outlet pipes,
and provided with a movable cover for access to the
mouth of the siphon.  This  "discharging trough" is
an important feature in the tank, as it is of a peculiar
shape, which, by checking the outflow of the liquid from
the mouth of the siphon, enables a smaller quantity of
liquid flowing into the tank to fill the bend of the siphon
and set it fully in action.
In regard to the operation of this tank, and the drains
connected with it, Mir. Geo. E. Waring, of Newport, R. I.,
writes as follows in the American Agriculturist of January, 1876: "I have found that in less than two minutes,
about two-thirds of a barrel of liquid, (already accumulated in the tank), flows through the drain in a cleansing
stream, which an examination shows to have left no refuse
matters in its course. This tank is not yet made in
America, and owing to its size and the cost of importing
it, it is not likely that it will for the present come largely
into use. In the meantime, the inventor has taken no
patent in this country, and the invention is open to the
use of all who choose to adopt it.
"The accompanying illustrations show how a perfectly
efficient flush-tank may be made from a kerosene or other
tight barrel without much expense. The barrel must be
a sound one, with its bung well secured, and both of its
heads in good order. Cut a circular hole in the upper
head, twelve inches in diameter. Half way between the
side of this hole and the chime, make another hole two
inches in diameter. Finish the larger hole with an edging, made of lead or copper, lapping over about an inch,
and being securely nailed fast in a bed of white lead.
This metal should be beaten in a groove or gutter just
inside of the large opening, having its edge turned up at
a distance of one inch from the edge of the hole. The
head will then have an opening ten inches in diameter,
surrounded by a channel three-fourths of an inch, or an
61 
IRRIGATION.
inch deep, and one inch wide. A funnel of the same
metal, (tin or galvanized iron would soon rust out), should
be made to fit in this groove, its upper edge being turned
over about an inch for the purpose. The funnel at its
lower end should be furnished with a pipe turning up in
such a way as to constitute a trap. Near the top of the
Fig. 26.-BARREL TANK.
funnel there should be a shoulder capable of supporting'
an ordinary round stove-grate of cast-iron; this grate is
intended to keep back any coarse matters which might
obstruct the siphon, and to serve as a weight to keep the
funnel in its place. Into the two-inch hole in the barrel
top insert a ventilating pipe, which may be of tin, and
fl f
62
I fl, I 
HOME-MADE TANK.
which should be carried to the highest convenient point
well away from any window or chimney top. Through
one side of the barrel, close to the top, make a hole large
enough to receive a 1112 inch lead pipe, which, being turned down to within 6 inches of the bottom inside, and 2
or 3 inches lower at the outside, is to constitute the siphon
for emptying the barrel- this pipe should not be larger
than 1112 inches interior diameter, as the larger the pipe
the greater the amount of water needed to start it into
action. The outer end of this pipe delivering into the
drain is partially shielded from the access of air by an arrangement which will be described further on.
"Fig. 26 shows he arrangement of the whole apparatus.
A is the barrel, b is the metal rim, or gutter surrounding
6              6    the opening;  is the funnel with
its trapped outlet; (1 is the iron
grate; e is the siphon; f is the
outlet drain; y is the ventilator;
_     and  is a simple cylinder of gal                                                             vanized iron or tin, to be used
packed around with leaves or litter without danger of
these getting in to choke the grate. Where such packing
is necessary, the whole affair should be housed in to protect it from the wind, and indeed it is always necessary
to prevent the blowing in of rubbish which might plaster
itself over the grate and prevent the water from entering.
"Fig. 27 shows more in detail the construction of the
rim, the funnel, and the grate. The gutter of the rim
will be always kept full of water from the small amount
splashing over, and this serves to seal the channel at this
point just as the bent pipe at the bottom of the funnel
seals its outlet. These seals are not liable to be forced,
because of the ample air channel furnished by the ventilator.
63 
IRRIGATION.
"Fig. 28 is a longitudinal section, and fig. 29 a cross
section of the outlet drain, show the arrangement for
checking the flow of the siphon. A dam (i) which may
be of wood, brick, or any other suitable material, closes
the drain in front of the siphon to a hight a little above
its lower end. This is notched down at its top to a point
just below that of the end of the siphon, in such a way
that after the barrel is discharged, the siphon itself will
be emptied and will fill itself with air. This notch is too
small to accommodate any considerable flow of the pipe,
and the dam checks back the first water running, and
helps to bring the siphon into action, but after the flow
has all passed over, it lets the water behind the dam fall
low enough to admit air to the
pipe.  I do not know that any
thing further is necessary in the
way of practical directions, ex                         cept to say that the siphon pipe
-  had better be attached  to the
:2, _0   side of the barrel, outside and
~~~Fig.  229-in, by bits of tin tacked over it
Fig. 28. —OUTIET. —Fig. 29.
so as to prevent it from being injured. Indeed, the whole siphon might be inside of the
barrel, its lower end passing out through a hole near the
bottom; this arrangement entirely obviates the danger of
its becoming jammed, or the possibility of a trickling flow
through it being frozen until the accumulated ice would
quite close it."
The danger of filling up the pipes with sediment would
prevent the application of this system to the use of matter from cesspools or barnyard manure tanks. It would
not, however, prevent its use for the purpose of discharging a cesspool through a pipe of sufficient diameter, 4 to
6 inches for instance, into a manure tank in the stable
yard, where it could be mingled with the liquid draining
from the stables. This manure tank would then form
64 
USE OF LIQUID MANURE.
the cesspool; the overflow from the house tank passing
into it would flush and cleanse the latter at every considerable shower. A good supply of liquid matter of the
very richest fertilizing power would then be at hand for
use by means of permanent or temporary irrigating. The
liquid would need to be raised from the cistern by a
pump worked by wind or horse-power, as has been already
described, and conveyed through large pipes into the
distributing channels. These could be permanently made
of inverted horse-shoe tiles, or in any of the methods heretofore mentioned, or temporarily by the use of the hoe.
In applying liquid manure it is always necessary to use
it in a highly diluted state; even so much diluted that it
would run off perfectly clear might be of sufficient strength
for all purposes. The danger lies in using it of too great
a strength rather than in diluting it too copiously. It
has been found in practice when a heavy rain had filled
the tanks at a season when there was but a very small supply of manure, and the dilution was certainly not less than
a hundred times weaker than ordinary liquid manure,
that the use of this weak liquid upon a plot of corn fodder, gave a wonderful stimulus to the crop, and the sudden change to an intensely dark green color proved that
it was sufficiently strong, although from its color and
freedom from smell the source of the liquid would not
have been suspected. But it should be borne in mind
that it is easy to injure a crop by using a too concentrated liquid manure.
For the most economical preparation and use of liquid
manure proper cisterns need to be provided. The most
convenient situation for these is the barnyard, where the
drainage from the stables may be gathered, and where,
above the cistern or near it upon one side, the manure
may be heaped. When it is decided to use liquid manure
there need not be so much attention given to the preservation of the solid manure, and although it may seem to
65 
IRRIGATION.
be a sacrifice of this indispensable addition to the soil, yet
it is far from being such in reality. On the contrary, the
use of liquid manure is really an economy, and results in
a saving of time and labor and increases the effectiveness
of the solid manure. Being applied at the time when,
and in the condition in which it will enter at once into
the circulation of the plant, there is no loss of fertilizing
matter. The crop, fed in its early stages of growth, receives its nutriment in such quantities and at such periods
as will exactly meet its needs and force it into most luxuriant growth. In a dry season a plant may starve in the
most abundantly manured soil; but when the manure is
offered to it in a liquid form, and in copious supply, the
growth is continuous and vigorous. A rapidly growing
plant has the power to extract from the soil far more nutriment than a weakly plant possesses, and the stimulus
afforded to a crop in its early stages enables the strong
roots to penetrate far and wide in search of food, and the
vigorous foliage is able to assimilate the abundant nutriment with rapidity as fast as it is supplied.
Every cultivator of the soil knows that a good start is
the making of a crop, and this is precisely what is secured by liquid manuring. Therefore the solid manure may
be used simply as the material from which to manufacture,
by the help of all the needed rain or other water, as
abundant a supply of liquid as may be. To extract all
the soluble portion of the manure is the object, and what
is left may be reserved to answer the purpose of topdressing or mulching the soil in winter time, or of adding
to its stock of slowly decomposing organic matter for
future crops.   It will be profitable therefore to adopt
such a complete system of drains, tanks, and pumps, as
will save every portion of waste from stable or manureheaps, all the water that may fall upon the roofs and
sheds, and occasionally pump up the contents of the
cisterns and force them to filter back again through the
66 
MANURE TANK.
heaps of decomposing manure. At the same time such
accessory fertilizers as gypsum, the various ammoniacal
salts, or soluble phosphates, or such deodorizing or fixing
elements as sulphuric acid, largely diluted, may be added
to the solution to increase its efficiency.
The construction of the tanks will be here the chief
consideration. These, where the means are not ample,
may be of the rudest character consistent with the ability
to hold and retain water, but otherwise they should be
constructed with a view to permanence and economy of
use. A cheap and simple tank, of which a section is
shown in fig. 30, may be made as follows: A pit or vat,
d, is dug and cemented with water-lime or lined with
plank so as to be perfectly water-tight. This vat is covered with a plank floor, through which a wooden pump
passes, and rests upon the bottom of the tank. The size
of the vat of course will correspond with what is required
of it. A useful size for a market garden, or for a farm
where a few acres of soiling crops are raised each year, will
be 16 feet square and 8 feet deep. At the end of the vat
another excavation is made sufficiently large to contain
the pile of manure or materials for a compost that can be
gathered and used. This excavation, seen at b, may be
Fig. 30.-LIQUID MANURE TANK.
67
c, 
IRRIGATION.
24 to 30 feet long, as wide as the vat, and gradually in creasing in depth from 3 or 4 feet at the further end,
to 6 or 8 inches more at the end connecting with the
vat. The excavation should be floored with double boards,
with a coating of asphalt or tar between them, and the
sides cemented. A coarse grating of stout poles or tim         bers are laid across this shallow portion of the
vat, and is supported in the center by blocks or
short posts placed at intervals beneath it.
Smaller poles or rails are laid upon these tim         bers not more than 6 or 8 inches apart.
Upon these poles the manure is piled in a
flat heap, made hollow or dishing at the top,
so as to collect all the water that may fall upon
it.  The heap need not be more than five feet
high, which is sufficient to cause an active fer         mentation to be kept up through the whole of
it.  The materials of which this heap is com         posed will include every thing of a mineral or
organic character useful for manure, that can
be procured.  Stable manure, straw, marsh hay,
weeds,  sawdust,  peat  muck,  leaves,  woods        earth, night soil, leather scraps, tanner's waste,
butcher's offal; lime, ashes, plaster, and bone
dust, and the skillful operator will add from
time to time such chemical substances as he
needs to enrich the compost. There need be
Fig. 31. no fear of losing ammonia by adding lime. The
lime is needed for the rapid decomposition of
the manure, and the water added every day or two to
the heap will seize upon every particle of ammonia
formed and carry it into the tank, where it may be
fixed by the addition of sulphuric acid or gypsum.
The water in the vat should be frequently pumped out
for use, and a fresh supply poured upon the heap. A
pump that will not readily be choked should be used.
68 
PUMP FOR LIQUID MANURE.
One with a collapsing bucket, with leather sides and
of a conical form, shown in fig. 31, is the most useful.
The waste water from the roofs might be discharged
upon the heap by a simple arrangement of spouts. The
object desired, viz., to gather every soluble part of the
manure into the vat; should be forwarded by every possible means.
A small and cheap tank suitable for use where the liquid,
manure from the stables and dwellings may be collected
for distribution, may be excavated and lined with brick,
and should be circular with an arched roof; if made 12
feet deep and 10 feet in diameter, it will contain 6,500
gallons, or sufficient to irrigate an acre with nearly threefourths of a quart to every square foot.
Many other forms of tanks may be used for this purpose. A capacious one may be constructed as follows:
A circular pit 24 feet in diameter and 8 or 10 feet deep is
excavated.  The bottom and sides may be cemented or
lined with bricks laid in cement. A pillar of brick is
built in the center, and a brick arch may be sprung from
the pillar to the wall around it, or beams may be laid
from the wall to the pillar, centering at the pillar, and a
plank floor may be laid above them.   A wide spout or
throat leading from the manure heap may carry the liquid
into the tank, and the drain pipes from the stables and
dwelling may be mrde to discharge into it. An engraving of this tank is given on page 37. Many obvious modifications of this plan will occur to the reader.
The distribution of liquid manure may be made, as already described, through pipes or open furrows, or by
means of irrigating carts or barrows. The use of carts
will be found to require a very small outlay at the beginning, and to be much more satisfactory than would appear
at first sight. Where the distance to which the manure has
to be carted is within 400 feet, which would be from the
center to the outside limits of a square of about 15 acres,
69 
I IRRIGATION.
carts would be the cheapest method of applying the liquid.
One acre an hour could be easily watered by a one-horse
cart, furnished with a spreader six feet long, that would
cover a width on the ground of about eight feet. If
the crop is grown in drills two feet apart, the horse would
occupy one drill, each wheel of the cart one drill upon
each side, and the spreader would cover half a drill upon
each side; thus four drills would be watered at each
passage. If the drills are three or four feet apart, three
or two are watered at each passage. In this way one acre
would be watered at an expense of about 50 cents, allowing $5 for the cost of the necessary horse, two watering
carts, and two men. Two carts are needed, as one would
be filling while the other is spreading. The cart may be
a large cask holding at least 200 gallons, mounted upon
wheels with a pair of shafts, the axle being bent to keep
the load low down, and a distributing pipe perforated with
holes, and curved forward at the ends. Instead of a barrel a square tank mounted upon wheels may be used, see
70 
MANURE CARTS.
fig. 32. The supply is regulated by means of a ball-valve
attached to a wire, which is pulled by the driver when
the valve is to be opened, this is shown at fig. 33.
For the irrigation of smaller gardens a hand-barrow,
with a distributor as shown at
fig. 34, or with a small force- _       
pump and sprinkler attached,  ==  =_
would be  useful.  It would -___-I
serve in cases where no more
mro
than an acre can be appropri- 
ated for garden and for fodder
crops to support a single cow  Fig. 33. —VALv FOR DISTKror horse, as in thousands of in-       TING To.
ss or the suburbs of
tracts of an acre or
upply of vegetables
Fig. 34.-HAND-BAROW.
may be easily raised, together with ample support for one
cow. It is the vast number of such cases as this to which a
system of irrigation may be applied, that an aggregate of
benefit may be derived that will almost balance in individual comfort and advantage the more conspicuous but
less numerous systems of field and farm irrigation. There
71 
IRRIGATION.
are probably two or three millions of individuals to whose
small occupations this system may be applied with a result
equaling at least a net amount of $100 per year, in each
case.  The material that might be utilized, in most cases
now goes to waste or serves to vitiate the air and poison
the surrounding neighborhood. By thus turning it to
account, a benefit to the public health incalculable in dollars and cents would result, and at the above reasonable
estimate a vast addition to the wealth and comfort of the
people besides.
A plan for utilizing liquid manure upon gardens or
farms so situated as to surface that the manure may be
spread by gravitation, or flowed in furrows from a drain
issuing from the barn cellar, or from a tank in the barnyard, was described by Col. G. E. Waring, jr., of Ogden
Farm, Newport,  R. I., in the American Agriculturist,
September, 1873. Mr. Waring taking his cue from the
method of utilizing the sewage of towns upon some English farms says: "A very important lesson for many
American farmers may be gleaned from the English experiments in the use of sewage as manure.
"Mr. Mechi, a well known English farmer, still adheres
to his old system of converting his manure (or much of
it) into a liquid form, storing it in a large tank where it
ferments, and forcing it (by steam-power) through underground iron pipes for distribution over the land through
a hose. This system is not generally considered either
economical or advantageous. The plan adopted with sewage, in all cases which came to my notice, is that described as in use at Lord Warwick's farm near Leamington.
"While our climate precludes the possibility of using
winter sewage in this way, we might, in some cases, make
profitable use of summer sewage if we could get it without too much cost. What most interests us in the matter,
is the suggestion that we may adopt a similar means for
the use of water as a distributing medium for manure.
72 
ARRANGEMENT FOR MANURE CELLAR.
"I will take as an example my own case at Ogden Farm,
and will assume that I had (which is not true) a stream
of water at a sufficiently high level to be led into the barn
cellar (40 x 100), which has a capacity of about 200,000
gallons. This should ordinarily be kept nearly full of
water, and into it all manure should daily be thrown.
Care must be taken to ventilate the cellar thoroughly
with side windows, and to have the stable floor above it
quite tight.  An arrangement
should be made  to turn the
stream into the cellar, or back
again into its own channel at 
will.  Whenever  manure  was
required for that part of the
farm lying low enough to be 
flooded from the cellar (about           o
one half of the whole), the gate  \
should be opened and the liq-           \\\\\\\\
uid- conducted to the field by
the system explained below.
At the same time enough water should be admitted from
the brook to keep up the head
in the  cellar.  This, by its    Fig. 35.-Esocu PIm.
flow, would make a movement in the mass sufficient to
stir up the sediment and foul the outgoing water.
The irrigation should be as frequent and as copious
as the supply of water would allow, and as the best
growth of the crops required. The water alone would
be very beneficial, and it would only be stronger or
weaker according to the extent to which it was employed. Of one thing we might be quite sure; all the
manure it contained would be distributed in the most
perfect way possible, and there could be no waste. The
water would be an addition to its value-there would be
no deduction in any way. A vast amount of labor would
4
73 
IRRIGATION.
be saved, and the manure would be applied at the right
time, in the right way, and on the right spot.
"The winter manure should be hauled, as it now is, on
the higher parts of the farm-no water being admitted
to the cellar at this season. When the growing season
came on, then the crops of the lower parts would get the
benefit of the irrigation. How great a benefit this would
be to grass land in time of drouth need only be suggested.
"The accompanying sketches will show the arrangements to be made at Ogden Farm, and will indicate a
MANURE CELLAR
WEST END
) -ia
> o
Fig. 36.-DRIVE-WAY.
plan which, with such modifications as circumstances require, may be adopted for the irrigation of any land with
sufficient slope.
"Fig. 35 shows a corner of the manure-cellar with an
escape pipe (valved) leading from the very bottom-allowing the cellar to be drained dry at pleasure. In front
of the entrance to this pipe a screen of iron rods or wooden
slats, reaching vertically from floor to ceiling, prevents
solid matters and litter from choking the pipe. If this
becomes clogged, it can be cleared with a rake through
a trap-door in the floor above. This pipe should be used
only when the water will not flow at the outlets above.
"Fig. 36 shows the arrangement at the west end of the
74
ii
I  
DISTRIBUTION FROM THE CELLAR.
cellar, with an overflow pipe to the north and one to the
south.  The drive-way should be dammed up to raise the
water to the level of these pipes.
"Fig. 37 shows the arrangement for the distribution of
the flow. A main furrow runs from a and x to d. This
,,,,,,,,,_ y ".,-;,,: ~
\,_S   $ _,-    no       g _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --
\ _-of 4, 4 —
\,,-  Go I,      \       5 
E          n    go~~~~
Fig. 37.-PLY OF FURIROWS FOR DISTRrBUTION.
is the general direction of the slope of the land. The
laterals 1 to 18 are furrows laid on a fall of 1 inch in 100
feet. They will not be straight, but must follow the conformation of the ground, so as to preserve a uniform fall.
The main furrow at x may be supplied either from a or
from c, and others from b, as in figs. 36 and 37.
"The flow being let on, and kept up by a corresponding
flow into the cellar from the brook, it should pass on to
75 
IRRIGATION.
the end of 18. (The main furrow is a little deeper than
the entrance to the laterals.) Here it will overflow the
land lying below so much of the lateral as is beyond y.
Then a gate should be set at y, and kept there until the
land below the lateral between that point and z has been
sufficiently flooded. Then remove the gate to z. When
all the land below lateral 18 has had its supply, set a gate
in the main just below 17, and repeat the process with
that. When the south side of the farm has been completed, the gate is taken from the main and the water
allowed to flow to the end of No. 9.
"Nos. 1, 2, 10, and 11 can be flushed only from outlets
a and b. All the others are low enough for c.
"Of course, any portion of the land may be flooded at
pleasure, the directions above being given only as an
illustration."
The scope for the employment of such methods as
these suggested in this chapter is far from narrow. The
profitable employment of liquid manure upon gardens
and small farms upon which the crops grown are of high
comparative value, cannot be doubted. It remains only
that the lead in introducing it be taken by some enterprising but cautious man, in each neighborhood, whose
success would stimulate hundreds of others to follow his
example. It is probably too soon to more than hint towards the use of liquid manure upon farms in this country, or the utilization of the sewage matter of towns and
cities. This can only be done with profit when the high
value of lands bears some proportion to the cost of the
necessary machinery. But upon gardens, especially market gardens, and upon highly cultivated farms where
heavy fodder crops are grown, and the soil is abundantly
manured, and where the closest economy in the saving
and use of manure is practiced, much may be done in this
way. The author has had practical experience in the use
of liquid manure-in gardens, and in growing fodder
76 
SOILING CROPS.
crops, to be used for soiling dairy cows-and is firmly
convinced that, with ordinary care and ingenuity, the
crops may be quadrupled, and the profit doubled. For
instance a clover crop that would under ordinary circumstances be ready to cut for soiling only in June has, by
weekly irrigating with liquid manure, been made ready
early in May, and by more frequent watering has been
cut four times before the first of July, or once every two
weeks after the first cutting, at a cost, for each watering,
of not more than 50 cents per acre. - Each cutting of the
crop at least equalled an ordinary yield, or one ton and a
half of hay per acre.
As to the value of the system as applied to market
gardens for the production of such crops as onions, cabbages, cauliflowers, and the smaller vegetables, in which
flavor, tenderness, and succulence are only secured by
rapid growth, there can be no better proof than the successful cultivation of the small farms of Belgium, a country which supports the densest population in Europe, or
of the market gardens in the vicinity of many French,
Italian and English cities and towns. In these localities
the solid and liquid refuse is gathered with the greatest
care, mixed so as to be readily used, and applied to the
crops, which, under this treatment, possess a size and quality that is never equalled in this country, except by a few
premium vegetables that are grown in this same manner.
To have seen this demonstrated in the gardens and in the
markets of European cities and in isolated cases in this
country, is sufficient proof, at least, to induce American
cultivators to attempt to utilize in this most effective manner this most effective fertilizer.
77 
IRRIGATION.
CHAPTER VIII.
CULTURE OF IRRIGATED GARDEN CROPS.
There are a few important leading principles involved
in the practice of irrigating gardens that should be well
considered. These will be referred to in the order of
their importance.
Drainage.-It is rarely that a well drained soil can be
injured by a copious supply of water; but one that is not
drained may easily be turned into a quagmire by an excess
of it. Drainage, therefore, should be the first thing provided before this method of cultivation, let it be complete or partial only, is attempted. If the soil is not
naturally drained by means of an open and porous subsoil of sand or gravel, tile drains should be laid in such a
manner as to carry off the surplus water in the most
effective manner.
The method of drainage will depend upon the system
of irrigation adopted. If the bedding plan is used, as
illustrated in fig. 7, page 42, the drains should be laid
between the beds, and beneath the drain furrows, as
shown in fig. 37, in which the open spaces seen at a, a,
represent the drain. These drains should be of inch tile,
laid three feet below the surface. If laid at a less depth
there is danger that the roots of some varieties of plants
may penetrate between the crevices and choke the tiles.
Where the arrangement of the water-furrows is such as to
need change every year, or such as is shown in figures 15,
17, or 23, the method of drainage should be the ordinary
one of inch tiles laid 24 feet apart, if the soil is heavy;
or 30 feet if of a lighter character, and leading into main
drains of two or three inch tile. Surface draining would
be a very unsatisfactory resource, and should be adopted
only where the crops would resist the effects of a very
78 
DRAINS.
cool, moist soil, or upon inclined ground where there
would be no danger of saturation. Whatever the arrangement of water supply may be, the plan of the drain
should be as nearly as possible exactly the reverse. In
effect the drains should be so arranged as to take up the
surplus or unused water and carry it off as rapidly as
possible; at the same time care should be taken not to
permit the water to flow into the drains until it has done
its duty, nor to use so much water that the soil may be
carried into the drains and these be soon filled with sediment. No drain should be carried beneath a canal or
distributing furrow, unless it cannot be avoided, and then
never at a less depth than three feet, else a channel of
communication may be opened between them and the
water escape, and, what is worse, wash the soil into the
drains and render them useless. Further remarks upon
drainage will be found in a succeeding chapter where
field irrigation is treated, and which may be referred to.
Cultivation or Disturbance of the Soil. -The soil should
never be disturbed while it is wet. The operations of
hoeing, cultivating, weeding, sowing, or gathering the
mature crops, should be so timed with reference to the
watering, or the watering should be so timed with reference to them, that these operations may be performed
when the soil is dry and just before the watering. If
after the watering, upon soils liable to "bake," or become encrusted, the surface under the effects of a hot
sun becomes hard, the crust should be broken up by cultivation before it has time to completely harden.
The Application of Water.-It is not well to put off
the watering until the ground is very dry, but to apply
the water while the soil is still somewhat moist and mellow; it is then more absorptive, and the after effects
upon the worst of soils, as regards baking, will be
less troublesome. The soil should be moderately watered
79 
IRRIGATION.
a day or two before seed is sown or plants are transplanted, that it may be in a finely pulverulent condition, and
when the supply of water is always under the control of
the operator there is no danger in sprouting the seed and
thus hastening germination. After sowing or transplanting, the chief care should be to water only very
moderately, and never allow the water to flow over the
seed or plant rows, lest the surface should become hard
and need stirring, and the young plants be endangered by
one or the other of these alternatives. Moderate, frequent
waterings are best for young, growing plants. There is
far greater danger of giving too much rather than too
little water at this time. During early growth the application of water at a lower temperature than that of the
soil is injurious. For this reason, when well-water is
used, it should be exposed to the air in open tanks or
reservoirs for at least one day before it is used. For the
same reason watering during a clear sunny, or a windy
day is to be avoided, and it should only be done in the
evenings, or when the sun is obscured with clouds. The
effect of wind is to increase the evaporation, and thus
reduce the temperature of the soil immediately after its
saturation. The quantity of water to be applied will
depend upon several circumstances that have already been
referred to. For garden crops, frequent moderate waterings are preferable, and intervals of five days are usually
allowed. The soil is then kept constantly moist, and the
growth of the crops continuous. Of course when rain
falls, a sufficient allowance must be made, but, judging
from the quantities of water that may be safely applied
to.crops in the market garden, unless the rain is unusually heavy and continuous, it may safely be ignored. The
quantities used in garden culture in different countries,
as mentioned in many works upon irrigation, are exceedingly irregular.  It would seem as though the abundance
of water, and the porosity of the soil, measured the sup
80 
CROPS.
ply, rather than the needs of the crop. Thus quantities
varying from a total depth, during the growing season, of
50 up to over 300 inches upon the surface, have been used
without any ill effect when the drainage has been perfect.
Experience can be the only safe guide; the thorough
soaking of the soil at intervals of five days, should be the
limit of the irrigation, and the quantity of water needed
to effect this will be the maximum supply required.
When economy of water is a point to be considered, as it
must needs be when every pint of it is elevated by power,
it will be necessary to watch the flow in the distributing
furrows and prevent any escapes into pools and surface
drains, and such copious watering as would leave water
standing in the furrows for more than an hour or two
after the flow has been stopped. This must be regulated
by the judgment of the irrigator acting through a knowledge of the principles involved.
THE MANAGEMENT OF VARIOUS CROPS.
Where the climate admits of it a succession of crops of
garden vegetables may be grown throughout the year,
and the variations of the seasons practically removed.
In the climate of California this is easily done by means
of irrigation there practiced, and in most of our Southern
States the season of growth may be extended, and in
some maybe continued throughout the year, if the supply
of water is only secured. This is one of the -great advantages of a system of irrigation, by which every where
a succession of crops, more or less extended, may be secured. The general management of the principal garden
crops will be briefly indicated.
Asparagus. -The most convenient method of cultivating
this crop is by "floors," (see fig. 9, p. 43), over which
a thin sheet of water may be flowed from a furrow at the
head towards another at the foot, from which the water
may be again flowed over another floor below the first.
81 
IRRIGATION.
This arrangement makes it necessary that the ground
should slope slightly in one direction. The method of
watering by pipes laid upon the surface, or by hydrants,
which have been already described, may easily be applied
to the culture of this vegetable. This crop is one that
needs but very moderate irrigation.
Beans.-This crop requires to be planted in beds, arranged as shown in figs. 7 and 8, and can be cultivated in
long succession by means of irrigation. It willstand a good
deal of moisture, especially when grown to use green as
"snap beans" which should be fresh and succulent. The
periods of irrigation should be at intervals of five to
seven days. Lima beans need equally frequent waterings.
Corn.-This is a plant which needs much moisture,
and the watering may be both copious and frequent. It
may be planted in hills or drills, in either case the system
of beds or of alternate drills and furrows, which are fed
from a distributing canal at the head of the bed or drills,
may be used.
Cabbage.-This crop is cultivated in beds to which the
water is supplied by furrows, made with the hoe after
each cultivation. It is a greedy feeder and responds
quickly to the application of liquid manure. Heads of
enormous size have been thus grown, and specimens of
60 pounds in weight have been frequently exhibited that
were produced by irrigation with liquid manure. It
will submit without complaint to much moisture if the
soil is cool; how it would behave under our hot suns,
when stimulated by excessive irrigation, is something
that is yet to be learned. In Florida, however, it thrives
well when supplied with sufficient moisture; in central
Europe, where the market gardener irrigates all his crops,
the cabbage is only moderately watered, doubtless lest it
might be stimulated to run to seed;  but where  the
character of the soil and climate are favorable, and abun
82 
CROPS.
dance of water is procurable, there the cabbage, as well as
the cauliflower, is extensively cultivated not only for home
consumption but for shipment abroad to distant countries. This is the case in Belgium, and in the neighborhood of Erfurt, (Germany,) where both of these crops are
cultivated with success and profit, unequaled elsewhere.
There the method of culture is to choose a low spot of
ground and divide it into beds of convenient shape, which
are separated by permanent furrows, in which the water
flows. The water is sometimes dipped from these furrows by long-handled scoops and poured around the roots
of the plants. Otherwise the water is flowed on to the
crops by means of small furrows between slightly raised
ridges upon which the plants are grown.
Beets.-This crop is peculiarly suited to culture by irrigation. Few crops thrive so well under the combined influence of abundant moisture and a continued high temperature. The sugar beet, especially, enjoys these conditions when planted in deep, well-drained soil, and crops
equal to from 60 to 75 tons of roots per acre are frequently grown in the sugar manufacturing districts of central
and southern France. A specially noteworthy case was
cited in the Journal d'Agriculture by MI. Barral, in which
a manufacturer of beet sugar at Masny, directed the flow
of water from the water wheels, which furnished the
power for the factory, on to the field of beets. The water
was charged with all the refuse of the works, the washings of the roots and of the impure bone-black, as well
as that of the sacks in which the pulp had been pressed,
the skimmings of evaporating pans, and also the washings
of the outhouses used by the workmen; and carried all
this matter in suspension through the channels and distributing furrows to the growing crops. No other fertilizer has been used during 8 years, and the value to the
farm is estimated at a yearly sum of $2,000. This
example, however, relates to field culture, but is yet
83 
IRRIGATION.
worthy of note as showing how refuse matter may be
applied in a similar manner to garden crops. The irrigation of beets, although it may be profusely applied
upon light, deep, and well drained soil, must be done
with proper moderation upon soils that are retentive and
not well drained.  Only so much water must be used as
to keep the soil fresh, moist, and mellow, and it will be
safest to irrigate such soils as these more moderately and
oftener than those of a loose, open, sandy character.
Carrots. -This crop has been found to thrive exceedingly well under irrigation upon light soils. A succession
of crops may be grown throughout the whole summer,
and by the use of some active artificial fertilizer, the
growth is rapid and remarkably clean and healthy. Upon
clay soils this and other deep-rooted crops do not thrive
very well, and more shallow-rooted crops should be
chosen. When irrigated, the carrot is cultivated in rows
upon the flat, the water being led to the plants in channels made by the hoe in the intervals between the rows.
It is very common in garden culture to plant carrots for
a late crop in rows between other and earlier ones, by
which the tender young plants are shaded and protected
from the heat.
Sweet Potato. -This crop is planted in broad, fiat beds
slightly raised above the level, and the water is flowed into
the furrow between the beds. Upon the light soils, in
which the crop succeeds best, the waterings are given
copiously at intervals of from five to seven days. The
abundant foliage requires a good supply of water. The
system of rounded or doubly sloping beds, described
on page 41, in which the water is carried along the crown
of the bed, is well adapted to the culture of this root.
Onions. —This crop is grown very successfully under
irrigation, and water may be copiously applied. The excellent quality mild flavor, and extraordinary size of the
84 
CROPS.
Portugal and Italian onions are due to their manner of
growth in which irrigation is extensively used. The crop
should be planted in rows between which water is flowed,
in broad, shallow channels made with a hoe. The water
should not come in contact with the bulbs, nor should
the earth be thrown upon them in making the furrow.
Potatoes. -To grow common potatoes under irrigation,
with success, needs caution and judgment. As the quality of the tubers depends greatly upon the supply of water, judiciously regulated with regard to the character of
the soil, some care must be exercised as to the quantity.
Upon light soils the water is given only at intervals of
nine or ten days, and upon heavier soils, which are more
retentive, fourteen days elapse between the waterings.
As soon as the soil is sufficiently dry after watering, the
surface should be cultivated, which will cause the moisture to be better retained. A system of drills, or of beds
slightly raised, is used for this crop, the water being given
in broad, shallow furrows, made with the hoe at the time
of cultivation. When the plants nearly cover the ground,
as they should do at the time of blossoming, the final
watering is given. No further cultivation should be given
after this period.
Peas.-As this crop is generally sown in rows upon a
flat surface, the mode of watering should be suited to
this method of planting, and it may be either by a system of beds, fig. 6, or of shallow furrows made between
the rows with the hoe at the time of cultivation. As this
crop flowers and seeds during a lengthened period, it may
be irrigated without regard to the flowering, care of course
being taken to keep the soil only in a healthful state of
moisture.
ThTe Small Crops.-Small crops, such as lettuce, radishes, etc., are more conveniently cultivated in beds of
the form shown in fig. 6, over the surface of which the
85 
IRRIGATION.
water flows or trickles from a furrow at the ridge. The
quality of all these small vegetables is improved by copious Caterings, and a very profitable succession may be
procured by continuous sowings, the growth of which for
market or domestic use may be hastened and matured at
pleasure.
GARDEN FRUITS.-The various small fruits usually
grown in gardens may be greatly increased in luxuriance
of growth, and by cautious treatment, much improved in
quality, by irrigation. Over-watering, however, will infallibly tend to deteriorate the quality, if it does not even
weaken the growth. As soon as the blossom appears
water should be withheld, unless under extraordinary circumstances, and under the supervision of an experienced
gardener. For strawberries the bedding system is preferable, and for other fruits the water may be led by temporary furrows made with the hoe around the roots of
the bushes or the vines.
In concluding these remarks which are not intended
as a guide to an already practiced and competent gardener,
but as suggestions to those who desire to secure in a moderate way by the use of some plan of irrigation, that is
feasible for them, the full advantages which they can derive from a family or market garden, and which they so
often fail to gain, by reason of the frequently recurring
drouths; it may be said as a matter of caution, that with
a supply of water constantly at hand, the danger of using
too much is greater than that of using too little; that
moderately copious waterings at extended intervals is
far preferable to light but frequent irrigation, which
scarcely reaches the roots and packs the surface. To
saturate the soil once a week, or every ten days, will have
the effect of forcing out of it much of the air that is contained in it, which will be replaced by a fresh supply as
the moisture evaporates or sinks in the subsoil. Thus
the soil is kept loose and mellow, and the necessary cul
86 
CROPS.
tivation, which should always follow the watering, will
retain this condition of the soil. The crops then are refreshed and invigorated, and can resist a comparatively
long interval of dry weather. An excess of water may
very easily be worse than a severe drouth, for permanent
and irreparable injury may be done to a crop by flooding
the soil to excess; and not only the season's crop itself be
lost, but the plants themselves be seriously damaged and
future crops be imperiled. With caution in this respect,
an adequate sonsideration for the peculiar character and
needs of the different plants, a sufficient regard for the
nature of the soil and its facilities for proper drainage,
whether natural or artificial, and some reference to the
ordinary provisions of nature in regard to the supply of
water, one can scarcely go wrong in applying the practice
of irrigation to the culture of any of our usual crops of
vegetables, fruits, flowers or shrubs. The general application of irrigation, with few exceptions in this country,
will be to make up for the short-comings of dry seasons,
in which the deficient supply of rain may be made up
artificially.
CHAPTER IX.
IRRIGATING ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS.
It is doubtful if there is a single orchard or vineyard in
the United States, except in California, Utah, or Colorado, subjected to a systematic irrigation. At the same
time it is doubtful if there is any country in the world in
which irrigation could be more profitably applied to fruit
culture than here. The experience of orchardists proves
that drouth is accompanied by destructive attacks of insects. How far these depredations might be prevented
by irrigation cannot be predicated, but it is beyond doubt
87 
IRRIGATION.
that the vigor of growth that would result from a sufficient supply of moisture to the roots would greatly mitigate
the effects of these attacks. The apple trees that never
have an "off-year" are those grown near bodies of water.
A California vineyardist who irrigated his vines immediately raised his product to eight tons of grapes per acre,
and greatly improved the quality. The newly planted
orange groves of Florida are frequently destroyed by
drouth, and methods of irrigation are eagerly sought to
render their culture more safe and certain.
But if it were necessary to enforce the advantages of
the irrigation of orchards, abundant evidence could be
gathered in the south of France, Italy, and other countries of Southern Europe, where the olive, orange, lime,
almond, fig, apple, and other orchard trees, as well as the
vineyards, are systematically brought under irrigation. As
to the vine, it is a question which so far has not been
thoroughly investigated, whether or not irrigation might
be made the means of vanquishing the destructive phylloxera. An experienced vineyardist of Avignon (France)
submitted his vines during the Winter, which in that locality is mild and free from severe frosts, to a lengthened
irrigation of 30 days, during which a depth of four inches
of water was constantly maintained in the vineyard.
This operation has been found to considerably diminish
the injurious effects of the phylloxera, and to greatly improve the condition of the vines. This practice might
be found somewhat dangerous where early Spring frosts
occur, by which the vines brought prematurely into
growth might suffer. But no cautious cultivator will
make serious innovations upon his practice without previous careful experiment.   In Southern California the
vineyards are copiously irrigated four times only-at the
starting of the first growth, at the blossoming, at the
setting of the fruit, and at the period when the fruit
commences to color.
88 
ORCHARDS.
But without entering into speculations as to what
events might occur, it is sufficient to know that orchards
are irrigated with profit; that in some cases they are
destroyed, and in numberless instances they are injured
by a want of water, and that there are probably few cases
in which a supply of water brought into the orchard
would not be found advantageous and profitable. The
methods of irrigating orchards are very simple. It is
only necessary to put the water where it will do the most
good, and that is as near as possible to the extremities of
the rootlets. The extent of the roots of a tree bears a
ratio somewhat approaching that of the branches. Near.
. -f/
../.
c               a/
X\' g~lY
f
\r'./
/
e/
*. e/
Fig. 38.-PLAN OF IRRIGATING AN ORCHARD.
the stem there are few of the root-hairs or fine fibers by
which nutriment is absorbed. These are found at the
extremities of the very fine rootlets, and these exist in a
ring around the tree, the inner edge of which is from 3
to 411,2 feet distant from the stem. In irrigating an
orchard, then, the most perfect method of applying the
water is to distribute it in a broad circular channel around
the free, distant about six feet from the stem.
Where irrigation of orchards is practiced two different
plans are adopted. The first is a somewhat rude method,
but is easy and effective. The water is led into a channel
between two rows of trees, a, b, fig. 38, and from thence
b
b
89 
IRRIGATION.
into distributing canals, c, c, c, which carry the water
within a few feet of each tree. (The position of the
trees in the figure is indicated by the dots.) Here a sharp
bar is trust into the ground in several places, penetrating
in different directions toward the roots, and leaving holes
by which the water soaks into the earth and reaches the
roots. The second is a more elaborate but a more preferable method. The water is led from the canals into
circular furrows which curve so as to embrace the tree.
(This is shown at d, e, in fig. 38.) These furrows are
broad and shallow, and the water overflows from them in
a thin sheet or a multitude of little rills which lead to
a                       a
Fig. 39.-FORMATION OF FURTROWS.
the lower side of the tree, where they are arrested by
means of a slight embankmentraised with the hoe. In
this case the water is brought exactly where it is needed,
and every rootlet is supplied. This is also seen at fig. 39.
In irrigating vines very similar methods are adopted.
As the vines are planted in rows, the distributing furrows
are carried down the center of each alternate row, fig. 40,
the ground being sloped towards the center of each intermediate row, fig. 41. The water is thus made to pass
across each row of vines. Beneath the center of the intermediate rows a tile drain should be placed to carry off
surplus water, and this brings into notice the question of
drainage as a part of this system of orchard and vineyard
9O 
IRRIGATION OF VINEYARDS.
irrigation. As a rule irrigation and drainage should go
together. Irrigation without drainage will in most cases
convert a tract of land into a morass. Stagnant water
is fatal to the life of useful vegetation, and it is here that
the causes of the failure of many attempts to irrigate
Fig. 40.-LA OF IRRIGATING A VINEYARD.
originate. In arid territories without rainfall, skillful
irrigation will supply such a quantity as will be needed
to supply evaporation from the surface of the soil and the
transpirations of the plants. If more is given, the surplus must pass off through the subsoil, or remaining in it
will work mischief to the crop. But such an excess of
F 1 RIa           a
Fig. 41.-FURROWS AND DRAINS IN A VINEYARD.
water can rarely be procured in arid districts. On the
contrary, the greatest economy must be exercised in using
the limited supply, and waste is impossible.
It is otherwise in those parts of the country where
partial or periodical irrigation is used. There the water
91
-1 ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~.:
r                           iY  S  df   9>   
IRRIGATION.
supply may be copious, and the skill of the cultivator is
to be exercised in conveying to his field only so much as
may be serviceable and no more.   But to hit the just
mean is a matter of difficulty, if not impossibility, for
several reasons. For safety, therefore, in these cases a
system of drainage is imperatively needed. Especially is
this the case in orchards and vineyards which are subject
to so many varieties of blight and mildew, and other diseases which have their origin in atmospheric or meteorological conditions. Except in very rare cases, then, it will
be imperative that a tile or other drain be laid in the subsoil at least four feet beneath the surface, between every
two rows of distributing canals. This will remove the
danger of injuring the plantation by excessive watering.
The position of the drains is shown by the dark lines, f,
f, f, in figs. 38 and 40, and by the small rings a, a, beneath
the surface in figs. 39, 41.
The roots of trees seek out and follow a supply of water
with great avidity. Drain pipes in orchards and gardens
have been frequently penetrated by the roots of the trees
and completely choked by a dense mass of fibers, eagerly
appropriating the water found therein. For this reason
the drainage of orchards by tiles is a somewhat hazardous
business. To irrigate the soil of an orchard would tend
to keep the roots near the surface where they would receive a sufficiently copious supply of water. With an
abundant supply of water it is not probable that the roots
would enter the drains, as the only purpose of their
entrance there is to seek moisture. This being supplied
as far as necessary upon the surface, the seeming instinct
of the roots to enter and choke the drains would have no
reason to exist, and would not be likely to occur. The
great depth to which the roots of fruit trees and vines
penetrate is undoubtedly due in part, if not wholly, to
the effort to seek and procure sufficient moisture. The
roots of vines have been found spreading at a depth of
92 
NECESSITY FOR DRAINAGE.
eight feet below the surface in soils that were naturally
drained and not retentive of water. Although it is a
matter of conjecture if the roots would descend so far
when ample moisture may be found near the surface, the
reasonable probability is that they would not. If the
habit of deep growth should be a fixed one, it would be
a question as to how deep the drains should be made in
soils that are well supplied with plant-food in the subsoil,
but were too retentive of water to permit a healthy growth
at considerable depth. It is evident that with irrigation,
and sufficiently deep drainage combined, the vine and
fruit grower can render himself largely independent of
seasons and locality, and give his vines and trees an ample
depth of soil in which to spread their roots, and at the
same time furnish them with all the moisture they may
need near the surface. The practice will necessarily be
modified by the character of the soil and situation; fruit
growers, however, are rarely deficient in intelligence, skill,
or patience, and are abundantly able to make such modifications of the general principles given in this work as
may be needed. The practice in those countries where
orchards and vineyards are irrigated is as follows: The
periods of irrigation depend upon the heatof the season
and the dryness of the soil. In the north of France and
parts of Germany, water is given without any regularity,
and only when the exceptional circumstances of the season make it needful. - But further south, where the summers are hot and dry, and periodical drouths occur, fruit
trees are irrigated constantly and vines periodically. The
penalty for an excessive irrigation is a crop of fruit of inferior quality; watery, soft, and without flavor; the wood
and leaf are pushed at the expense of the fruit; succulent
fruits crack and burst, and shelled fruits have soft and
imperfect husks. The effect of too copious irrigation
upon nut-bearing trees is to develop the whole fruit
simultaneously, the inner portions complete its growth
93 
IRRIGATION.
while the woody husk is still soft, and the latter is either
burst open prematurely, or fails to open at all, from want
of the growing pressure of the kernels within. It is
therefore necessary to act with extreme caution. Early
fruiting trees require little or no irrigation, and late bearing ones are watered only after the fruit is set, and need
to grow vigorously. As the ripening season approaches,
the water is withdrawn, unless the necessity is absolute.
During flowering no water is given at all, unless exceptional
drouths occur, and then with moderation and at intervals.
The custom prevalent in the vineyards of the Crimea,
a locality in Southern Europe, on the north shore of the
Black Sea, and one subject to dry hot summers and cold
bleak winters, is thus described by AI. Clement-Bertron
in the Journal d'Agyriculture Pratique: " There are in
the Crimea four valleys completely planted in vineyards
to the extent of about 15,000 acres. The vines are irrigated each year as copiously as possible, not only during
the winter, but from the termination of the vintages up
to the season of the next flowering. Some growers even
irrigate their vines after the flower is passed, but in general little water is given after the month of June up to
October.  As soon as the water has been applied, and the
ground has dried, the vineyards are cultivated or dug over
with the spade, and the vines are pruned. About 15 days
before the vintage, the vines are clipped so as to give air
to the fruit.  After the grapes are ripe, there is no work
done in the vineyard until the next season's labor begins.
The cold of winter has not been found to injure the vines,
although this is sometimes severe and long continued.
The strength of the wines is not diminished by the process, the proportion of alcohol in them varying from 10
to 15 per cent. It is found that once the vines have been
irrigated, the practice cannot be changed without loss of
the product, and injury to the plants. Clear water is
preferred to that which contains suspended matter."
94 
IRRIGATION OF MEADOWS.
The effect of irrigation is sometimes found to render
both vines and trees subjected to it, very susceptible to the
frosts and severe weather of winter. This disadvantage
seems to be a necessary adjunct, or set-off, to the advantages gained by the practice. Thus, a severe winter has
been known to destroy whole groves of olive trees that
have been irrigated, while scattered trees, not so cultivated, have escaped. It is rare that we can altogether
escape a combination of circumstances that seem to offer
us only a choice of evils; an alternative, either side of
which is about as disagreeable as the other; a Scylla and
Charybdis, neither of which can easily be escaped; and
this business of irrigation of fruit trees seems especially
to be one in which the operator is obliged to exercise the
greatest care and circumspection to avoid, on the one
hand, the evils of excess, and on the other hand, the
periodical and certain dangers which this practice enables
him to obviate or mitigate when intelligently applied.
CHAPTER X.
THE IRRIGATION OF MEADOWS.
The permanent meadow is a very unusual adjunct to
an American farm. Our climate is not naturally well
adapted to the continued growth of grass. Our hot, dry
summers are unfavorable. Generally it may be stated as
beyond question, that the yield of grass is proportionate
to the supply of water. As has been previously stated,
no solid nutriment reaches any plant except as supplied
to it in solution in water. What are the ultimate possibilities of growth in any crop is unknown to us, but it
would seem as though they depended greatly upon the
supply of water that can be absorbed, sufficient nutriment
95 
IRRIGATION.
of course being provided. Rye grass, upon irrigated
fields richly fertilized, has grown at the rate of one inch
per day, and repeated cuttings have been made at intervals of 14 days, during a season of several months. Crops
of grass upon irrigated fields of a total weight of more
than SO tons per acre, have been reported by trustworthy
English farmers in one season.
Irrigated grass fields in Italy support easily two head
of fattening cattle per acre, every year, and have long
done so. In hundreds of localities in European countries are irrigated meadows, which have borne grass without any sign of deterioration within the memory of the
inhabitants, or the knowledge of readers of local histories,
although the crop has been cut and removed every year
during this indefinite period. Whether or not these immense yields could be further increased by more skillful
management is not necessary to inquire. These products
are so far beyond the dreams of an American farmer, that
they may well be considered fabulous.   But there is no
reason to doubt the facts. On the contrary, they should
be used as a stimulus for us to adopt, wherever practicable, the methods by which these crops are produced.
The average product of grass upon our rich bottom
lands, will not exceed two tons per acre, and upon uplands one ton per acre is a fair average yield. After a few
years the best seeded of our meadows begin to deteriorate
and run out. A change of crop is made and the meadows
are once more seeded down to run out again in a few
years. The cause of the failure is the heats and drouths
which follow the hay harvest, and which cause a cessation
of growth until they are past. Beneath a temperature
which would be genial and invigorating to plant growth
with sufficient moisture, the grass dies for want of the
sustenance that water would afford.  The most valuable
crop we grow is thus reduced in its possible yield one-half
or more. The only instance of an approach to permanent
96 
EFFECTS OF PARTIAL IRRIGATION.
meadows in this country, is the few partially irrigated
grass fields which are very sparsely located in hilly regions
where springs and brooks are led upon the grass upon
sloping hillsides.  In these few cases, year after year,
crops of two or three tons, and sometimes more, of hay
are cut. Where a very imperfect irrigation has thus been
employed for 30 or 40 years, the meadows exhibit no sign
of deterioration. An occasional dressing of manure, and
a little fresh seed now and then, keep them in a productive condition. But in the majority of these cases the
water has been utilized for this purpose, from sheer necessity rather than from choice. A spring issuing from a
Fig. 42.-IRRIGATING A HHLBSIDE.
hillside, or upon a level field, with high ground above.it,
and low ground below, either meanders wastefully through
the level and escapes in an unsightly gulley at the edge
of the hill, or it spreads over acres of ground, and makes
a useless and unsightly bog. The careful farmer, to
avoid this evil, and with an eye to thrift, leads the flow
into a channel that departs slightly from the level, across
the field and down the slope. A stone placed here and
there in the channel, causes the water to overflow, and
spread in a sheet upon the surface. One by one portions
of the field are thus watered, and the effect is to induce
a growth of grass that remains green beneath the snow,
and grows luxuriantly as soon as it has disappeared, yield
5
97 
IRRIGATION.
ing two crops of hay in the year, besides some pasture
when the springs cease to flow and the ground is capable
of bearing cattle.  Upon hundreds of farms in Pennsylvania, and in the valley of Virginia which has been
settled by farmers from the former State, there are watered meadows of this character which yield a steady crop
of hay, year after year, and possess a sod which promises
to remain productive indefinitely, with its present treatment. This accidental use of the water has been in
reality forced upon the farmer. Hiad it not been brought
into a channel and confined to one or two canals, it would
have flowed irregularly over the surface and have formed
a morass.  The process really has been onef drainage
rather than of irrigation, and the reclamation of the surface rather than its studied improvement. The methods
of watering meadows in common use are illustrated in fig.
42, in which a small stream is led down a slope, and at
fig. 43, in which the stream is dammed and the water
carried laterally as far as possible.
If such elementary and imperfect methods have been
successful and profitable, how much more shall skillful
and scientific irrigation add to the yield of our most
valuable crop, and render possible the creation of permanent meadows, upon which grass may be grown in the
greatest luxuriance, at an almost nominal expense!
Numberless opportunities to make irrigated meadows
present themselves everywhere. Far from being a matter
of nicely arranged quantities of water, equally distributed
at certain definite periods, as with other field crops; on
the contrary, the irrigation of a meadow simply consists
in causing a supply of water to pass over the grass at such
periods as may be convenient; the convenience being
only loosely circumscribed by times and seasons. It does
not matter if the soil becomes saturated with water, it is
only by the grossest negligence or ignorance that injury
can be done.  There is no danger, flthough the slope of
98
I 
EFFECTS OF COPIOUS IRRIGATION. *
the field may be considerable, of washing the soil, or cutting the surface into ruts or gullies. Water may be turned on to the sod without fear of excessive irrigation if it
is only kept in motion. The more water that passes over
the surface the more valuable nutriment is brought within the reach of the plant. Every blade of grass acts as
a part of a filter which retains matter that may be either
in solution or in suspension in the water which slowly
finds its way over the surface. The mechanical resistance
offered by the myriads of stems and leaves of the grass
blgjlJ~;,lUilil?Illqil'l'l~ muf.- / Xtllaellwl~l~m~~fllilir~lllllqqllltllll;M ix!:'1 ll ll/lAI  l~/l} l.lipfflJlllt~W~ll~llJ/fflgl~lg#lllilW~lww..
Fig. 43.-IRRIGATING A RIVER-BOTTOM.
to a current of water are such that the combined effect is
equal to a loss of head or level of 16 inches in 200 feet.
This retardation of the flow helps to cause the deposit
of any sold matter suspended in the water, from which
but few springs or streams are free, and also to bring
every particle of the water into contact with the surface
of the soil, or the surface roots of the plants. Not only,
therefore, is the plant supplied with nutriment while the
water is in contact with it, but a supply of nutriment is
deposited and stored for future use. This freedom of
application does not exist when cultivated or plowed
lands are irrigated, and in their case more care and greater
caution must be exercised to avoid injury. It is therefore advisable, in localities where only partial irrigation is:..
k ~
99 
IRRIGATION.
needed, to cause these lands that are brought under the
system, to bear grass in preference to any other crops,
and to make the irrigation permanent and as perfect as
possible. That is to say, thai in all other than arid or
rainless countries, meadows only, and no other field crops,
should be irrigated, unless under exceptional circum   stances; for the reason that the irrigation of a meadow
is easy and requires but little practical skill, is more
cheaply performed, because the works are permanent,
and is more certain and profitable in its effects than that
of other field crops.
It would not be difficult to give excellent reasons for
these statements. It may be sufficient, however, to re   mark that, excepting in those districts where irrigation is
needed for all crops, the water supply can rarely be made
available for any other lands than river bottoms; for the
reason that the cooperative effort of many proprietors
would be necessary to bring a supply of water to a large
tract, and this would be difficult or impossible to effect.
Bottom lands are naturally suited to the growth of grass,
and the means and the end of their irrigation match so
accurately, naturally, and conveniently, that there seems
to be a foregone necessity that the one should exist for
the other. Further on;, in considering more particularly
the possibilities and methods of irrigating these lands,
the advantages of keeping them as permanent grass lands
will be still more conclusively shown if that need be.
Where the climate admits of it, irrigation of meadows
is performed in Summer and in Winter. There are two
objects in view. One is, to supply moisture to the soil
at a season when there is an insufficient amount of rain,
and the other is, to convey to the soil, and deposit upon it,
whatever fertilizing solid matter the water may contain at
a season when water is very plentiful. The first object is
: Atained by Summer irrigation, and the second by irriga t.'on in Winter.  It is only, however, in those  localities
i,.*
100 
WINTER IRRIGATION.
where frosts are neither severe nor long continued that
Winter irrigation is admissible. Where light frosts alternate with sunny days, a covering of a few inches of water,
gently flowing across the meadows, protects as well as
fertilizes the grass. At this season the copious rains or
melting snows carry into the streams an immense amount
of fine, earthymatter, which may be arrested and caused
to be deposited in a thin sheet upon the soil.  In the
course of several years this deposit has been known to
raise the surface of the meadow many inches, every inch
of this increase consisting of matter of the greatest fertilizing value. Where Winter irrigations can be made,
they will be found of the greatest value, for they prepare
the crop which is to be cut in the Summer by supplying
in a great measure the necessary subsistence for its growth.
Where the level of the field or the supply of water is
such as to permit it, a constant current may be kept
flowing over the surface during the period when growth
is suspended, or from November or December untilFebruary or March.
Where it is necessary to make a series of levels to be
irrigated in succession, each mayin its turn be overflowed
for a week; or by arrangement of ditches and banks, the
water from the upper level may pass over each lower one,
supplying the whole, if it is in sufficient quantity.  But
where the supply of water is only limited, it is preferable
to irrigate each level successively, for the reason that by
far the largest quantity of suspended matter will be deposited by the first of the waters made to flow from one
level to another, and in this case, the lower ones will receive
a diminished quantity of deposit, in proportion to their
distance from the source of supply.  When the temperature falls sufficiently for ice to form, the quantity of water should be increased so as to keep a current constantly
flowing beneath the ice. If the cold is sufficient to congeal the whole supply of water, so that ice rests upon the
101 
IRRIGATION.
grass, the flow should be cut off.  No injury will occur
to the grass in this case, but if the water is still allowed
to flow, the ice will be increased in thickness, and a longer
time will be needed for it to thaw. If this imprisonment
is continued too long, vegetation may be injured, but a
week or two is insufficient to cause any injury.
In the Spring, when the water has been withdrawn and
growth has commenced, there frequently occur cloudless
nights and low temperatures, when hoar frosts are produced. On such occasions it is common to spread the
water over the surface during the night, as a protection
from the frost.  The benefit derived is sufficient to repay
the necessary care and labor during the months when
these sudden changes are to be expected. There are
many localities in the Middle and Southern States where
this sort of irrigation might be practiced with very great
profit. It is extensively practiced in Lombardy, where
these II Winter meadows" are known as marcite, (marcia
in the singular), and where they have long been known
as the most productive of any meadows. As early as
February, when the surrounding country may be yet
covered with snow, these meadows, protected during the
Winter by a covering of flowing water, begin to furnish
their first cutting of grass. Five other cuttings follow,
before the season closes, so that the cattle receive fresh
grass during 11 months of the year. Twenty-eight tons
of grass, or seven tons of hay, per acre, is the usual yield
of these meadows. The valleys of several of the French,
English, and Irish rivers, although subjected to a less
genial climate than that of Italy, furnish many examples
of successful Winter irrigations. Certainly a vast extent
of the ULTnited States, where grass is a scarce product,
might be made amenable to this profitable treatment.
At this point a typical case might be cited. When
visiting England some years ago, the author's attention
was attracted to some extensive water meadows upon the
102 
AN ENGLISH WATER MEADOW.
banks of a small river, the Mersey, which finds its exit
into the sea at Liverpool. The upper part of this stream
flows through broad, alluvial lands, which, before their
reclamation, must have been marshy, and of little value.
Extensive works have been in existence, however, for
many years; precisely how long could not be ascertained
by enquiry, all that could be learned was that "they
were always there." The river banks were enclosed by
dikes, or as they are termed on our Western rivers,
"levees," sufficiently high to prevent overflow, even in
freshets. Substantial water-gates were made in these
banks, leading into lateral channels at right angles to the
river. These lateral channels had banks of equal hight
and solidity with the main banks. The lateral banks
extended from the river until they reached the gradually
rising ground at their level. From these, other banks,
enclosing lesser canals, with water gates at their heads,
and parallel with the river, extended until they met the
next range of cross banks; thus dividing the broad bottom lands into a series of parallelograms enclosed in a
system of canals at right angles to each other. From
these canals, gates sliding in perpendicular grooves, and
raised or depressed by racks and pinions, opened into the
meadows. When the level of the river was raised by unusual rains, the gates were opened, and the meadows enclosed within the different canals were flooded with water,
to a depth of about six inches. So long as the river remained high, the gates were opened sufficiently to permit
a gentle flow of water from one section of meadow to
another, until it escaped into the river again at a lower
level, by drains through the banks; or the water remained upon the meadows, in a state of quiescence, to deposit
upon them the fertilizing matter which it held in suspension.  For centuries this practice had been followed, and
the gra,s thus grown had been mowed and fed to cattle,
or made into hay. The same practice was afterwards ob
103 
IPRRIGATION.
served in other parts of England, Ireland, and in Continental Europe, where scarcely a possibility of utilizing a
stream in this manner has been neglected.
What is there in our circumstances that prevents the
practice of so great an economy? There is no reason why
our thousands of rivers might not each have its scores of
watered meadows, along its banks. The skill to execute
the necessary work is abundant. Hundreds of civil engineers, relieved from duty upon the suspended or finished railroads, might profitably turn their attention to this
branch of their profession, if only farmers were alive to
the advantages of thus improving their farms.
The system adopted in Europe may be applied here
with the greatest facility, but upon a much larger scale,
as our rivers are larger, and our river bottoms more extensive.  The irregular and unrestricted, and therefore
sometimes destructive overflows would thus be controlled
and profitably utilized. The supply of grass, our most
valuable fodder, would be greatly increased, and a needed
improvement would be effected in our agriculture.
In the Northern States and Canada, Winter irrigation
is impracticable, and there Summer irrigation only would
be beneficial. As soon as the ground is free from frost,
the water of the streams, highly charged with sediment,
might begin to be utilized. Afterwards, when growth has
begun, no check would be permitted, but every night during a dry season, the meadow might be flooded. Then,
when the crop, brought to an early maturity by the stimulus of abundant moisture should be cut and removed, a
new growth would be forced, and under the influence of a
genial sun, would advance quickly. Two crops could be
made by August, and in many cases a third could be procured by October. The economy of the system is sufficient to permit a considerable outlay in preparing the surface, and in addition there might be estimated a vast
saving by the substitution of growing grass to be cut
104 
USE OF SPRINGS.
and fed to cattle, for the present costly practice of pasturing.  Nevertheless it is not necessary that pasturing be
abandoned, for irrigation is as applicable, to a large extent, to pastures as to meadows.
The details of the methods here alluded to will be
treated of in a succeeding chapter.
CHAPTER XI.
THEE USE OF SPRINGS FOR IRRIGATION.
Springs are one of the sources from which water for
irrigating meadows is most frequently procured.  They
are often situated advantageously, so that the water may
be circulated by gravity over the land on a lower level.
It is possible in many cases to reach the actual source of
the spring at a point several feet above that at which it
naturally issues from the ground. A vast number of
springs really furnish a much larger supply of water
than is suspected. Usually they are allowed to saturate the surface and escape into the subsoil by numerous
hidden channels, which in the aggregate would furnish a respectable stream. By proper economy in using
the water, a very small stream may be made to irrigate a
field of considerable extent. It is by using water in driblets that many springs are wasted. A stream yielding one
quart per second may have its water wholly swallowed by
the thirsty soil within 200 feet of its source, when by arresting the flow and accumulating it in a reservoir, which
may be discharged at intervals by automatic arrangements, the water may be made to escape in a volume
four times as large, and sufficient to cover eight times
the surface.
105
so. 
IRRIGATION.
By this contrivance a very small spring may be utilized.
One yielding 2 quarts per second will serve to water four
acres of meadow if stored for 24 hours, and discharged
periodically at intervals of that length of time. During
this period 43,200 gallons would be accumulated, which
would supply nearly one quart of water to every square foot
upon the four acres; a very ample allowance in addition
to what is furnished by the rainfall, to secure a full crop
of grass. It would be preferable to accumulate a larger
quantity of water than this, if possible, and to give a
more copious watering less frequently. A thorough saturation of the soil at intervals, as has been before explained,
is better than more moderate waterings more frequently
given. Air is as vital a necessity to vegetation as water,
and if access of air is denied, the roots of the plants
must perish. Where water goes, air follows, and as evaporation takes place, air fills the space previously occupied
by the water. To moisten the soil to a depth of several
inches gives that coolness which the grass roots find necessary for their healthful growth; but to moisten the soil to
a depth of only an inch or two, gives no supply sufficient
to resist the drying effects of the sun's heat, or a hot dry
summer breeze. Two inches of water given every week
would be a very good supply, and with a spring of the
size of flow mentioned, economically stored, twelve acres
of grass could be watered once a-week. The effect would
be equivalent to that of the fall of a steady, moderate
shower during a whole day and night, and occurring every
week, and every farmer can readily understand the value
of such a shower upon his meadows.
To store 43,200 gallons of water will require a reservoir
of 5,760 cubic feet. One 40 by 20 feet, and 7 feet deep,
will have about this capacity. If the width is doubled,
the depth may be decreased one half. The shallower it
it can be made the better for many reasons. The temperature of spring water is generally too low in the Summer
106 
RESERVOIRS.
for immediate use, and its value is greatly enhanced by
being raised to an equal or greater temperature than that
of the air. This is most quickly done by exposure in a
shallow pond. Every foot saved in depth is a foot added
to the level of the outlet, and so much more added to
the area that may be irrigated. This is evident, because
if the reservoir is 7 feet deep, the surface of the water
can be no higher than the level of the source, unless the
water is pumped up into the reservoir, and it is clear
that the water discharged cannot be made to irrigate
any land that lies higher than the bottom of the reservoir. With a 7 foot reservoir, all the land that lies
between the levels of the bottom of the reservoir and the
surface of the water cannot be irrigated; unless there are
a
Fig. 44.-SECTION OF RESERVOIR.
several discharging pipes at different portions of the
reservoir. With regard to cheapness of construction, if
not to effectiveness in operation, it will be found far better to have the reservoir as large as possible, at least of
sufficient capacity to contain water enough for use every
two to seven days.
Where the surface slopes but one way, an embankment
may be made on three sides of a square, inclosing a
sufficient space, and open on the upper side at which the
spring will discharge itself. This is shown at fig. 44 in
section, and in plan at fig. 45. To irrigate the strip of
land parallel with the reservoir, a canal or furrow may
be carried on a level with the spring, seen at a, a, in the
figures, to the boundary of the meadow. The overflow
from the reservoir may be made to pass into this canal.
107
a 
IRRIGATION.
This will be  found a very convenient  arrangement.
Figures 44 and 45 are intentded to represent a typical
form of such a reservoir as this. The spring, escaping by
a small stream, seen in the plan, fig. 45, occupies the
a~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----—.......                     A
Fig. 45.-PLAN OF IRESERVOIR.
point a, in fig. 44. The ground around and below the
spring is excavated as shown by the dotted line, (fig. 45),
and by the part lightly shaded, marked c, in fig. 44. The
earth removed serves to make the dam which is construct
~M.
Fig. 46.-TRA FOR DISCARGING RIESERVOIRM.
ed in the manner hereafter described. (Page 111). A pipe
is laid in the dam, for convenience not far from the surface, and a valve, operated by a key, d, closes and opens
the pipe. The pipe is in fact a siphon, and if opened
108 
DISCHARGING THE WATER.
when the reservoir is full will discharge until the water is
exhausted, into the distributing furrow, b, fig. 44, and b,
b, fig. 45. The dotted line, in fig. 44, shows the level of
the water in the resewrvoir when it is full and overflowing
at the outlet, a.
When the reservoir is filled, the surplus is discharged
on each or either side, by the channels made for that purpose. This will obviate the difficulty previously pointed
out. The flow may then be turned upon the upper portion of the meadow for twelve hours, in such a manner
that the whole of the water shall be absorbed by the soil,
and afterwards the contents of the reservoir may be flowed on to the lower portion during the next twelve hours,
when the outlet will be closed.  Many different arrangements for the use of the water may be devised to meet
the necessities of any peculiar case, and as experience is
gained, any difficulty that may arise at the first will be
readily overcome. The reservoir may be discharged by
an intermittent self-acting arrangement which is either a
siphon, already described, or a more complicated but
equally effective method of a balanced trap, fig. 46. The
balanced trap consists of a board having a weight, X, attached to one end, and a cup or basin at the other, and
being suspended upon pivots in a frame erected at the edge
of the main distributing ditch at the outlet in front of
the dam. The board is nicely balanced, so that when the
basin is empty the weighted end rests upon a prop, F, purposely placed for it; but when the basin is filled with
water it overbalances the weight and falls. As it falls it
releases a gate, I, upon which is fixed a leather cushion
which closes the outlet pipe of the reservoir, M. When
the reservoir is empty the gate is raised and the pipe is
closed. When the reservoir is filled the overflow enters a
pipe through the upper part of the dam, C, and flows into
the basin. The basin descends and releases the gate; the
force of the water flowing from the discharge pipe keeps
109 
IRRIGATION.
it open as long as the stream is running into the canal.
When the water is exhausted the pipe is again closed.
To prevent the water flowing over the dam, through any
accidental stoppage in the machinery, a branch of the
overflow pipe is carried down the face of the dam into
the canal. This apparatus is of very general use in the
Swiss Cantons, and in irrigating works elsewhere, and
works with regularity and precision. It is necessary that
the balance-trap be properly adjusted and looked after
occasionally. The worst that can happen in case of
accident is the overflow of the reservoir by the pipe into
the canal without harm. If the overflow is provided for
at the inlet by a pipe or a channel placed there, as already
suggested, this overflow pipe in the dam will not be
needed. In practice, however, it will be found safest to
have every guard against accident and consequent damage
to the works, and two outlets will be twice as safe as one.
If it is thought desirable, the waste-pipe in the dam may
be placed two inches above the level of the other outlet, so
that it will come into use only in case of a stoppage of
the lower one. The outlet pipe should be large enough
to discharge the water as least four times as rapidly as it
enters the reservoir; so that the storage of two days flow
may be discharged in a night or during one cloudy day.
(Under no circumstance should the water be permitted
to escape during the day when the sun is shining). A
three-inch pipe will discharge nine quarts per second,
which would be more than enough to furnish two inches
of water to four acres in 12 hours. A pipe of this diameter would therefore be of ample size for a 12-acre
meadow, giving a weekly watering to each 4 acres by
three discharges of the reservoir.
A siphon is not always to be depended upon to discharge a reservoir automatically. Sometimes the water,
when rising slowly and not filling the pipe completely,
trickles over and does not set the siphon in operation.
110 
MAKING THE DAM.
When an arrangement is made for the safe overflow of
the surplus in some manner, a valve may be attached to
the head of the siphon, (d, fig. 44,) by which the flow may
be started, or a tap may be fixed to the lower end of the
pipe for the same purpose. This would be preferable to
the plain siphon, although it would involve the necessity
of personal attendance at stated times to discharge there servoir. But no one should undertake the irrigation of land
who is averse to giving the necessary attention to the de tails at proper times. An unexpected accident, the work of
vermin, the presence of some floating body, or some other
trifle, may stop the work, and unless some oversight is
given to it, mischief and loss might occur. It is therefore advisable to depend upon personal effort rather than
automatic contrivances, although it may be as well to
have the latter in use if it is not made an excuse for
neglecting careful supervision. Of all automatic arrangements for discharging the water, the balanced trap is
the most trustworthy one.
Where the surface is not regularly sloping, a hollow or
ravine may be made into a pond or reservoir by building
a dam across the hollow. In building any dam of this
character, the foundation must first be excavated until
the solid subsoil is reached, or the dam will leak and its
stability be destroyed. A trench at least a fourth of
the width of the dam should be dug and filled with
puddled earth or clay. The front and rear of the dam
may be made of sods cut from the bottom of the reservoir,
and the center up to the top should be made of earth or
clay puddled and rammed solidly between the walls of
sods. The dam, if a high one, should be at least twice as
wide at the bottom as it is high; and the width of the
top  should  be one-fifth that  of  the  bottom.    The
inner slope should be 18 inches horizontal to one foot
of hight. The bottom of the pond should be made of
puddled clay to prevent a waste of water. A section of
ill 
IRRIGATION.
the dam is seen at fig. 44; the hight of which is 8 feet,
width 16 feet, and the puddled clay wall in the center is
shown by the darkly shaded portion.  Where the spring
is of sufficient volume to supply all the water that may
be needed, it would still be worth while to provide the
reservoir for the sake of gaining the increased temperature; but in such cases the reservoir will not be needed
for the purpose of distribution, but only to warm the
Fig. 47.-MANNE  OF COLLECTING THE WATER OF SPRINGS.
water. The overflow, then, only will be used, which
will escape on the same level as that of the inlet. The
course of the current through the reservoir should be
made as circuitous as possible by means of a division
of boards in the center, that the exposure of the cold
water to the warm air or sun's heat may be the longer.
When water is retained solely for this purpose, the space
in which it is confined should be large and shallow, so
that the exposure of the water to the sun's heat, and the
112 
USE OF SPRINGS.
influence of the atmosphere, may be as thorough as possible.
The temperature of the water has a considerable effect
upon the growth of grass. Every one has noticed the
effect of a warm shower, in early Spring, in starting vegetation; and also the ill effect of a cold rain, in the Fall, in
arresting growth. In all cases the water should at least
be of an equal temperature with the air. When spring
water is used, the temperature can only be raised by exposing it in ponds or reservoirs fora time, and the shallower the pond the more quickly will the water be warmed. Exposure to the atmosphere also exerts a chemical
effect, and some waters that contain sulphate of iron, or
other deleterious substances, are rendered harmless by
the oxidation of these impurities. Thus the temporary
storage is of sufficient advantage both in enabling an intermittent irrigation, and in warming and purifying the
spring water, to make the cost of the reservoir and distributing apparatus a profitable expenditure for any
meadow of not less than four acres in extent.
It is often the case that a number of springs exist upon
the surface that may be brought
together into one channel with 
great economy.  A spring is often 
merely  the overflow of under-'...... X.
ground streams, and by digging  ~//;__
downwards the whole of the water
may be captured and brought into
one channel, with the double ad-  Fig. 48.-THE DRAIN AND
vantage of draining a wet field        DISCHRGE PrE.
and of utilizing the water for the irrigation of a meadow
below the level of it. The diagram, fig. 47, represents
a case of this character. A number of springs break out
at the surface, and spreading make a marsh, but form
no stream there. To utilize the water of these springs,
and to drain the wet surface, all that is needed is to
113 
IRRIGATION.
cut a drain (see fig. 48) from each of them, leading to a
common channel, and deep enough to reach the subterranean sources from whence the overflow comes. The main
channel is made to discharge at a point
l ~ ~   ~   required either into a cistern or into an
irrigating ditch. The method of mak                ing the drains need not be costly.  If
stone is at hand, and fiat long pieces
can be easily procured, the drains may
be made by placing long narrow stones
against the sides of the ditch, at the bot                tom, and covering them with shorter
pieces placed crosswise. Small fragments
maybe thrown upon these and earth up    Fig. 49.    on them.  This is shown at fig. 49.  If
FLAT STOE DRAIN. round stones only can be procured, the
drain may be made as shown in figs. 50 and 51. The
depth of the drain, should not be more than is necessary to reach the main stream, as for every foot deeper
than that, so much head at the outlet is lost, and so much
less land can be watered. In digging the drains, for the
Fig. 50.    ROUW STONE DRANS. Fig. 51.
same reason, no greater fall should be given than is needed. Six inches in 100 feet is ample fall to keep the drains
clear from sediment, and more would probably result in
washing out portions of the drains at the sides or bottoms. A very useful level for laying out the drains may
114 
LEVELING THE DRAINS.
be made as shown at fig. 52. It consists of a paralleledged board, seven or eight feet long, with a L affixed
near one end, which supports a pendulum. A scale is
marked on the board at the foot of the pendulum, whereby its motions are noted. When the board is perfectly
level the foot of the pendulum marks 0. When the board
inclines either way it varies accordingly. A handle is
fixed to the end of the level, which serves to hold it in
position when in use. In case it is not wished to lay out
Fig. 52.-LEVEL.
the bottom of a ditch to a very accurate grade, the mere
movement of the pendulum to the right, when looking at
the scale or index, will show that the grade is downwards.
But if accurate measurement is desired, it will be necessary to make the instrument in proportion, and mark the
index carefully also with a proportionate scale. Thus, if
the bottom of the level is six feet long, and the 1  two
feet high, an elevation of the hinder end of the instrument of half an inch would be equal to a grade of one
inch in 12 feet, or one in 144, or eight inches in 100 feet,
and would cause a deviation from the perpendicular of
the pendulum of one-sixth of an inch; a grade of 16
inches in 100 feet would cause a deviation of one-third
of an inch. If such close measurement is desired, the
instrument will have to be carefully made. For ordinary
operations, it will only be necessary to take care that the
j. is set on quite square, and then the least movement
III
115
12
..k
Ili.
. 11 
IRRIGATION.
forward of the pendulum will show the grade to be correct.
When the waters of springs, such as are now under
consideration, are to be used directly in irrigation, the
method shown at fig. 53 may be applied. The springs s,
s, s, may be opened or cleared of rubbish, and may be led
directly into furrows following the lines of level shown by
the dotted lines. Or they may be led into the larger
springs and the collected water be discharged as shown
at S, S. Or several springs near the center may be
,, —
/,,
--,,
, -
--
Fig. 53. -DIRECT USE OF SPRIGS.
gathered into a pool or reservoir, and the others led into
it, and the whole supply be discharged into a main furrow following the level as seen at fig. 54, in which the
springs are seen at s, s, the reservoir at R, and the irrigating channels at c, c, c.
By this management the drainage of wet, arable lands,
also may be made to furnish a supply of water to irrigate
meadows, and the instances where such a combination of
advantages may be availed of are far from scarce or few.
Indeed the swamps that now produce very inferiorherbage,
I
I
116
I
_ _ 
DOUBLE PROFIT IN DRAINAGE,
or that are totally useless, or worse, because productive of
miasma, or dangerous to cattle that may trespass upon
them, and that might be reclaimed by drainage, and at the
same time furnish a copious supply of water for irrigation,
are far more numerous than would be suspected by any but
an engineer, whose practiced eye can see at a glance the
possibilities in this respect that others would fail to perceive. It nine cases out of ten, at least, a swamp is in
reality a spring, or a number of them, which spread
.. - - - - - - -..
F
Fig. 54.-T      SPRINGS COLLECTED INTO A POOL.
themselves over the surface and stagnate, losing their
flow by evaporation or slow filtration through the surrounding soil, or their own subsoil. To utilize this waste
water would be to turn a diseased and pestilential spot
into a healthful and productive field, that would also contribute the means of enhancing the productive capacity
of neighboring fields.  Then "out of the eater cometh
forth meat," and out of the waste place cometh forth fertility.
117
.,s~~~~~~~~~~~A.
I.              _, 
IRRIGATION.
CHAPTER XII.
FORMATION OF WATER MEADOWS.
Every American farmer will acknowledge that grass is
the most desirable, but at the same time the most difficult
crop he can raise. It costs less to raise than any other crop
when the adverse climate can be vanquished. But fortunately the American climate it not invincible, and there
are means by which this crop, (as well as others), may be
cultivated with success, in spite of heat and drouths. One
of these is the system of irrigated, or water meadows,
upon which the growth of grass can be made continuous
during both Summer and Winter, for where the climate
is not sufficiently cold to form ice more than two inches
in thickness, grass may be kept in a growing state throughout the Winter, and be made ready for the first cutting
in February or March.   The United States is the only
civilized country in which grass is not so grown, more or
less. There is scarcely a river in Europe whose waters
are not compelled to nourish and protect thousands of
acres of its bottom lands wherever they can be brought
upon them by means of embankments and ditches. On
every hand the observant traveler sees irrigation works of
extensive and substantial character, and of great antiquity; and verdant meadows within them, covered with
the most luxuriant vegetation. These works are to be
found where the climate is naturally as unfavorable to
the growth of grass as in any of our Southern States, although it is true that in warm, humid climates, or those
where the heats of Summer are not so ardent, water
meadows find their greatest developement. The small
county of Wiltshire, in England, alone has 20,000 acres
of water meadows, most of which have been in cultivation for over 150 years. This county is a famed dairy
118 
ADVANTAGE OF WINTER IRRIGATION.
county, and the Wiltshire cheese is a staple product in
the markets of the country.
But it is drouth, and not heat alone, that is fatal to
the growth of grass, and which sears it as the breath of
a furnace. Heat and moisture develop vegetable growth
most abundantly. Without declaring that irrigation is
to revolutionize our husbandry, it is only necessary to
refer to the abundant opportunities which exist here for
enterprise in this direction, to be assured that a vast
change for the better would occur if it were brought into
general use. It is a mistake to suppose that an irrigated
meadow depends solely upon the use of water during
the Summer months. On the contrary, wherever it is
possible to be done, it is by application of water during
the Winter season, or from the Autumn to the Spring,
that the crop gains an accumulation of strength which
enables it to pass through the Summer in safety, giving
several crops in that season. Not that Summer irrigations
are not useful or necessary, but that they are of less volume and of less continuance.
The chief advantage of this system is the accumulation
of fertility made during a period when otherwise the
ground is wasted by rains, and denuded of soil and soluble
matter that it is not in a condition to spare. The meadow
is made the place of deposit for a large portion of the
matter of which other lands, not so improved, are deprived by rains and floods, and if the whole of the waters
of the streams could be arrested and made to give up
their burden, the whole of the value lost by them would
be regained, and none escape to the seaor the estuaries of
the rivers to form future lands of the richest character.
The opportunities for producing grass upon water meadows in the Southern States, where Winter irrigation is
possible, and where the river flats are extensive and numerous, are many and great, and the advantages in this
direction are too important to be neglected.,
119 
IRRIGATION.
The nature of the herbage upon an irrigated meadow
depends greatly upon the skill with which the irrigation
is managed. If water is used in excess, the more valuable
grasses disappear and inferior ones take their place, such
as quack grass (Triticum repefls), the spear grasses (Glyceria aquatics), and G. fltuitans and other coarse species.
By careful management, re-seeding, and manuring, timothy and clover may be retained in a watered meadow, but
there are several grasses which are but slightly inferior to
timothy, and which grow abundantly and constantly, that
are much better adapted to this culture. These are the
fowl meadow grass (Poa serotina), rough-stalked meadow
grass (Poa trivialis), the tall meadow oat-grass, called
ray grass in France, (Arrenatherum avenaceum), and the
well-known red-top (Agrostis vulgaris).
These grasses furnish a heavy burden of sweet, nutritious, palatable hay, and  immediately after mowing,
when watered, spring into a vigorous new growth. Italian
rye-grass (Loliurnm Italicum), is extensively grown upon
irrigated meadows in England, and yields repeated heavy
cuttings of forage for soiling. It has been tried here
without success, but not on irrigated lands. It is probable
that under irrigation it will be found of equal value to
other grasses that have already been naturalized, and are
known to be available, as it is the chief grass grown upon
the Italian water meadows, upon which it yields several
cuttings, equal in the aggregate to 90 or 40 tons of green
fodder per acre yearly. A mixture of five to seven pounds
each of the four varieties named, as best adapted to watered meadows, would give a thick growth, and as some of
them increase from the roots, a thick permanent sod
would be formed, which would be in active and successive
growth up to October, or even later in the season.
The undulating character of the surface of the soil
offers the greatest facilities for using the waters from
streams, both small and great, in irrigation. There are
120 
MODES OF APPLYING WATER.
millions of acres upon the banks of streams that could
be made to bear crops of grass permanently, with the
greatest profit, at a comparatively small outlay per acre.
It is where the surface to be irrigated is large that the
process of irrigation is the cheapest. Where a stream
flows naturally above the surface of a portion of the
neighboring land, the cost of irrigating the land will be
very small, and the cost per acre will be the minimum
when the supply of water is abundant and the area to be
watered is large. In this case no dam will be needed, or
at most such a one as can be made at a small expense and
maintained with little trouble. A simple barrier of stones,
or a few planks, or a log laid across the stream and held
in its place by a few stakes driven in the ground, will suffice to divert the flow into a canal, which will lead the
water with the least possible loss of level to the ground
to be irrigated. A narrow valley having a stream meandering through its center, and with sides gently sloping
toward the stream, is peculiarly well adapted for irrigation.
The whole length of the valley, from its head to its outlet, may be made a succession of meadows. The small
tributary streams of the valley will be made to aid in the
work and contribute their share to the general supply of
water.
Should the streams be subject to early Spring and late
Fall freshets, so much the more valuable they will be.
Every flood will bring down a large amount of solid matter
to be deposited as a fertilizer upon the soil. The water of
floods is also highly charged with soluble matters which
are rendered up to the soil through which it is made to
percolate. The only disadvantage is, that should a flood
occur when the grass is nearly ready for cutting, a considerable quantity of sand may be deposited upon it, and
much of the crop may be lodged. But this difficulty is
unavoidable, and would occur in any case, and must be
submitted to as one of the drawbacks incident to the
6
121
It 
IRRIGATION.
process of doubling or trebling the usual amount of the
crop.
The first business to be undertaken in forming such a
meadow is to thoroughly drain the land either by underdrains or by open drains. The most important drain will
be that which cuts off all the springs which issue from
the foot of the uplands, and which generally render the
low land a sodden marsh. Frequently this drain should
be dug to the depth of six feet, that every spring that
may issue below may be intercepted and tapped. This
drain should be cut above the highest level to which the
irrigating ditch can be carried, and may discharge into it
or be carried beneath it and made to issue in the lateral
drains. Next, the surface is to be leveled, the hillocks
cut down and the hollows filled, so that no stagnant water can be retained in them, and the lateral slope of the
meadow be made perfect up to the edge of the stream.
The stream, or so much of it as can be used, is then diverted into side channels, which are carried as nearly upon
a level as possible until they reach the foot of the upland,
when they are carried still upon a level or with a slope of
not more than one foot in a thousand, in a direction parallel with the general course of the valley, but yet following the winding made necessary by the configuration of
the surface. The general arrangement of the dam, canals,
and drains, is as follows: see fig. 55. The winding stream
which occupies the center of the valley, shown by the
dotted lines is straightened, and dammed at a; the lateral canals are carried each way from the dam to the
borders of the valley, and from them a regular system of
distributing canals is supplied.   The main cross drains,
b, b, are above the canals on either side, and the drains,
shown by the dotted lines, are carried directly to the
stream, or they may be made to discharge into the water
furrows if so desired. The level of the stream may be
raised by' embanking its sides for a sufficient distance, in
122 
A VALLEY MEADOW.
stead of building a dam across it and forming a pond.
But the value of a pond upon a farm, if for no other
purpose than procuring a supply of ice, would amply
repay the value of the land and labor in one year. The
Il                  I
I  I/" II    -
IF4w?!-I I.
~$~L((~.<{)\  JI\
Fig. 55.-mIRRIGATION OF A VALLEY.
arrangement of canals here described is a typical one for
this kind of meadows; it is capable, however, of abundant modifications, to suit varying circumstances. It is
given to illustrate the principle upon which these meadows
may be formed.
There are various other methods of raising the water
than this which has been described, some of which may
be mentioned as being applicable to various circumstances.
The old-fashioned noria, which has been in use in Southern and Central Europe since the eleventh century, is not
yet out of date. It is still used in Savoy, Lombardy,
Spain, and parts of France, and being easily constructed,
and cheaply effective, where the supply of water is sufficient, might be used in some cases here. A wheel, haviigbroad floats, is hung upon an axle, so that the lower floa."
if
123
dl- - -
-NC.
-A-f~~~~~~ I   -.
3(l  l l  to 1 And~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
b 
IRRIGATION.
are submerged in the stream, fig. 56. By offering a little
obstruction to the stream, to increase the rapidity of the
current where the natural velocity is not sufficient, the
wheel is set in motion and revolved. Water buckets are
fixed to the circumference of the wheel, in such a position
that the direction of their longitudinal axle is 45 degrees
from that of the axle of the wheel. The buckets are
_... _ -  nT-.......
Fig. 56.', oB,  OoR WART  WREU
partly filled as they pass through the water, and are discharged as the wheel brings them round to an inverted
position, into a wooden trough placed alongside of the
wheel. From this trough the water is conveyed to the
distributing channels. Water may be raised by this rough
and ready process, in the cheapest manner, to a hight of
ten or twelve feet, requiring no attention and working
by day and night so long as the stream flows.  Another
]method by which a small portion of the water may be
aised is applicable to brooks of moderately small volume,
124
I
I 
A WATER MEADOW.
as well as larger streams, viz., the use of a water-wheel.
Where the stream cannot be raised conveniently, an undershot wheel may be set in motion by turning the current into a wooden trough or shute, and impelling it
against the floats of the wheel. Where a dam can be
made, an overshot wheel may be used. Either of these
wheels may be made to operate a chain pump, and raise a
considerable amount of water. This pump is preferable
to any other, as there are no valves to be choked by small
floating substances, or to be worn by sand, which may be
brought down by the stream.  Wooden pins may be inserted around the rim of the wheel, from which a wooden
pinion or gear may convey the motion by a short shaft to
the pump.
The most economical form of meadow is the " water
meadow," which is one so arranged that it can be flooded
completely to a depth of several inches, and the water can
either be retained upon the surface when desired, or made
to pass over it with a slow, steady current. These are
the meadows which in parts of Europe are so productive of
grass, being protected during the winter from the slight
frosts or snow which would stop the growth of the herbage, by a covering of water. Where the land cannot thus
be completely covered, meadows cannot be irrigated in
the winter season, in climates subjected to frosts sufficiently severe to freeze the ground an inch in depth. The too
well known destructive effects of a frost upon a sod
saturated with water, entirely forbid Winter irrigation
in the Northern States. But in the Southern States,
where frosts do not continue more than a few days at a
time, the "water meadow" may be made a valuable addition to the farm, and supply such an increased amount
of fodder for stock as may easily change the system of
farming to a very considerable extent.
In forming water meadows no dams are used, nor is any
water raised above its level. The streams are embanked
125 
IRRIGATION.
so as to confine the water which is diverted from them
and is carried in a level channel which gradually diverges
more and more from the stream, until the whole of the
land to be brought under treatment is inclosed. As the
level of the surface slowly descends, that of the canal
Fig. 57.-SECTIONAL PLAN OF WATER MEADOW.
rises gradually above it until there is a difference of at
least a foot between the levels of the water and the ground,
at the upper portion of the meadow. The more regular
the slope of the meadow the better in every way. If a
perfectly smooth surface can be made, the meadow is
then a perfect one. A perfectly formed meadow is the
one that lies in a succession of smooth, gently sloping
_a a-.
Fig. 58.-RouD) RLAN OF MEADOW.
tables, each one one or two feet, or more, below the level
of the other. A meadow so prepared will show a section
similar to that in fig. 57, in which the irrigating canals
are seen at e, e, and the collecting drains at f, f. Spouts
in the banks, at a, a, may pass the water from one level
to another. (See also page 113.)
126
:r             L. $
f&
.1t
t e
_IA
c te
t 
WATER-GATES.
Each portion of the meadow will be confined between
banks upon the sides, one of which will be upon the edge
of the river, and the other upon the opposite boundary,
which is the main supply canal, and between a canal of
distribution at the head and an open drain at the foot.
__                                         ~
Fig. 59. —SELF-ACTING WATER GATE.
This is shown in fig. 58, in which a, a, is the river; b, b,
the river bank; c, c, the opposite bank; d, d, the supply
canal; e, e, the distributing canal; and f, f, the drain.
The drain discharges into the river through the bank by
a self-acting gate, (fig. 59,) which yields to the outflow,
but is closed by an inflow from the river. Or the surplus water from the upper level may be discharged into
the distributing canal of the next lower level. The water
is passed from the supply canals to those of distribution,
either by a gate raised by a winch and pinion and rack,
fig. 60, or a spout through the bank of the canal, which
is closed by a slide, seen in fig. 61, and at a, a, infig. 58.
Fig. 60.-WATER GATE.
The water from the canal is first turned upon the upper
level; when this is covered to a proper depth the gate is
closed, and the water turned through the next gate upon
127
I
II
I 
IRRIGATION.
the next level, and so on until all are covered. A sufficient
quantity of water is allowed to pass on to each level to
maintain the proper depth, and allow a gentle current to
flow from the drains. This is important when the temperature falls below the freezing point. Observations
have been made, which have shown that when this has
occurred, and the temperature of the air has been as low
Fig. 61.-SPOUT IN THE BANK.
as 26~, that of the grass beneath the ice has been no
lower than 42~, and that vegetation was still active, as
shown by the color of the verdure.
As regards the amount of water used, and the manner
of using it, the following experiences may be cited.
A comparison of fields that have been less abundantly
watered, with those that have received a copious supply,
has shown that the crops upon the latter have been infallibly increased.
Where during one Winter the irrigation has been suspended, the succeeding crop has been little or nothing.
Where the water that has passed over a field has been
flowed upon another, the crop of the latter has been very
inferior to that of the former, showing conclusively that
the earth had completely abstracted the fertilizing property of the water in its first contact with it.
In proportion to the abundance of water supplied during the Winter, so is the yield of grass in the Summer.
In short, facts are conclusive to show that the quantity
of water that can be used, is the gauge of the harvest to be
expected. The Winterirrigation supplies the fertility, that
of the Summer simply supplies the necessary moisture.
In this respect the action of water constantly passing in a
A- I, 
128
i-1
I, 
SOME SETTLED PRINCIPLES.
thin sheet over a grassy sod has a different effect from that
of water passing over uncultivated soil. It does not wash
the soil nor carry off soluble matter from it, but it is itself filtered of whatever matter it contains that can be
appropriated by the roots of the grass.
The width of the levels that may be irrigated is very
irregular, and depending greatly upon the character of the
surface. The larger the breadth the cheaper the process
of preparing the surface, because the expense of forming
the embankments, canals, sluices, and drains, is divided
over a larger number of acres, and the cost per acre is
diminished. It is cheaper to enclose a large area-100
acres for instance-although the works may be heavier and
more costly, than a smaller one of 10 acres with much
lighter works. In laying out water meadows, this consideration should not be neglected, and the largest area
possible should be enclosed. Some of the dikes enclosing
the English and Italian water meadows are not less than
20 feet in hight, but hundreds of acres are brought under
irrigation by them. In such cases the works are massive,
costly, and built to last for ages. Smaller meadows may
not require embankments of more than one to three feet
in hight, and the earth for these may be procured from
the drains which carry off the surplus water, and which
are necessarily of ample size. In making the banks it
will be found the cheapest plan to dig the drains large
enough to supply all the earth needed for the banks; the
extra ground used will be of very little importance compared with the expense of bringing earth from a distance
for the construction of the banks.
A water meadow, or at least each section of a meadow
in one enclosure, must necessarily be carefully leveled.
The most perfect meadow is one that has a perfectly level
surface between the banks, so that it can be covered evenly with six inches of water. The water may be flowed
over the surface of a meadow of this character, and kept
129
I 
IRRIGATION.
upon it, if desired, by closing the outlet at the foot; or
the outlet may be opened only so much as to allow a
gentle current to pass over the meadow and maintaining
the water at its stated depth.  Upon level meadows less
water may be used than upon meadows having considerable slope. The more water that can be made to pass
over the grass, the better, up to the point of the saturation of the soil. The quantity of water that may be used
depends upon the inclination of the surface and the quality of the soil.
Where the surface is perfectly level, and of a clayey
character, the minimum quantity of water can be used.
When the surface slopes so as to reach the extreme inclination practicable for these meadows, and the soil is
gravelly, sandy, and porous, with a porous subsoil, then
the maximum quantity of water can be used.
An instance is stated by M. Herv6 Mangon, in his work
already referred to, of the irrigation of meadows in the
valleys of the Vosges, Eastern France, in which water is
employed to such an extraordinary extent that the total
quantity used in a year would cover the soil to a depth of
thirteen hundred feet.  In another case the quantity of
water used between the end of November and the middle
of August following, was equal to a total depth of 27 feet.
The whole of this time was divided into eight periods of
watering. But the locality in which these extreme cases
occurred, is one where the meadows are rarely level, and
have generally an extreme inclination; the soil is gravelly,
being derived from the schistose rocks of the surrounding
hills, and is very porous and loose in texture, and the
water of the streams is highly charged with sediment and
soluble matter, from the decomposed rocks. At least
such is the case in the valley of Waldersbach, a locality
much visited by travelers on account of its connection
with the history of the renowned Father Oberlin, and
where the author has seen the grassy hill sides flowed
iso
1
5
I
I 
SLOPING SURFACES,
with sheets of water almost approaching the character of
cascades, and the level meadows appearing as lakes.
It is by the use of the most liberal supply of water,
when the conditions; are favorable, that we can cause to
pass over a given surface, the greater quantity of nitrogen,
phosphates, and other valuable matters, contained in the
water and needed by the soil. Irrigation of meadows is
thus seen to be by no means a simple drenching of the
soil by stagnant water; but, on the contrary, the bringing
into active contact with the soil of the largest possible
quantity of water surcharged with fertilizing gases, salts,
and organic matter.
When the surface slopes, the arrangements of ditches
and drains should be made to suit the slope. If the slope
is in only one direction, the water can readily be made to
flow down the slope from the head to the foot by a system
of gates from the canal which passes along the upper
part of the meadow. At the foot the water passes into
a drain and escapes into the stream, or it is carried from
the drain beneath the dividing bank into the next section,
and made to flow over the surface of that, as it has already done over that of the previous section. Where the
slope is not more than one foot in 100, a considerable
depth of water may be maintained upon the surface, as
the flow is greatly retarded by the grass. Where the
slope is greater than this, the construction of a water
meadow must be abandoned, but a modification of it may
be used, and a meadow upon which a current of water
may be flowed from head to foot without any series of
water furrows, may be made and laid out upon the general
plan of the true water meadow. But to flood the surface
in case of frost would be impossible or injurious, because
of the great depth of water that would be required, and
Winter irrigation would be either injurious or full of risk.
So long as the slope does not much exceed 1 in 100, the
meadow may be laid out as a water meadow, if other cir
131 
IRRIGATION.
cumstances favor it; (such as a location upon a stream
where there is sufficient fall, to avoid heavy embanking,
which however is a rare occurrence); but when the slope
exceeds that ratio another system must be adopted. Be sides the systems of water meadows, previously described,
there are other methods of irrigating grass lands which
will be explained hereafter.
The time of continuance and intervals of irrigation of
these meadows is of importance. There is always danger
that, by reason of a rise of temperature, vegetation may
be unduly stimulated. In such a case the water, only in sufficiently charged with oxygen, cannot supply the de mands of the plants, and they are destroyed unless the
water is withdrawn and air supplied, or the temperature
lowered by exposure until the stimulus is removed. An
interval of a few days is then to be given before the water
is again turned on. An irrigation of 10 or 15 days and
an interval of five is the general practice. Whenever
practicable, a meadow may be divided into three or four
portions in the manner before described. Then, in the
first case, by flooding two of the divisions, and at the end
of five days drawing off the water from the first and turning it upon the third, and after five days more drying the
second and floodin the first, and so on continuing, each
division would      n da~ s under water and five days dry.
In the second' ase, if      are under water in succession
and one dry, eac           5 days irrrigated and dry for
five days.  It is impio6ile to give directions in each case;
the experience of the operator must be his guide, and the
beginner must exercise caution, learn to know when he is
right, and then go ahead. A reference to the principles
upon which irrigation depends for its good effects, and
the circumstances which would make it injurious, must
be carefully made whenever there is doubt in the mind of
the operator.  The general rule already stated, that it is
much more common, and easy, to err upon the side of
132
I 
MEADOWS AND PASTURES.
excess, than on the contrary, may be remembered as a
caution and safeguard. Still there is less danger from
excess in irrigating grass than any other crop.
It might be well to explain at this point that the arrangement here described fQr making water meadows is
exactly applicable to cranberry plantations which require
to be flooded. In many cases the slope of such plantations is too great, and consequently there is either an injurious depth of water flowed upon the vines, or the water
is not in sufficient supply to permit the covering of the
upper portion of the field, and the expense of making
the necessary high banks is too onerous. By laying out
the meadow as is shown in profile at fig. 57, and in plan
at fig. 58, each plot can be flooded to a moderate and
sufficient depth with the expenditure of a minimum
quantity of water. The cost of making several low
banks and smaller drains is not more than that of making one high bank and wide deep drain, and the crop is
not injured by an excessive depth of water.
CHAPTER XIII.
IRRIGATION OF MEADOWS AND PASTURES.
While the irrigation of grass land, situated in a river
bottom, and having either a level surface or one with
but very little slope, as has been described in the previous
chapter, is an easy matter, and when the supply of water
is ample is the most effective method of making a water
meadow, yet the proportion of farms possessing the requisite facilities for a water meadow is comparatively
small. Where therefore, there is but a small supply of
water and no broad level space of ground, the meadow
133
I 
IRRIGATION.
must be made in some other manner than that previously
described. But in all cases, whatever may be the character of the surface, when there is a supply of water flowing above the level of the ground to be watered, an irrigated meadow may be made.   It may be a level piece of
land, or a piece sloping in one or two directions, or an
irregular surface having meandering slopes, or a hill side
so steep that wagons cannot be used upon it, any of these
may be brought under irrigation, if there is the requisite
supply of water.
In preparing meadows for irrigation, the first consideration is the selection of the ground. In this is'included
the supply of water. It may be that the area that can
be covered by the water is too small to return a fair profit
on the venture, or the supply of water may be too small
for the area upon which it is to be spread. Close calculations should therefore be made, the supply closely measured and the needs accurately estimated. The first cost
of preparing the surface being almost the whole expense
to be incurred and this being less in proportion as the
area increases, it is a measure of economy to spread the
water over as much space as possible. If the water is
sufficient to flow one acre in one day, by dividing the land
into twelve plots and irrigating one each day in succession, the whole may be brought under the improvement.
UIpon level lands or those which have but little
slope, and that in only one direction, the preparation of
the surface is very easy and simple.  In this case the irrigation will be by narrow channels, or ditches sodded or
sown over with grass which will offer no obstacle to the
mower when the crop is cut. The form of the distributing ditches will be of a very obtuse angle, or a light depression of the surface sufficient to confine the current
of water which will flow over its edge or edges, and
spread in a thin sheet over the surface; slowly sinking in
134
f
I
I
I
I
i
I 
PLAN OF MEADOW.
to the ground or finding its way into the drain, either
by percolation through the soil or by surface flow at the
foot of the field or plot. The form of the furrow is seen
at fig. 62. It may be two feet wide and four inches deep.
As there is no loss of crop in this case, the space occupied
by these furrows is of no consideration; the wider and
Fig. 62.-FORM OF WATER FURROW.
shallower they are, however, the more permanent they
will be, and the less subject to injury by trampling, should
the meadow ever be pastured. The arrangement of the
meadow would then be a main supply-canal, so located
that the water may be diverted from it to supply any of
the subordinate feeders in turn by means of the distribut     a.                              -     n
t l ~~~~~~~
L   I                                _~~~~~~~
6
Fig. 63.-PLAN OF IRRIGATED MEADOW.
ing canals.  See fig. 63; a, a, being the main canal; b, b,
distributing canals; c, c, drains. The flow may be diverted by means of the hand-gates already described, or
by placing obstructions in the main canal, such as bricks
or sods, as shown in fig. 64.
Where there is an inclination of the surface insufficient
to amount to what would be called a slope, a somewhat
I
6
0
I
135 
IRRIGATION.
different arrangement would be required. See fig. 65.
The water would be taken from the supply canals and
diverted into a feeder to be carried in a diagonal direction
across the plot, from which the distributing furrows
~\                I
Fig. 64.-DIVERTING THE FLOW.
would be carried. The overflow from the distributing
furrows would even spread over the ground down the inclination. The triangular spaces below the junction of
the distributing furrows with the feeders, are watered by
means of small reflex furrows, which gather some of the
overflow from the distributing furrows and carry it back
toward the feeder.
This system of irrigated meadows is applicable to
numerous and varied circumstances. It may be adopted
in cases where the surface is level, or where the inclina
I1        IlIlllI1/l11
Ig.    I O 1.FROO   A INNI
g O
Fig. 65.-FoRe OF FURROW FORLA  INCLINED FIELD.
A:
tion is slight but regular, and where the supply of water
is not sufficient to permit of flooding or may be in minimum quantity. It may also be adopted in those cases
where the surface is a plane of which the slope is moderate in one direction, so that the distributing furrows may
be carried on a level, and in a nearly straight direction;
or upon nearly all surfaces which will admit the use of a
mowing machine. It is particularly adapted to many
136 
INCLINED SURFACES.
cases where the land in river bottoms has been injured by
the washing of freshets, and a bare surface of sand or
gravel has been left, upon which grass cannot now be
grown because of the absence of soil. This last case,
however, would more properly come under another head,
and will be treated in the proper place hereafter.
In preparing the surface of an irrigated meadow, the
ground should be plowed without open or back furrows.
There may be exceptions to this rule, where the ground
is to be laid out in plots for successive irrigation, or where
the surface is a dead level. In the former case, the
ground may be plowed in broad flat lands, each land
forming one plot, of which the open furrow will be the
center, and the feeder for the distributing furrows. In
the latter case the ground will be plowed in narrower
lands, with a rise from side to center of not less than 6
inches to 100 feet; the back furrow or the ridge will be
the place for the distributing canal, and the open furrow
will be the drain. This will in fact be an extended application of the system of beds heretofore described as
applied to gardens. The best implement for this work is
the swivel plow, with which the furrows may be all laid
the same way over the whole field. The plowing is to be
carefully and evenly done, and as deeply as possible. No
"balks" must be made, the furrows must be straight,
and no trash, weeds, or coarse manure, are to be plowed
under, that in rotting would leave depressions of the surface. Two or three plowed crops, or a Summer fallow,
might be first taken, so that the surface may be made
smooth and level. If there are hollows and knolls, the
latter must be leveled and the former filled up. This can
be done, in part, with the harrow, and in part with the
scraper. The scraper for this purpose may be a plank, at
the lower end of which a strip of wide band-iron or sawplate is fastened. A pair of plow handles are fixed behind,
with which it is guided, and a pole or a chain fastened to
137 
IRRIGATION.
rings in front, by which it is drawn by a team of oxen
or horses. See fig. 66. The common horse-shovel may
be used where it is available, and where considerable earth
is to be moved, but the plank scraper will make an effective leveler of the ground. The surface is to be rolled
and harrowed alternately and repeatedly. Upon the care
Fig. 66.-THE SCRAPER.
and completeness with which this work is done the after
value of the meadow will depend. When the surface is
prepared, the seed may be sown before the canals and
ditches are dug, lest the water should disturb the earth
before it is covered with grass and bound together by the
roots.
When a surface already level, but without soil sufficient
to bear a crop of grass without help, is to be improved
by irrigation, the grass seed is sown after flooding, and
while the ground is moist, and is left until what will
sprout and grow has done so.  The water is then turned
on to the surface, very gradually, and allowed to flow for
24 hours, when the supply is shut off, and what is upon
the surface is permitted to sink into the ground, or flow
gradually away. This is repeated, more seed being sown
each year, and water being let on whenever it is more
than usually charged with solid matter. At every watering some deposit is left, and as the grass increases in
1I8
i 
MAKING THE CANALS.
growth, more of this solid matter will be arrested, until
in a few seasons a sod will be formed, and the meadow
begin to yield crops. This method consumes a great
quantity of water, but is very usefully applied where there
is a stream that is charged with mud or silt after every
heavy rain.
When the surface of the plowed meadow is ready for the
water, the canals are laid out, with a fall of not more than
one foot in 1,000. Whateveris lostin the fall reduces the
area that may be watered. The sods are removed carefully
from the surface where the canal is dug, and used, after
it is completed, to cover the sides. Being cut into pieces,
and the pieces placed here and there upon the sides, the
intermediate spaces are sown with seed, and the gaps are
soon filled. The distributing furrows are made in a similar manner. These may be made with a plow by turning
a furrow-slice, in exactly the line laid out, on the opposite
side of the furrow from which the water is to overflow.
Fig. 67. Great care is to be exercised in laying out the
Fig. 67.-METHOD OF PLOWING THE FURROW.
canals and furrows. A builder's level, fixed to the edge
of a plank 12 feet in length, of equal width from end to
end, having a cross-bar or foot, a foot long, fastened to
each end, will make a useful implement for this purpose. One foot being set on the ground in the line
of the ditch, the other is moved from one side to the
other in the same direction, until the level is found. A
peg is driven there to mark the spot, and the level moved
further on.  It does not require much ingenuity to do
this, and any farmer of ordinary intelligence need not
fear that he will go wrong if he will only be careful and
cautious as he goes along, and takes the precaution to
139
I 
IRRIGATION.
verify his levels by turning the implement, and going
back over the line.
Many rough, stony, or swampy pieces of ground already
in grass, may be improved without disturbing the surface, by thoroughly draining the subsoil and laying out
canals without reference to any particular line, but merely
causing them to follow the level in a direction meandering to suit the surface.  Hollows should be filled up with
earth taken from adjoining elevations, the sod being first
removed and then replaced. Waste pieces of land, at
present a refuge and nursery for weeds of many kinds,
and a detraction to the farms to which they belong, may
thus be changed at small cost into land of the most productive kind.
The irrigation of an irregular surface, such as hill sides,
although it may need more careful preparation and adjustment of the levels, is no more difficult than that of a
perfect level. In fact, there are advantages in favor of
the irregular surface which offset the apparently easier
irrigation of a dead level. Drainage is an indispensable
adjunct of irrigation, and no land is so frequently drained
by iiature as a hill side, or what is known as rolling land.
Generally the simplest methods of surface drainage will
be sufficient for lands of considerable slope. The cost of
thorough underdraining is therefore saved in the case of
a meadow of this character. The water supply, and the
character of the canals suitable for irregular surfaces,
differ in no respect from those already described.  It is
in the method of distributing the water, and laying out
the furrows, that especial    direc tions are needed.
There are several methods of irrigating lands of this
character, which are applicable to our circumstances.
Level furrows may be used by which the water is carried
in winding directions around the elevations and depressions of the surface, from feeders which are taken from
the main supply canal whenever it may be most con
140 
LAYING OUT FURROWS.
venient. To trace the course of these distributing furrows is very easy, if the common level, already described,
is used. The course, as thus laid out, will form a succession of angles, the apex of each of which will be
marked by a small peg driven in the ground. To pre
Fig. 68.-LAYING OUT FURROWS.
vent abrasion of the furrows at these angles, gentle curves
are to be made from point to point. These curves will
conform exactly to the level of the furrow. Fig. 68 illustrates the method of laying out these curves. If the
slope is not so great as to permit washing out of the soil,
the feeding canals may be carried straight down it. If
the slope is too great for this to be done safely, the feeders will meander in the same manner as the furrows, or
Fig. 69.-PFURROWS ON A REGULAR SLOPE.
they may be made to follow a diagonal direction across
the slope, so as to bring the fall within proper bounds.
The meadow will then appear as in fig. 69, in which a, b,
are the canals or feeders, and the lateral lines the furrows.
But the least troublesome and cheapest'method is by inclined furrows carried in the straight lines across the
planes of level, and supplied by feeeders carried either di
141
at
-/
-~~~~~~~1 -11
II 
IRRIGATION.
rectly or diagonally down the slope. The furrows branch
both to the right and left from the feeders, and have but
very little inclination from the level. They are made to
diminish in size from the feeder until each disappears in a
point at the extremity. Each feeder with its two lateral
ranges of furrows thus appears upon the surface in shape
like the backbone of a fish, or what is especially known
as "herringbone shape." Fig. 70 exhibits a plan of a
meadow thus laid out. The slope of the field is from
top to bottom. The water is received by a main canal,
6~~~~~~~~~
Fig. 70.-FRows AND DRAINS FOR IRREGRULA  SLOPES.
ard is diverted into subsidiary canals, A, B, and from
them into the feeders, a, a, a, and the furrows which
branch from them upon each side. The drains are seen
at b, b, b. The course of the water is shown by the arrows. The distance between the feeders should be from
100 to 150 feet, which will make the furrows from 50 to
75 feet long, and the latter should be from 15 to 20 feet
apart. These distances will be regulated by the character
of the soil as to its porosity or retentiveness. The lower
142
f.
I
t
I 
STEEP HILLSIDES.
extremity of each feeder is closed by a sod or a small
gate, and the flow may be regulated or diverted when de sirable by the same means at any part of the channel.
The drains are placed midway between each feeder, and
receive the surplus water, carrying it off at the foot of
the meadow. When the water is in flow, notice is to be
taken of any portion of the meadow which does not receive a supply, and a special furrow is to be made to
remedy the defect.
Drains are not always necessary upon these meadows.
If the soil is clay and retentive of moisture, and the slope
is slight, they will be indispensable. Where the soil is open
and porous, and naturally drained by the subsoil, they
may be dispensed with. But attention must be given to
so feed the water that it is all used, and not allowed to
drown the lower portions of the field. One drain at the
foot of the meadow is to be provided in all cases.
Another method of irrigation is adapted to very steep
hillsides. This is known as the catch-water system. Hillsides so steep that wagons cannot be taken upon them,
may be watered by this system. A stream or canal flowing upon the crest of the hill is dammed, or closed temporarily, by means of a gate. The water then flows over
the bank, in a sheet more or less perfect, as the bank has
been leveled accurately or otherwise. At some distance
down the slope, the water that is not absorbed by the
soil is caught in a second canal or ditch, which, when
full, overflows and spreads the water upon the section below it. The surplus is caught by a lower canal, and
spread as before. This is repeated, until either the water
is exhausted or the bottom is reached. If the supply is
such that economy is to be exercised, the water may be
carried into one of the lower canals by an underground
spout of wood, and the meadow be watered in successive
portions. The section of a field thus watered is shown
in fig. 71. a, is the stream, and b, b, the canals, from
143
I 
IRRIGATION.
which the water flows over the intermediate slopes. The
canals in this system follow a perfectly level course, and
much care is to be exercised to follow the sinuous course of
this level across the meadow. A very safe method is to
make the lower side of the canal of plank or slips of
board, over the edge of which the water will flow without
injury to the canal. The cost of this system of irriga
Fig.71.-CATCI-WATER FURROWS.
tion is frequently not more than  $10 per acre.  The
canals need to be but very small; a furrow that will arrest the flow of water is all that is required, its main
office being to restrain the velocity of the water, and to
collect it from the numerous streamlets into which it soon
gathers, and again spread it in a thin sheet over the
whole surface.
Where the surface admits of it, a series of slopes and
terraces may be made, which can be irrigated upon this
system. See fig. 72. In this case, the slopes may be
covered with grass, and the intervals cultivated if desired.
I
Fig. 72.-SLOPES AND TERRACES.
The water which flows down the slope is caught in the
furrow at the foot, and then passes over the terrace on to
the next slope.  The furrow at the edge of the terrace is
needed to retain the water sufficiently to thoroughly irrigate the soil of the terrace, which would possibly otherwise receive less than its share. In this system of irrigation, when the soil is open and porous and the supply of
water limited, it will be necessary to puddle the bottom
144
(L~
6.
I 
DRAINAGE.
of the canals to prevent loss of water. It may be that
the cheapest plan would be to make the bottom and lower
side of the canal of boards. In this case, a board of 14
inches in with would form the bottom of the canal, and
one of 8 inches the lower side. A canal of this capacity
would convey water enough for several acres, and would
not be more costly than to puddle or cement the bottom,
when clay is not readily at hand.
CHAP T ER XIV.
DRAINAGE  OF IRRIGATED FIELDS.
The absolute necessity of water to vegetable growth
must not be accepted in an unqualified sense. Water is
a good and necessary thing, but there may be too much
of it, and too much is as fatal to the profitable culture of
land as too little. As the circulation of air brings life
and vigor to the lungs of an animal, so the circulation of
water brings vitality to the roots of a plant. Stagnant
water is as fatal to plant growth as stagnant air is to the
health and well-being of animals. Therefore irrigation
cannot be successfully used without adequate drainage.
Sometimes this is naturally provided. Light soils, with
gravelly subsoils, may permit the passage of water through
them with facility, acting as filters to retain all its fertilizing qualities.  Such lands are the most readily adapted to irrigation, and any artificial provision for carrying
off the water from them is unnecessary. But there are
many lands with retentive surface or subsoil, and others
with subsoil practically impermeable  to water, that if
brought under irrigation must be thoroughly drained, or
they will be injured instead of improved, and the charac       7
145 
IRRIGATIOn.
ter of the vegetation they bear be totally changed. An
undrained meadow may be thus, by irrigation, changed
into a marsh, and good, though scanty grass be replaced
by useless marsh sedges and rushes. Sloping lands may
need drainage as much as level lands. Hillsides that have
been brought under irrigation, have sometimes discharged
their surplus waters at a lower level, where they have
gathered and changed a portion of the surface into a
quagmire, until drains have been constructed to remedy
the evil.
Again, there are cases in which, by a judicious system
of drains, a swamp may be reclaimed, and the water,
which had been previously a hindrance to cultivation,
may be gathered into ditches and used to irrigate a
meadow, and yield bounteous crops. Such a case, which
actually occurred, may be profitably described. It was a
:ill-side of fertile clay soil, resting upon a clay slate,
from which the soil of a level flat at its foot had been
originally derived. Abundant springs broke out upon the
hill-side, and after forming marshy spots around them,they
disappeared until they again broke out at the foot of the
hill, where they gathered and formed a dangerous and impassable swamp.  Here were 30 acres of land rendered
worthless, and a dangerous trap for any stock that might
be tempted to trespass upon its treacherous surface. Hundreds of similar tracts exist where there are -hills and
valleys.
The reclamation of this tract was a very simple matter. Its outlines are shown at figure 73. A drain was
cut near the foot of the hill. See a. It was necessary
to take this drain to a depth of seven feet before the
heaviest springs were cut. At this depth, a flow of water
was reached which nearly filled the ditch, and furnished
a large stream. The drain was placed, with a view to irrigation of the meadow, a few feet above the level of the
flat. It then formed a supply canal from which the flat
146
II
I.
I.1
I 
IUSE OF DRAINAGE WATER.
could be irrigated by means of shallow ditches which led
to lateral furrows diverging on each side of the ditches.
The surplus water escaped from the foot of the meadow
over the bank into a stream, b.  The plan of the meadow
Fig. 73.-SECTION OF A D)RAINED HILL AND IRRIOATED FLAT.
is shown at fig. 74. A being the hill; a, a, the drain,
from which the ditches and furrows are led down to the
stream, b, b, at the foot. By closing the shallow ditches the
water could be backed up over the meadow or thrown into lateral ditches.   None  of these ditches were deep
enough to obstruct a mowing machine. It only required
)
z('U        cc
1I;     a1.  i  vI
e - 0 ---,,
7lg. 74.-PLAN OF THE DRAIN AF!rQWS,
the labor of two men fQr three months, and the lapse of
two yesrs' time to ponvert this 30 Pcres into a dry, arable
helm     l 1. ha  iUnd a. meadow of 18 acres, which was
covered with grass and clover where, in former yea
-- mired and smothered in mu,.
1
I
.!I
147
ti~
b
11'X \I,0l'l
cc
I
? 
IRRIGATION.
It is not the purpose here to treat of drainage with
reference to itself alone, but only so far as it maybe used
in connection with, or as an adjunct to, irrigation.
Drainage may be superficial or subterranean. Superficial,
or surface drainage, is the simplest. Nothing is needed
for its practice but to provide open channels into which
the surplus surface water may find its way. As a matter of
necessity, these to be perfect must be placed at the lowest
levels of the ground to be drained. Besides, they need
to be placed in such relation to the distributing furrows
of the irrigating system, as to catch the water as soon as
it has completely accomplished its purpose, and remove
it in the most effective manner. Sufficient description
of needed methods has already been given, to make clear
the means of doing this. For subterranean, or subsoil
drainage, much more elaborate and costly methods are
necessary. Not only must expensive ditches be made,
and earthen tiles be used, but the arrangement of the
drains, with reference to the irrigating ditches or furrows,
must be carefully made.
No drain should exist immediately beneath an irrigating ditch, canal or furrow, for the reason that excavated
earth cannot be so returned as to be as compact as it laid
before. If then a water channel passes across, or along
a line of earth, that has been disturbed, a rapid infiltration occurs, the water makes itself a channel, which is
rapidly enlarged; sand or earth is carried into the drains,
and the water not only escapes without doing its work,
but chokes the drains in a short time.  Thus  no drain
should be made nearer to an irrigating furrow, or canal,
than six feet, and no irrigating furrow should terminate
at a less distance from the line of a drain, than six feet.
The usual arrangement of drains and furrows is shown at
figure 75.  Here A, A, is the main canal;  A, B, A, C,
the feeders, with the lateral distributing canals or furrows; a, the main drain, which discharges into the
148
I
II
4
I
.i 
FLUISHIIG DRAINS.
outlet, and c, c, are the small collecting drains.   The
small drains follow the direction of the greatest slope of
the ground.
The system of drains to be adopted will, in all cases,
conform to that of the system of canals and furrows. When
in perfection the drainage system will be an exact counterpart of that of the irrigation, and so devised as to carry
off the water after its service has been performed, and to
A                             l 
c
c
Fig. 75.-MA  ER OF SUB-DRAINING AN IRRIGATED MEADOW.
cause it to circulate completely through every portion of
the soil occupied by the roots of the grass, after it has
been spread completely over the surface. The construction of the drains is in no wise different from that of
ordinary tile drains, and therefore needs no description
here.
It is sometimes found of great service, consequent
upon the frequency with which sand or earthy sediment
is carried into the drains, to provide a method of flooding
and flushing them. This is called intermittent drainage.
It is applied also very advantageously to fields that are
subjected to intermittent irrigation, or irrigation by suc
I
.I
i
149
0
d
0
1
CL
a 
IRRIGATION.
cessive portions. It consists in supplying an earthen or
wooden pipe, which is set perpendicularly in the ground
in the line of the main drain, so that the main drain
pipe enters it upon one side, and leaves it upon the other.
This pipe thus cuts the main drain at such intervals as
may be desirable. It is covered by a cap, and is reached
through a covered trap or box, placed on a level with the
surface of the ground. This is seen at fig. 76. The
proper situations for these
pipes are just below the junc                           tion of a series of lateral drains,
"~a            as at d, d, in fig. 75.  These
pipes offer facilities for closing
the drain by means of simple
Ei~ g  acontrivances.   The most ef                           fective of these is a plug or
cushion of wood, which fits
... in  the drain  leading  from
...... the pipe or well.  This plug
is fastened  horizontally  to
Fig. 76.-PLUG ]!OR CLOSING   the lower portion of the T          DRAIN.           shaped arm.   One of the upper cross parts of the T is fixed into a hole or groove in
the pipe or well, and a wire is fastened to the other cross
part. When the wire is pulled, it moves the lower portion of the T laterally, and draws the plug from the
opening of the drain pipe. When the wire is released,
the weight of the arm of the T carries the plug to its
place again, or the force of the water flowing through
the drain carries it and holds it there. This is shown in
fig. 76, in which A, B, is the drain pipe; a, the box or
trap by which the wire is reached; b, the plug with its
movable arm, from which a copper wire is carried to the
upper box, where it is secured by a ring upon a hook.
The operation of the contrivance is as follows: When
the drain is closed and the flow is stopped, all the drains
150
i
i
i
~
Ii 
METHODS OF FLUSHING.
above the obstacle are charged with water. Water also
accumulates in the subsoil and soil, and in fact the
whole portion of the field under the influence of the
drains, becomes filled with water as completely as may be
desired. At any time when the drain may be opened,
there is a rush of water through the drains, by which
any sediment is effectively carried
away, and the drains left free and
clear.   The operation may be repeated upon each division of the
field consecutively from the foot upwards.  Instead of the plug above described, an iron rod, having a curved
sheet of zinc, or tinned or galvanized iron, attached to the end, see
fig. 77, may be used. The curved
sheet reaches quite round the well,
and when drawn up opens the drain,
but when pushed  to the bottom,   Fig 77-A CURVED
DRAIN-STOPPER.
closes it. If the well is square, a slide    DR-TOPPE
made to move in grooves may be used to close the drain.
The simpler the method, the less risk there is in its use;
but the need of permanence of structure is obvious, for
if it gets out of order, nothing remains but to take up
the well and replace it.
Whatever system of drainage is adopted, is immaterial,
if the main points here touched upon are provided for.
It must not be forgotten, however, that drainage is indispensable, and that except under rare circumstances,
thorough subsoil drainage only will be sufficient to meet
all the requirements of the case; and that surface drainage may be an unsatisfactory makeshift for the more perfect method. The size of tile used, is one inch for the
small drain, two inches for the laterals, and three or four
inches, or even larger than that, for the main drains.
The size of the main drains should bear a proper propor
151
i
i 
IRRIGATION.
tion to the quantity of water admitted to the field, and
it may be that the discharge drain, into which the main
drains enter, may need to be six or eight inches in diameter. This question, as to the size of tile, will need
careful consideration, because if the size is insufficient,
the flow will be retarded, with the inevitable result of
sediment and choked drains. As a general rule, the main
pipes for irrigated meadows should be twice as large as
those used for ordinary drains, as the excess of surplus
water at times may be very large. Any system of pipes,
that is not equal to the most exacting emergency, will be
insufficient, and calculations must be made to meet such
an emergency. Before any large expenditure of money
or labor is made in laying down drains, which once laid,
admit of no remedy except total undoing of the work
and relaying the pipes, it would be judicious to consult a
capable civil engineer, who could readily make safe calculations as to the size of pipe, the position of the drains,
and the number required.
CaHAPTER XV
MANAGEMENT OF IRRIGATED FIELDS.
When a field has been successfully irrigated and drained
at great expense, it may be seriously injured for want of
proper management. To care properly for an irrigated
meadow calls for the exercise of tact and skill of no mean
character. A few general rules may be laid down for the
proper management of irrigated meadows, which will
serve to meet the majority of cases, and by modifications
of which exceptional cases may be met. The point of
chief importance is to avoid pasturing. No hoof should
be permitted upon a completely irrigated meadow, unless
it be, under certain restrictions, those of sheep. Sheep
152
i
t
II 
PASTURING.
may be allowed to pasture such a meadow after the last
crop of hay has been made, and a sufficient interval has
elapsed to thoroughly dry the ground and give the grass
a start again. There is no better or cheaper way to fertilize a meadow than this. But if heavy rains occur, the
flock should be removed at once, and not admitted until
the ground is dry again. Where a tough, thick sod
covers the ground, greater latitude may be permitted.
There are irrigated meadows in parts of England which
possess a sod so dense, and such a heavy growth of grass,
that one acre inclosed with hurdles is the regular daily
r...
_          X            ~/                    ~'J
//                                 \\
C. //
Cow            *;<sj~.
Fig. 78.-FORM OF HOTDLE..
allowance of pasture for 1,000 sheep. This is equal to
431, square feet for each sheep, or a space of 4 by 11 feet
only. The droppings of such a flock, so fed, will be a rich
and most evenly distributed manuring, and when, as in
the cases referred to, the sheep are fed with oil-cake or
grain in addition to the pasture, a great increase of fertility results. But it is questionable if we shall ever see
such a meadow under our more ardent skies, unless it
be by means of irrigation and fertilizing, such as are
there in use.
The use of hurdles, for pasturing sheep upon irrigated
meadows, is an absolute necessity. Unless confined in
this way, sheep will wander over every portion of a field
in one day, and picking out some favored spot will remain
there, leaving others.  The flock should then be confined,
in such a space as they may pasture down evenly, and
r
r -
r.
c I
c.
i
I
153 
IRRIGATION.
moved daily to a fresh portion. There are various kinds
of hurdles used for this purpose. A light hurdle may be
made of split poles or laths, three inches in diameter for
the uprights, and an inch and a half in diameter for the
bars. The upright ends project below for a foot, and are
pointed. By driving the pointed ends into the ground
with a wooden mallet, the hurdles are kept in place, and
~
Fig.?9.-LOOSE =DIX.
standing end to end, form a light portable fence, which
can be quickly taken down and set up again. This is
seen at fig. 78. Another easily made and portable hurdle consists of a pole or scantling, 10 feet long, bored
with holes, alternately in opposite directions, and 12
inches apart.  Stakes five feet long are put through these
holes, making a hurdle with a cross-section like the let
154
I 
CARE OF PASTURED FIELDS.
ter X. See fig. 79. These hurdles are merely placed
upon the ground, resting upon the ends of the stakes,
and may be rolled over and over from place to place. Set
end to end, they form a fence that is not only impenetrable, but is uninviting in appearance to a sheep given
to transgress beyond its legitimate bounds. An arrangement is common among shepherds in England by which
hurdles are used with great econo-a
my in material and labor of re-        3
moval.  A plot of about a square f                      1 
acreis supposed to be inclosed.        4          2
h
Thli may be done by four lines of -         b      ----
hurdles, of 200 feet each.  Half              
an acre maybe fed by placing the  8
fourth line across from the middle      i:
of the second anl third lines of Fig. 80.-PLAxN O  SETTNTO
hurdles, thus dividing the plot.          HURDLES.
The second half acre is fed by moving the fourth line to
the ends of the second and third. Adjoining plots are
fed in the same manner by moving three lines of hurdles,
leaving one to be one of the sides of the new plot. This
plan is followed until the whole field has been gone over.
Fig. 80 exhibits a diagram which shows each plot numbered successively as fed,
After a field is pastured, it should be rolled with a
smooth, heavy roller. Frequent rolling is very beneficial
to an irrigated meadow, smoothing and compacting the
surface; but it should be done only when the ground is
dry, and in a line with the feeding canals.  The roller
may be taken across the distributing furrows, when they
are properly made, but in no other direction than directly
across them.  Wagons should be used very carefully upon
meadows, and should never be heavily loaded, lest ruts
may be cut to the injury of the surface.  Wooden  shod
sleds are preferable to wagons. In case a temporary bridge
across a canal or feeder is needed, it may be made by
155 
IRRIGATION.
placing a few stout poles from each bank to the bottom
of the canal upon the opposite sides, crossing them and
placing upon them in a line with the canal a few rails or
poles to make a level passage. This leaves a passage for
the water in the canal, and by laying two or three poles
or rails on the ground at each side of the canal, the edges
will be preserved from injury.
Generally, the season of irrigation in our Northern
States will be from April to October. As the climate becomes warmer, and as the Southern States are approached, the season will be lengthened at each end, commencing earlier in the Spring and closing later in Autumn.
In some localities the season will continue through the
Winter. But when the water is warmer than the soil,
danger of unseasonably exciting vegetation is to be apprehended where severe late frosts occasionally occur, and
must be carefully guarded against, either by suspending
the irrigation, or by refraining from drawing off the water
from meadows that are entirely submerged, leaving the
covering of water as a temporary protection until the danger has passed. The best times for flowing meadows are
at night, or on cloudy, calm days when there is little
wind, or when it is raining; windy, clear days or times
when the sun is bright, should be avoided. The reason
for this is, that the rapid evaporation which would occur
on bright sunny or windy days would greatly depress the
temperature of the wet soil and retard the growth of the
grass. A calm evening is the most favorable time for any
irrigation, and nocturnal watering tends to restrain the
radiation of heat from the surface, which is active upon
calm, clear nights. Intelligent judgment is to be exercised in this regard. When water is applied to a meadow,
it is better to give it abundantly rather than sparingly.
Generally the temperature of the water is, or should be,
higher than that of the subsoil in which the -roots exist.
A copious irrigation will be sufficient  to overcome this
156
I
e
I
I
i
I
f
I
I
I
II 
PREVENTION OF DRAINAGEo.
lower temperature, and raise it sensibly, with beneficial
effect. A more moderate irrigation would, on the contrary, be in danger of producing a contrary effect, because it would be insufficient to overcome the loss consequent upon the increased evaporation.
The nature of the soil needs to be studied in regard to
the quantity of water that should be applied, and the
periods of its application. A porous soil should be copiously irrigated for short periods and at short intervals.
The object is to supply nutriment to the grass, not to
cause an excessive filtration through the subsoil, which
might carry away valuable fertilizing matter. On a retentive soil the irrigation should be less copious, lest surface exhaustion should occur by washing away valuable
soluble matters, and it may be continued for longer periods with longer intervals between them. The usual periods of irrigation are, for 24 to 72 hours, at intervals of
four to twelve days. The condition of the soil is the only
guide for these.
It is necessary that the irrigator exercise great watchfulness over his field and become acquainted with all its
special characteristics, that he may direct the water in
this place or that; that he may withdraw here or there;
that he may regulate the supply of water according to
the condition of the vegetation, or the state of the
weather, which may change from day to day. Where irrigation is extensively practiced, a person whose sole
attention is directed to the application of the water, ought
to be employed. One capable man could attend to several hundred acres, and might earn his season's wages by
preventing in time one single mishap, which would probably be overlooked by a person who had the care of many
other details upon his mind.  Besides, there are frequent
occasions, where water is purchased by the inch, in which
attention during the night is necessary to prevent waste.
This special care is indispensable in the irrigation of field
157 
IRRIGATION.
crops, but although not vital to success in case of
meadows, is nevertheless of advantage and importance.
Every Autumn the drains, canals, feeders, and furrows
should be repaired, sodded, or put in perfect order. The
soil is in an unfit condition to be disturbed so early in
Spring as might be necessary, and heavy Winter rains
might easily devastate a system of imperfect or damaged
canals or ditches. Where trees are growing in the
meadows, the dead leaves should be carefully raked up
and removed, lest the drains be choked with them.
Coarse manure should never be spread upon a water
meadow. If fertilizers are needed, wood ashes, guano,
superphosphate of lime, and plaster only should be applied. In the Spring of the year, after the early floods
have passed away, an occasional dressing of one or more
of these may be given when thought necessary. If coarse
manure must be used upon such a meadow, in the absence
of all other fertilizers, it should be spread in the Fall and
raked up carefully in the Spring with the horse-rake,
leaving no litter upon the field.
Rolling the surface in the Spring, after the ground has
become dry, will be imperative. Any inequalities of the
surface not thus removed, should be remedied with the
shovel, first removing the sod and then replacing it and
beating it down firmly. A lawn mower would serve excellently to remove the grass from the distributing furrows, passing up on one side and down on the other.
This should be done as frequently as may be needed to
keep the current free from obstruction. Otherwise this
work should be done with the scythe, but the small cost
of a lawn-mower will be amply returned in one season
by the saving of time in attending to one acre of meadow.
Irrigation should be suspended at least eight days before
the crop is mown. The length of this interval will depend somewhat upon circumstances, which may hasten
or retard the drying of the ground. If mown by hand,
158
i
II
I
I
I
I
.i
I
i
I
I
i
i 
SEEDING.
the field need not be so dry as if mown by horse and ma chine. If the weather is very dry, an irrigation of an
hour or two during the previous evening will moisten the
grass and greatly facilitate the cutting. Valuable herb age may be encouraged and useless weeds repressed, to a
great extent, by the use of superphosphate of lime as an
occasional dressing. Excessive watering encourages coarse
grasses and sedges, and the growth of these injurious
weeds must be carefully guarded against, by care in applying the water and by drainage. The early maturity of
the grass necessitates early cutting. The proper time for
cutting is before the seed is ripe, and immediately after
the blossoming is past. Some of the grasses thrive best
when cut before blossoming, and recover the check without loss of time. For a perennial meadow, this is a matter for observation and experience, and is important to
study. Re-seeding in part will be occasionally needed.
No grass endures indefinitely, and as the herbage dies out,
it must be reinforced by new seed. This is to be done by
spreading from time to time, when found necessary, a
sufficient quantity of that kind of seed which is found to
grow most thriftily in the locality, and upon each particular soil. These conditions are so diverse that it would
be useless to give even general directions, or attempt to
meet them. Each owner of a meadow must in this be a
law unto and a judge for himself.
Some species of grass will bear much more cutting
than others. One of the best of our common grasses for
irrigated meadows is Kentucky Blue-grass. This has been
found to submit to frequent watering, and has made a
profuse growth, more especially late in the season. A
watered meadow, covered almost wholly with this grass,
has been in fine condition for cutting in September, and
has yielded a good crop of hay as late as the first week in
October. After that date the field furnished abundant
pasturage until the severe frosts made the herbage un
159 
IRRIGATION.
wholesome. This instance occurred in Eastern Pennsylvania.  Where meadows are only partially irrigated; they
may be pastured freely, so long as the soil is dry and is
not "poached" or cut up by the hoofs of cattle or horses.
Such meadows should be laid out with broad, shallow
water-futrrows, so that there will be no danger of the
edges being broken down by the trampling of the stock.
The late pasturing of meadows by sheep should never be
permitted, unless the growth is thick and heavy, as these
animals nip the grass very closely and would expose the
roots to the frost, endangering the unequal heaving of
the surface during the Winter. But as cattle are accustomed to bite here and there, and leave scattered bunches
of the rejected herbage, it should be made a business, not
to be neglected, to go over these with a mower and level
them before the season is closed. The droppings of the
cattle should be broken up finely and scattered over the
surface before they become frozen. Early in Spring, before any water is given, the meadows should be put into
the best condition, the surface cleared of rubbish, and
rolled, the ditches and furrows examined and repaired,
and the drains cleared if this is needed. It is at this
time that any seed or fertilizers that may be thought
necessary, should be given. Lastly, the fences should be
made perfectly safe. The trespassing of heavy stock upon
a newly watered meadow might do very serious and very
extensive injury.
When the grass is nearly ready for cutting, no water
should be given. In general, the watering should be so
timed, that the growth of grass is pushed forward as
quickly as possible in its earlier stages, and when the
herbage is short. When the ground is well covered and
shaded, a good soaking will supply the soil with sufficient
moisture to mature the crop of grass. Then ten days or
two weeks may elapse between the last watering and the
cutting. As soon as the hay is made and removed, water
160
k
I
II
I
I
k -
I
i 
FERTILIZING.
should be given immediately, but never in the day-time,
unless the weather is cloudy, or it is raining. In the
evening, after sundown, the water may be given, and soon
after sunrise it should be turned off, unless it is in very
moderate quantity.
When a water meadow is flooded, it is necessary to
watch the water, and the moment a white scum is observed to float upon the surface, the water should be
drawn off. Meadows that are flooded by streams, should
not be watered in time of freshets, if there is any sediment in the water, unless very early in the Spring, or
immediately after hay has been made. If the grass is of
any considerable length, the suspended matter will be retained amongst it and make it gritty or sandy, and seriously interfere with the cutting. The flooding of a water
meadow is preferably done during the Winter, when the
solid matter, deposited by the water, is of the greatest
value as a fertilizer; the Summer-watering is to supply
the needed moisture only, and not to fertilize the crop in
the sense of adding manurial matter. Summer irrigation
is therefore only moderate in quantity, and an excess of
water will be injurious at this season.
The most suitable fertilizers for irrigated meadows are
nitrate of soda and Peruvian guano, used alternately, and
not mixed together. Where the growth of grass is forced
so much as under irrigation, active and soluble fertilizers
given in small quantities, and frequently, are required.
The proper periods for their application are early in
Spring, and immediately after the cutting of the grass;
80 pounds per acre, or half a pound to the square-rod of
either, will be a sufficient quantity to apply at once, and
the repetition of this top-dressing may be given only
when the condition of the grass seems to call for it.
Every fifth or sixth year a dressing of lime may be given
in Winter, and should be spread upon the snow if possible, (for the preservation of the surface) rather than in
161
k
I
II 
IRRIGATION.
any other manner. Where it is known that lime is effective upon the soil, it may be used in the same manner as
upon other lands; if used experimentally, 40 bushels per
acre may be taken as the normal quantity.  The needs of
the soil as to fertilizing may be calculated as proportionate to the drafts made upon it. Where hay is removed
and the meadow is not pastured, at least the amount of
fertilizing matter mentioned above will be required, or
even more, if the grass crops are heavy and of good quality. If sheep are pastured upon a meadow in the daytime, and fed at night in yards, with bran, grain, or any
extra food, or if dairy cows are so pastured and fed, the
need for fertilizers will be small, or none may be required.
A reasonable consideration should be given to this point,
which will be an easy matter for the intelligent farmer.
In pasturing these meadows, it will be best to stock
them closely, and use only a portion at a time, that the
grass may be eaten off clean, and not trampled down. By
dividing the meadow into sections, it will be easy to arrange for pasturing one part, while the others are either
under water or in different stages of growth. As a general rule it is advisable not to pasture sheep freely upon
watered meadows, unless they are fed for the butcher.
When fed for fattening, they make very rapid growth;
the lush herbage causes an excessive secretion of bile,which at first assists greatly in the formation of a highcolored fat, but after this favorable stage is passed, the
blood may, and will probably, become affected and inflammatory disease appear; or the sheep will almost certainly
become infected with flukes, and the rot will inevitably
result.  Only experienced sheep owners should make use
of pastures irrigated by streams, and  they should be
watchful not to overpass the point of safe exposure to the
dangerous feeding. When the meadows are watered from
wells, through pipes, as described on page 55, this caution may not be applicable.
162
.i
f
I
i
I
I
I
f
I
t
i
I 
IRRIGATION- OF ARABLE LANDS.
aCHAPTER XVI.
IRRIGATION OF ARABLE LANDS.
Few of us ever consider that the larger portion of the
arable surface of the United States is doomed to comparative sterility, unless brought under systematic and
permanent irrigation. West'of the 100th meridian of
longitude, almost to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and
from our southern to our northern boundary, stretches a
vast tract of land, rich in every element of fertility but
moisture, and useless for the purposes of agriculture in
its present condition. But while the immense tract is
arid in its climate, and for all practical purposes it may
be said to be absolutely rainless, yet there flows, across or
beneath its surface, the water-shed of a vast and intricate
range of mountains, snow-clad during a part or the whole
of the year, and which divides it into two portions.  It
needs but to capture this water, and spread it over the
surface, to insure abundant and certain harvests. It may
surprise a farmer, used to depend upon the changeful
seasons of the Eastern part of the country, to learn that
upon these arid lands there may be grown luxurious crops
of grass, grain or roots, with the greatest certainty; that
in this climate, the farmer who has brought the waters
beneath his yoke, has secured literally and naturally the
fulfillment of the promise, that seed-time and harvest
should never more fail, while he himself enjoys it only
in part and accidentally, and occasionally fails completely
to realize it. But this is the fact, for drouth and aridity
are entirely subjugated by means of irrigation, and are,
strangely enough, only sources of anxiety and loss in those
districts were rain falls, and the farmer is subject to conditions of climate which he can neither foresee nor control. Seed-time and harvest are only sure where irrigaticn is systematically used by the cultivator.
163 
IRRIGATION.
But the irrigation of lands of the character under consideration, can only be profitably undertaken by the combined effort of a community. The necessary engineering
works, such as dams, canals, sluices, water-ways, and
aqueducts, can only be constructed by means of ample
capital, and for the use of numerous farmers, cultivating
in the aggregate many thousands of acres.  In such cases,
the total cost divided among the farms to be irrigated,
would leave for each one a sum far less than that needed
to clear a farm of equal size from the forest. The actual
cost of irrigating works of a permanent character, has
been found to range from so small a sum as $1 per acre,
upward. That is, a community of farmers, numbering
some hundreds, may construct the necessary dams, canals,
sluices and feed-gates to irrigate 10,000 to 50,000 acres of
land, at a total cost not to exceed $5 per acre, where the
conditions of water supply, character of soil, and surface
of the land are favorable. To clear an acre of average
timber land, will cost $12 to $25 per acre, and the money
value of the damage incurred annually, by reason of the
stumps and roots which interfere with cultivation, until
they have rotted away or have been removed with infinite
labor, may easily amount to $20 per acre more. To irrigate a farm permanently, may then cost but one-eighth
of the sum necessary to clear it of timber. This estimate
will allow of substantially constructed works, which will
require but little repair, or renewal, to keep them in permanently good condition. Large tracts of land have been
supplied with water for irrigation, at a much less cost
than this, in some cases even so low as 25 to 50 cents per
acre; but this cost covers only the construction of the
main supply ditch, and not the interior ditches, which, to
be permanent, should be well laid out, and properly constructed.  It has been sufficiently well shown, however,
that a supply of water for irrigation can be brought to
and spread over a farm upon our dry plains, at a total ex
164
I
I
i
iI
f
I
I
i 
CHEAPNESS OF IRRIGATION.
penditure of capital per acre not any greater than the
annual rent paid per acre for irrigating water in European
countries. It is true that we have cheap land upon which
to construct the ditches, and that so far, for want of preoccupation of the land, the course of the canal has been
made to follow the meanderings of the line of grade
chosen, and to save the cost of expensive aqueducts across
valleys and depressions, and that economy in the use of
the water has not been an object of serious consideration;
but it may be some years or even centuries before the cost
of irrigation with us can reach $5 to $10 per acre yearly,
which is the cost of water supplied by canals of Europe.
This cheapness of irrigation must undoubtedly give a
great impetus to the settlement of lands upon the plains
and great valleys, so soon as those who are now occasionally brought to the verge of ruin, by the failure of their
crops, can be brought to understand its cheapness, its ease
of application, and the certainty of crops secured by its
means. The numerous settlements that have been made
in California, Colorado, Utah, and other localities, and the
success which has attended these pioneer efforts, in spite
of all the drawbacks incident to a want of knowledge of
the peculiarities of the climate and the soil, and inexperience in the art of irrigation, will tend greatly to
attract men toward new enterprises in this direction.
The evident advantages of a system of agriculture, in
which water can be supplied to the fields at will, and dependence upon a fickle and uncertain or arid climate is
avoided, will have numerous attractions to men who have
seen the fruits of their labor perish, year after year, either
by drouth or excess of rain; and as soon as trustworthy
and exact information can be procured, thousands of settlers will avail themselves of the benefits offered to them
by a cheap, fertile soil,'clear skies, genial climate, and
water constantly at hand, and under the most perfect
control.
165
I 
IRRIGATION.
Irrigation of land is an art that has existed for many
centuries previous to any authentic written history. The
traditions of the Chinese people are very ancient, and irrigation is mentioned in their most ancient traditional
history, as being extensively practiced. In Egypt, Syria,
and the ancient kingdoms of Eastern Asia, agriculture
depended almost wholly upon irrigation, and still so depends in these lands where the people have survived the
political changes of thousands of years. Virgil in his
rural poems thus describes exactly the processes which are
followed now.  "He leads the stream and flowing rivulets, to the growing corn, and when the burnt field dries
up, the herbs dying, he leads the water and cools the
parched fields with rills."   The irrigation of gardens,
vineyards, and fields, is frequently referred to in the
Scriptures, one of the earliest books speaks of it and one
of the prophets refers to "furrows of the plantation."
And so agriculture has continued to the present day, the
necessities of the majority of the cultivators of the soil
in the Eastern hemisphere, and the natural opportunities
possessed by them, combining to render the system vital
to their existense. When the Spaniards occupied the new
found continent, they introduced their system of irrigation wherever the dryness of the climate demanded it.
In Chili, Peru, Central America, and Mexico, the canals
and ditches made by the early Spanish settloel rFrain,
and many are still in use; tho systems adopted in California, Texas, New  Mexieo, and Colorado, ar  mainly
oopied from the ancient models.  It is hardly necessary
bo say that these models are not of the best construqtion,
nor at all satisfactory to the engineer of the prewen  daa
but they are of cheap and easy oongtrqction.
The settlemoent of the drier regions of our territory,
Iddd  another instance to those of past history, Ot tho
reclamation of deserts by irightio0,e  It will be of in.
terest to glance over what has already been in —-'
-  " I this
166
I
II 
WHAT HAS BEEN DONE IN COLORADO.
way, before considering the possibilities of the future. The
actual history of irrigation in the United States begins with
the occupation of Utah by the Mormons in 1846. At that
time the territory was a waste of barren land and sage brush.
In 1868, twenty two years after the first settlement of Salt
Lake valley, 93,799 acres of land were under irrigation
at an expense of nearly $250,000, and works were in
course of construction which, when completed, would
greatly enlarge the area of land under cultivation. With
the exception of the continuance of some of the irrigation
works constructed by the Spaniards in Texas, New
Mexico, and California, a hundred and fifty years ago,
and which have been in use up to the time when the territory came into the possession of the United States, but
little was done in the way of irrigation, until the occupation of Colorado and the adjacent territories, when these
were rendered accessible by the opening of the Pacific
railroads. In the course of a few years a great impetus
was given to the settlement of lands adjacent to the
rivers, and which could be brought under irrigation, and
several extensive works were constructed. Amongst these
may be mentioned the Platte River canal, 24 miles long,
irrigating 50,000 acres of land, and supplying the city of
Denver. Originally, the canal was 10 feet wide and 2
feet deep at the head, but has been enlarged to 18 feet in
width and 3 feet in depth. The fall is irregular, varying
from 6 feet to 18 inches per mile. The cost was $100,000;
a very excessive amount, but probably unavoidably so on
account of its unscientific and wasteful mode of construction.
The Table Mountain Ditch Company Canal, near Golden City, is nearly 20 miles long; 12 to 15 feet wide at
the surface, and 6 feet at the bottom, and 2 feet deep.
The fall is 19 feet to the mile, in portions, and in consequence of this excessive slope the ditch is destroying
itself very rapidly.  A branch is 2,11 miles long,  The
167 
IRRIGATION.
cost was, (in 1865), about $15,000. From its faulty contruction, it was dear, and will be costly to maintain.
The charge for water is $1.50 per inch, per year; equal
to about $1 per acre, yearly.
The Farmers' Ditch, also near Golden City, is 11 miles
long, 8 to 12 feet wide on the surface, and 6 feet at the
bottom, and 18 inches deep.  Its cost was $10,000; it
supplies nearly 40,000 acres, at a cost of about $1 per
acre, yearly.
At Greeley, on the Cache la Poudre, there are two irrigating canals, one on the south side of the Cache la
Poudre river, 10 miles long, which supplies the town and
adjacent farming land, it is 15 feet wide on the bottom
for 8 miles, has a fall of 3 feet to the mile, and the water
is usually run 3 feet deep in the irrigating season. This
canal has cost about $15,000. The main canal is 32 miles
long, and is taken out of the Cache la Poudre river, 15
miles west of Greeley, on the north side of the river.
It waters over 20,000 acres of land, of which 10,000 have
been brought under cultivation. It is 25 feet wide on
the bottom for 3 miles, the next 5 miles it is 24 feet
wide, 20 feet wide at the end of the 20th mile, and gradually decreases to 10 feet at the 30th mile. It is 4 feet
deep to the 20th mile; its fall is 3 feet to the mile,
velocity 3 miles per hour, or 4 and 40100 feet per second,
slope of banks 1 to 1; total cost, including dam in river,
$60,000. The sectional area of the portion that is 24
feet wide on the bottom is 112 feet, or 16,128 square inches,
and having a velocity of 3 miles per hour, and it being
generally considered that one inch of water is sufficient
for each acre under cultivation, this canal is large enough
to water 16,000 acres. Each owner of an 80 acre lot
under this canal has now paid $250 for his water right,
which belongs to the land as a perpetual easement, and
smaller and larger lots have paid in proportion. The
canal is kept in repair, and a man paid for superintending
168
I
f
I
-k
I
I
i
i
I
I 
SMALL EXTENT OF IRRIGABLE LAND.
it during the irrigating season, by a tax on each 80 acres
of $8 to $12 annually.  The superintendent measures the
water into each "lateral" ditch along the line of the
main canal, according to the number of water rights paid
for in any year, and the farmers divide it from the small
ditches themselves, according to what each is entitled
to.  Usuallythefarmers takingwaterfromone "lateral"
form a company and build their main and sub-laterals,
and deliver to each his just proportion of water. Some
of the laterals are 4 miles long and have cost over $1,000.
The whole system is working satisfactorily to all, and the
land is constantly appreciating in value, as the amount of
land that will eventually be brought under cultivation is
limited to the amount of water in the streams. Probably
not more than two million of the 67 million acres in this
State can possibly be farmed, as the combined sectional
area of all the streams at "high water" is not over
1,500,000 inches, with a velocity of 3 miles per hour, and
on an average it takes one inch of water running at that
rate for each acre under cultivation. For instance, a
farmer having 100 acres in cultivation, gets 100 inches of
water with this velocity, and he can get over, or water
his crop in about 10 or 12 days.  Usually wheat is watered here but two or three times, as there is rain or snow
enough in the Spring, (April or May), to bring it up so
that it will cover the ground. Corn, potatoes, and other
late crops are watered oftener, but require less per acre
than wheat. The above particulars are given by Mr. J.
D. Buckley, engineer of the Greeley Colony.
The Canal of The Saint Louis Western Colony, at Evans,
with its branches, is 40 miles long, 10 feet wide at the bottom, with slopes of 1'1, to 1, (or 18 inches horizontal to 12
feet perpendicular), with a water section of 53 square feet,
and a fall of 7 feet per mile. The cost of the whole system
is less than $25,000 for a total length of 40 miles, and
115,200 acres are covered by it.
8
169 
IRRIGATIONX.
A private ditch, belonging to Mr. G. H. Church, of
Boulder Co., is 10 miles long, 5 feet wide and 1 foot deep.
The fall is excessive, viz.: 13 feet to the mile.  It cost
$1,000. It is connected with a reservoir, as its supply is
not continuous, and a reserve is thus maintained. Forty
acres of land, with the farm stock are watered, and a fish
pond is supplied by it. The cost of watering is from 50
cents to $1 per acre, according to the character of the
season.
The Upper Platte and Bear Creek Ditch, is owned by
a company in Arapahoe Co. It is 5 miles long, 16 feet
wide, and 20 inches deep at the head, diminishing towards the foot. The cost of maintenance, which is assessed yearly upon the owners, averages $30 to $35 for
144 square inches of water, or a supply sufficient for 150
or 160 acres. Interest on the original cost must be added
to this annual charge, to reach the yearly cost of watering. No information as to the original cost has been
given.  There  are many  other irrigation works, constructed either by joint effort or by incorporated companies, who lease the water at a remunerative yearly rent.
These rents vary from $1.50 to $3.00 an acre per year for
each square inch, which is equal to $1 to $2 per acre of
land watered. The cost of the manipulation of the water, after it is received by the farmer, will obviously vary
with the character of the crops. On the average 50cents
per acre, annually, will cover all expenses of distribution.
As an instance of what has been and may be done in
localities where partial irrigation may be usefully applied,
a case which occurred in the Arkansas valley, in Central
Kansas, may be cited.  iHere is a broad, level, fertile
valley, some miles in width, with gently rising table lands
on either flank. Flowing through the center is the
Arkansas river, a broad, magnificent stream, which
neither floods nor dwindles in volume in the whole year.
For several hundred miles after it issues from the moun
170
I
iII
t
I
I
i
I
11
I 
CALIFORNIAN ENTERPRISE.
tains it flows through rich, level bottoms, in Colorado and
Western Kansas, most of which are too dry for cultivation without irrigation, and now afford only pasturage.
In Central Kansas it passes through a rich and beautiful
country, now well populated, on the verge of the dry
country, but within the arable region. At Hlutchinson,
in Reno Co., the enterprising inhabitants have cut a
canal from the river, for a length of two miles, for the
purpose of providing water power for factories, and mills.
The fall of the river is 8 feet per mile, which is sufficient
to carry the water in the course of a few miles on to the
high uplands, and to water these as well as the broad
valley. At present there is no intention of using the
water for irrigation, but should it become necessary or
desirable, it is here shown that an inexhaustible supply of
water can be obtained at nominal expense to supply every
need of the farmer in the dryest seasons. Also it is clear
that the whole of this grand valley may be made available
for farms. This is one instance only of what may, and
in time undoubtedly will, be done in many places where
there is only a partial and occasional use for water.
Irrigation in California has, so far, been done by individual enterprise.  In 1871, there were 915 irrigating
ditches, supplying only 90,000 acres of land, or on an
average, but 100 acres to each ditch. The ditches, with
few exceptions, are rude affairs, and of inconsiderable
length. The exceptions are as follows: The San Joaquin
and Kings River Canal Company, is 38'1, miles long, and
is supplied by the San Joaquin river. It is 55 feet wide,
four feet deep, with a fall of one foot to the mile. 15,000
acres are irrigated by this, and cultivated in wheat, barley and alfalfa, and water enough for 60,000 acres more
can be supplied. The extension of the canal 40 miles
further, is proposed, by which 325,000 (?) acres can be
irrigated. The cost so far is stated to be $500,000, (an
enormously excessive cost under any circumstances), and
171 
IRRIGATION.
the income, in 1873, for water rent, was less than $10,000.
It is evident that for some reason, probably inexperience,
and poor engineering, the cost of this canal has been
ruinously great. The Kings River Company Canal when
completed, is expected to water 300,000 acres (?). There
seems to be a serious error in the stated capacity of these
canals as will be explained in a future chapter. It is 30
feet wide, 3 feet deep, with a fall of one foot to the mile.
In the same valley the canal of Messrs. Chapman, Miller
and Lux, taps the San Joaquin river, and runs 30 miles
down the valley, supplying 30,000 acres. It is 35 feet
wide, 3 feet deep, and falls one foot to the mile. Another
canal, owned by Friedlander & Co., takes water from the
Fresno river, at the foot hills of the same valley, and
supplies 40,000 acres. This ditch is 10 mileslong, 40 feet
wide, and has a fall of about 10 inches to the mile. A
reservoir, connected with the canal is a mile and a half
long, 100 feet wide and 6 feet deep. Numerous farms,
gardens, and orchards are irrigated by the smaller ditches,
and some by wells. San Francisco is chiefly supplied
with vegetables from irrigated gardens, many of which
are cultivated by Chinese. A small-fruit plantation of 8
acres is watered by a 4'1 2 horse-power engine, from a well.
In all the instances referred to, irrigation is successful and
profitable. But in California, while irrigation is as yet
in embryo, its possibilities are immense. The interests
involved, however, are so vast and complicated, the mining interests clashing seriously with those of the farmers,
that legislation will undoubtedly need to be invoked before such measures, as will be satisfactory and effective,
can be applied to the gigantic natural facilities and opportunities afforded in the valleys of this State.
This naturally leads to the consideration of the ownership of the water, for from this question will probably
arise much difficulty and litigation. It is anew element,
depending at present upon the principles of common
172
i
f
I
I
I
I
t
I 
A CONGRESSIONAL COMMISSION.
law; no statutory provisions having as yet been made to
meet the necessarily involved interests which will be
affected by it. Perhaps the only decision which relates
to this is cited in the Massachusetts Agricultural Report
of 1872, as follows:
"It has sometimes been made a question whether a
riparian proprietor can direct water from a running stream
for purposes of irrigation.
"The language of the Court as best defining the principles governing this subject is as follows, to wit: That
an individual owning a spring on his land, from which
water flows in a current through his neighbor's land,
would have the right to use the whole of it, if necessary,
to satisfy his natural wants. He may consume all the
water for his domestic purposes, including water for his
stock. If he desires to use it for irrigation, and there is
a lower proprietor to whom its use is essential to supply
his natural wants, or for his stock, he must use the water
so as to leave enough for such lower proprietor. Where
the stream is small and does not supply more than sufficient to answer the natural wants of the different proprietors living on it, none of the proprietors can use the
water for irrigation or manufactures."
This is so clearly inadequate to meet the urgent necessities of the case, that the immediate attention of Congress, and the various State Legislatures, is peremptorily
called for. Fortunately, a beginning has been made,
and a Commission was organized by an Act of Congress, approved March 3, 1873, to examine the great
valleys of California, with reference to the construction
of a system of irrigation.   The report of this  Commission is published in the yearly volume of the Department of Agriculture for 1874. The conclusions
reached may be seriously questioned in many points, but
on the whole are, as might have been expected, favorable
both to the profitableness and feasibility of irrigation
173
k 
IRRIGATION.
works, and to the interference of the National and State
governments, and their control over the distribution of
the water. In favor of government control there is both
reason and precedent. By no other authority could the
conflicting interests of miners, agriculturists, and owners
of land to be injured or benefited by the enterprise, be
properly reconciled. In Europe, the supreme control is
exercised by, and the ownership of the water vested in,
the State. The French government in 1669, by special
law, reserved the ownership of all rivers and streams,
and grants concessions to irrigating companies under restrictions. In Italy, the State has always exercised this
ownership, and in Venice the springs, and even the rainfall, so far as it can be stored in reservoirs, have been held
to be public property. In India, the springs and rainfall
are accumulated in reservoirs, controlled by the government, and the river systems are also owned by it; not
only this, but the details of the distribution of the water
are also directed by government officials. This is made
necessary, however, by the utter incapacity of the ignorant inhabitants to manage anything for themselves, that
calls for more than a very low degree of intelligence. Lest,
however, it might be urged that government ownership and
supervision, is likely to lead to failure, the actual results
attained in India may be very properly here cited. During recent years, the British Government has spent about
$70,000,000 in irrigating works, and others are in progress of construction which will require half as much
more to complete them.   In almost every instance the
investments have been profitable, and in some cases
enormously so, both in the way of water rent, and in service to the cultivators of the soil. The total annual
revenue to the government from the works, is more than
$5,000,000, or 7314 percent on the cost. In one case only
has there been a loss. The capital expended in the
largest works, and the annual revenue from them, is given
)
IY
i
174
I
i
i
I
I
.1I
II 
IRRIGATION IN INDIA.
in the following table, which is derived from the official
reports of the East Indian Government:
Capital invested.   Annal revenue.
North Western Provinces................$17,8:27,225  51/4 per cent.
Punjaub................................. 15,671,000  5 s
Madras.................................. 9,467,200    2234   "i
Bombay and Sind...................... 11,113,940    12   "
Ganges Canal........................... 14,400,890 4'/2   "
Eastern Jumna Canal.................... 2,350,000    ll'/
Western  "     "'.................... 6,532,003   71/2 
Godavery Delta Works.................. 3,418,525    393/4   "
Kistnah   "    "..................    2,337,135    131/4   "
Canvery   "    ".................. 1,468,000    361  "
Sind Inundation Canal................*.. 5,930,000    181/2   "
The revenue to the government is the least portion of
the profit derived from these works. The profit to the
people themselves, amounts to a vastly greater sum, one,
in fact, the amount of which is not to be computed in
money; for the famine, of frequent occurrence before the
completion of these works, destroyed thousands of human
lives, and caused thousands of square miles of fertile
land to be abandoned to grow up to jungle. In 1860, the
Ganges canal preserved grain crops from destruction,
which fed a million of people; in 1874 the Soave canal
saved the crops over a large territory, which would otherwise have been devastated by drouth, and many of the
newer works, water regions which have heretofore been
visited with some of the most destructive famines mentioned in history. And the whole of this work has been
undertaken and successfully managed by the government.
Economy in the use of the water, and in the construction of the works also, calls for such extended surveys, perhaps over hundreds of miles of territory, that
no private persons, nor associated companies, could possibly perform them, unless they were endowed with legalized monopolies or exclusive rights; and in the light of
past experience with huge chartered corporations, farmers could not wisely submit to have their interests-so
175 
IRRIGATION.
vital in this case-placed in such keeping.  The experi ence already gathered in the case of the Cavour canal in
Italy, proves that a chartered company is a most unsafe
trustee for the interests of the persons most nearly con cerned in an irrigating canal. In that case, while fortunes were made by speculators, the work was a failure,
and the government was forced to interfere and purchase
the canal in the end.
It is, however, out of place to argue this question here,
and it is left for the consideration of those interested,
who will readily perceive the necessity for the course here
indicated.
The cost of irrigation has been very clearly shown by
the  successful  enterprises in Colorado.   It must be
remembered, however, that nothing is paid for the
water itself, and only the expense of bringing it to the
fields is included in the figures given. As a rule, the
more extensive the works, and the greater area brought
under irrigation, the less is the cost per acre. But it is
hardly probable that, in any case, the annual cost per
acre, can be brought below an average of $1 to $2 per
acre. In many cases the cost may be more than this, but
even then, the profit to the owner of the land will be
many times greater than the cost incurred. Lands that
have gone a begging at $5 per acre, in parts of California, and have indeed been practically useless while without water, have been purchased eagerly at $25 to $50 per
acre, as soon as a supply of water has been brought to
them. In general, the extra value added to land by irrigation, varies from $25 per acre up to several hundred
dollars. In some portions of Europe, land is by irrigation increased in salable value, five to ten-fold.
The charge for water in France, varies from $6 to $7
per acre, annually; one cubic foot per second, being used
for 70 acres, and  $450 being paid per cubic foot per
second, during the season. No water is permitted to be
176
I
i
i
f
II
t
i
II 
IN ITALY.
given away, although the purchaser may have a surplus.
One cubic foot per second, is equal to 72 square inches of
water flowing at the rate of 4 miles per hour, or as fast
as an active man can walk with ease.
In Spain the Iberian Irrigation Company makes a
charge of $7 per acre, for 12 waterings per year, equivalent to a total depth of 33 inches of water over the entire
surface irrigated.  The canal of this company is a splendid engineering work, it being 28 miles long and costing
$600,000.  It has a surplus of water, equal to a power of
3,000 horses, which is rented out at $50 per horse power
per annum.
In Italy the cost of water varies considerably. In Lombardy, about 1,600,000 acres are irrigated, at an investment of about $20 per acre, or a total of $30,000,000,
which is equivalent to $1,250 per cubic foot per second.
The increased rental value of the irrigated land is $4,500000 per annum; or 15 per cent on the cost of the works.
The average cost of the water to the farmer is from
$750 to $850 per cubic foot per second, equivalent to
$2.50 per acre for maize, $7.50 an acre for meadows, and
$20 an acre for rice.  A very good idea of the maximum
cost of irrigation can be gathered - from  these figures.
The water from some of the canals is purchased by local
associations, of farmers or speculators, who distribute it
to the irrigators. One of these local associations purchases
water from two canals, paying $87 for the cubic foot per
second for 714 feet from the first, and selling it out at
$96 per foot;  and $65 per foot for 674 feet from the
second, and charging $77 per foot. The higher price is
charged and paid on account of the valuable fertilizing
matter brought down by the water.
These figures, it should be remembered, are fixed by
circumstances entirely different from any that are likely
to occur in this country.  The value of land is higher
than with us; the cost of the canals, aqueducts, bridges,
177 
IRRIGATION.
and distributing apparatus, is much higher than would
be necessary here, being made with scrupulous care for
economy in both water and land; and the cost of supervision is much higher than would be likely to occur here.
Unless costly dams, expensive bridges, and aqueducts,
built with a view to the utmost permanency, should be
required, there would probably never be any approach
made here, to the high cost of water that is experienced
in European countries. Some of the European works,
now in operation, have been in existence for more than
1,500 years. Others abandoned, but still in serviceable
condition, are over 2,000 years old.
The quantity of water needed for irrigation, as has
been already explained, varies greatly, and in making
estimates of the amount required, for any stated territory,
the engineer or irrigator must necessarily study both soil
and climate. Where exhaustive circumstances belonging
to either are found, reasonable allowances must be made.
A maximum consumption, as indicated by experience in
Colorado, as well as by comparative estimates in foreign
countries with arid climates, may be considered to be,
one square inch per acre continually flowing; and an
average consumption to be 72 square inches per 100 acres
continually flowing at the rate of four miles per hour, or
half a cubic foot per second. This estimate, however,
does not include the loss by evaporation, or soakage
through the bed of the canal; losses which, in one of the
Californian canals, amounts to more than 40 per cent of
the quantity entering the mouth of the canal, and is
therefore seen to be a very serious item of consideration
by the hydraulic engineer.  Some further remark upon
this important point will be found in the chapter on
Canals further on, to which attention is directed.
The art of irrigation, however, is in its infancy with us
as yet; and although we enjoy some special advantages,
there are some things to be learned before the full benefit
178
I
i
I
I 
CAUTIONARY SUGGESTIONS.
of the practice can be reached. To some extent, our
appliances are rude and ineffective, and the watering of
crops is sometimes done in such a way as to be injurious
to them or wasteful of water. Farming by irrigation,
beneath an atmosphere in which evaporation is excessively
active, requires special skill to avoid misfortune, and the
payment of those costly fees which experience demands
when employed as a teacher. To recapitulate some of the
most important points to be remembered, might be useful
here. The first danger into which the inexperienced irrigator falls, is usually the use of an excessive quantity of
water, of a too frequent application of it. The copiousness and frequency of the watering must depend upon
the character of the soil and subsoil, to a very great extent. A porous, sandy soil, with a similar subsoil, can
hardly be injured by over-watering so long as stagnant
water is not allowed to remain upon it, and it is sufficiently well fertilized to bear the vegetation which copious
waterings would encourage. Saturation of the soil, long
continued, would be fatal to almost every crop. A soil
containing 80 per cent of sand, may be copiously irrigated
every five days without injury, while another containing
but 20 per cent of sand, would not bear moderate irrigation more frequently than every 10 or 15 days. The
watchful care of the cultivator must be exercised to keep
the soil moist and mellow and no more. Over watering
tends to bake the soil. Flooding the surface also tends
to the same injurious effect. Water should be applied
in the evening, in preference to any other time, but on
no account in the day during the prevalence of sunshine
or a drying wind. A calm evening is the very best time
to irrigate. The soil then dries upon the surface before
morning, and the sun will not bake or crust the ground.
During an occasional shower is a specially favorable time,
and this opportunity should be seized and utilized without
delay. The use of drills, or small water furrows, is pre
179 
IRRIGATION.
ferable to any other method of applying water. All cul tivated crops should therefore be sown or planted in drills.
Any crops, that may be grown in ordinary cultivation,
may be raised by irrigation, but there are some that
flourish better under it than under ordinary culture.
These are generally the broad-leafed crops, leguminous
plants, and the grasses cultivated for fodder. Long taprooted plants, clover, lucern, carrots, all species of beets,
and the cabbage tribe, especially thrive under irrigation.
Cereals generally need but very little water after their inflorescence, and the quality of the grain is improved by
its absence after fertilization has taken placc. It is
asserted by the French irrigators that the wheat crop is
frequently injured by any watering at the time of blossoming, and that at this critical season the water should
be withdrawn, and again applied, for only a very short
period, as the grain is swelling. Potatoes are injured in
quality by overwatering, and for this crop a soil of retentive character should be specially avoided. The saturation of the subsoil, during the period when the soil is
bare of crops, as in the Fall and Winter, not only aids
the Summer growth by furnishing a reservoir of moisture,
but irrigation at these seasons brings to the soil considerable access of fertility, especially when the water is derived from mountain streams. On the other hand, when
the subsoil is strongly alkaline, as in some localities, continuous and copious Winter irrigation will remove much
of the excess of alkaline salts; but alternate irrigation
will not have this effect, for much of the alkaline matter
will be brought back near the surface by capillary attraction.
There are large tracts of land, the subsoil of which is
so thoroughly impregnated with alkali, as to render the
surface hopelessly barren, except so far as they may bear
a sparse vegetation of plants, the roots of which remain
near the surface, and the quality of which unfits them
ISO
II
t
f
II
i
I 
IMPROVEMENT OF ALKALINE SOILS.
for any use to the stock-raiser or farmer. These lands
may easily be reclaimed by irrigation. Copious watering,
continuously applied, will wash out the soluble alkali from
the subsoil and render them arable. But the watering
must be long continued, and at a season when evaporation
is the least active. It is the evaporation of moisture from
such soils, that brings to the surface the alkaline matter,
where it effioresces and makes them appear as if covered
with newly fallen snow or hoar frost. All this injurious
matter, chiefly consisting of soda salts, may be removed
through the subsoil by the continued action of irrigation,
and washed into the rivers and the sea.   The water
charged with these salts, which in excess are destructive,
but in moderate supply are helpful, may in fact be used
over again on its passage down the rivers after it has
emerged beneath the surface in hundreds of springs,
upon new fields, which actually need this alkaline matter
to make them fruitful.
Another highly important consideration presents itself.
It is found that after a few years of irrigation, the soil
requires the artificial application of less water; that the
atmosphere becomes more highly charged with moisture,
and that the evaporation from the surface becomes, in
consequence, less and less as years pass; that the rainfall
is increased, and that the supply of water becomes relatively more abundant, as the land needs less ot it, and
thus the area that may be irrigated, gradually increases.
The low lands are also moistened by the surplus from the
bench lands which percolates through them; the soil becomes charged with vegetable matter, and more retentive
of water, and these effects react upon the climate.
These effects have been more particularly noted in Utah,
where irrigation has been longest in use, and where the
growth of trees has been comparatively extensive. Already the increase in the rainfall has become noticeable,
and the level of Great Salt Lake has risen several feet,
181 
IRRIGATION.
within the last few years. This, however, can occur only
to a limited extent, as the physical features of the country, upon which the peculiarities of the climate depend,
must remain permanently as they are, and their effects
must of course continue with them. But the intensity
of the drouth, and of the hot, dry winds, will probably
become ameliorated more and more, as the cultivation of
the soil extends.
The management of the various field crops under irrigation, calls for some judgment, and a few general remarks may be useful.
Wkeat.-This will always be the main crop wherever
irrigation is generally used. A thorough soaking of the
soil, some days before it is plowed, is advisable. It then
turns up mellow and in fine condition for the seed.
Where wheat is made to follow wheat, the seed may be
sown upon the stubble, and a light furrow turned over it.
Otherwise it would be preferable to drill in the seed, and
immediately roll the land with a corrugated roller, fig. 96,
which leaves the surface covered with small channels, admirably fitted for watering the crop. (This roller, as
well as another kind for the same use, is described more
fully in the next chapter.) If no rain should occur, or in
localities where rain is not to be looked for, a moderate
watering may then be given before the soil has become
dried. This will be sufficient to start the growth, after
which moderate waterings, at intervals of seven to fourteen days, will be required, up to the time when the
grain is heading. Then occurs the critical period, for
overwatering may rust the crop; and it is precisely here
that the irrigator enjoys the advantage over the farmer
who depends on rainfall exclusively, and frequently sees
his hopes and his crop blasted together by unfavorable
weather at the period of flowering. It may be that -water
will be required as soon as the grain is beginning to form,
but if the soil is at all moist, water may not be needed.
182
I
I
i
I
i
I
t
I
t
II
I
I
i 
CULTURE OF WHEAT.
This point so completely depends upon circumstances,
that no rule can be given; the novice who has never before raised a crop of wheat, will lose less by erring upon
the side of caution, and the farmer, used to grow wheat
under the ordinary methods, will readily avoid what lihe
knows to be injurious. It will not hurt a crop of wheat
if the ground should get dry occasionally, and excess of
water encourages growth of straw at the expense of grain.
Other Grains than wheat require very similar management. Oats will thrive with more copious watering, but
barley needs care about the time of filling and ripening
of the grain. The duration of a watering, for all the
small grains, should not exceed 24 hours.
Corn  and Broom Corn.-Corn luxuriates beneath heat
and moisture; and for its rapid and healthful growth the
soil should be kept moist. The plan adopted in the valley of the Po, in Italy, where maize is a very common
and productive crop, is to plant in rows, and apply the
water in the spaces between them. The corn may be
planted in hills, and watered in a similar manner. As
soon as the grain becomes glazed, the water may be withdrawn, and the ground dried for harvesting. Broom corn
is managed similarly to maize, being kept regularly watered; at the time of the heading out of the panicle, water
is given plentifully to force a good growth of brush, and
produce a smooth, long, straight fiber. The broom corn
grown in Tulare Co., Cal., under irrigation, is found to
be of the very best quality and color. As these crops require frequent cultivation, the irrigation should be given
at a sufficient time before this must be done, to permit
the ground to become dry enough for proper working, but
not too dry. The cultivation should follow the watering,
and not the watering the cultivation; then the soil is
kept mellow and moist during a longer interval.  Fodder
corn requires copious watering. This crop is one that
may be grown to advantage upon fields that are in course
183 
IRRIGATION.
of preparation for water meadows, or in rotation, when a
meadow needs plowing and reseeding.
Flax.-As this plant, when grown for fiber, depends
greatly for its value upon the length and fineness of the
staple, and as it flourishes best upon cool, moist soils, it
is one peculiarly well adapted for cultivation by irrigation.
It may be sown in drills, nine inches apart, or if sown
broadcast, the surface should be rolled with the corrugated roller, forming furrows, either directly down, or diagonally across, the slope of the field.
Hemp. -This crop is peculiarly adapted to irrigation,
its yield and quality being both improved under this
method of cultivation. The mode of culture is as follows. The land is laid off, by the plow, into beds or flat
ridges, three feet wide, with intervals between them of
one foot in width. The seed is sown upon these beds
while the soil is moist from a previous irrigation. The
spaces between the beds are left to provide room for hoeing and weeding the beds, and for pulling the male stalks
as soon as the pollen has been shed, as well as for irrigation. Hemp is a plant in which the pollen and the seed
are produced by different individuals, called respectively
male, or staminate, and female, or pistillate plants. As
the male plants naturally soon die, long before the others
are perfected, it is better to get them out of the way as
soon as they have fulfilled their office of fertilizing the
flowers of the other sex.  After the seed has sprouted,
water is given, but only in the spaces between the beds;
these are copiously flowed, so that the moisture may penetrate through every portion of the beds.   The crop is
irrigated every 10 days, at least, or still more frequently
when necessary. The soil should always be kept moist,
but at the same time it should not be saturated. Frequent, moderate irrigations, are employed to within fourteen days of the flowering, when the waterings cease. If
the irrigation is continued during the flowering, the fer
184
II
I
I
I
I
c
f
II
Ii
I
I 
TOBACCO AND COTTON.
tilization of the female flowers is weakened, and the
product of seed decreased. The suspension of the watering leaves the spaces between the beds dry, for the passage of the persons who pull out the male plants, which
is done to give more room for the ripening of the seed
upon those that are left.
Tobacco.-This crop thrives well under irrigation. The
method in use where tobacco is largely grown, is to plow
the ground to a depth of seven inches, the manure having been previously incorporated with the soil by plowing.
The ground is harrowed smoothly and leveled. Ridges
are then thrown up, 18 inches apart from each other, and
the surface between them is leveled. The beds are then
watered by flooding the intervals, and the ground well
soaked. As soon as the soil is dry enough, the plants are
brought from the seed bed, and set out on the ridge, 18
inches apart; or more, if a large leafed variety is grown.
The day following the planting, water is given, and repeated in two or three days. Then an interval of twenty
days occurs, in which no water is given, but the soil is
hoed or cultivated. Then water is given every 14 days,
or if the weather is very dry and warm, and the soil need
it, water is turned on every 8 days. Hoeing is done
when needed, after the watering. This is continued until the crop is ready for cutting. In every other respect
the cultivation is the same as when irrigation is not used.
Under irrigation a leaf of remarkably fine texture, and of
a mild flavor and color may be grown. Where the climate
admits of it, two crops are grown in one year by means
of irrigation. This is regularly done in Algeria.
Cotton has been grown in Southern California, under
irrigation, with success. It has been found that the
peculiar needs of this crop, as regards its growth of stalk
and leaf, the formation of bolls, and the season of ripening, are better supplied by irrigation than in any other
way.  But few crops need so little water as cotton, and
185 
IRRIGATION.
by caution in keeping the soil merely moist, and no more,
the plant may be prevented from becoming stunted on
the one hand, and on the other, the necessity for topping
it, to encourage boiling, may be obviated. The method
of planting recommended is, to plow high ridges, or beds,
4' 12 feet wide, in the centre of which a water furrow is
made with a small plow. When the soil has been well
soaked from these furrows, the earth is thrown into them
from each side, a drill is opened above the moistened soil,
and the seed sown in it, and covered with the hoe, not
more than one inch deep. If the soil has been well
moistened, the seed germinates at once, and only one more
irrigation is needed to mature the crop, unless on very
light and open soil. The soil is plowed in February, and
irrigated and planted in  larch.  The usual methods of
cultivation and hoeing are practiced.
Lucern or Afalfa. -Leguminous plants will suffer from
as copious irrigation as may be needed for grass or grain
crops. Lucern or Alfalfa being one of the leguminose
must be irrigated with caution, lest the permanence of the
crop be endangered. Its long tap roots penetrate deeply,
and if much water is given, and the subsoil is at all retentive, they will die and rot, and the crop is but shortlived.  The character of the soil should be ascertained
before ground that is to be irrigated is sown with lucern.
When this is known, the periods and amount of the irrigation may be chosen with accuracy. In Central France,
this crop is extensively grown, and yields amazingly under
the warm sun and frequent waterings; but in England,
lucern does not succeed.  It is peculiarly a crop of warm,
dry climates, and in California it has been grown with
the most satisfactory results, both upon reclaimed "tule"
lands, and valley lands. It there requires watering from
once a week to once a month, according to the character
of the soil. As long as moisture is within reach of the
roots, the surface may be left dry, but stagnant water in
186
i
I
I
i
it
I
I
i
I.
I
i 
FODDER CROPS.
the subsoil would be fatal to the crop, and must be carefully avoided. Twelve to fifteen tons of fodder have been
grown per acre, with four or five cuttings during the
growing season, and a watering after each cutting.
Clover is a plant that delights in a cool climate, and
where lucern can be produced successfully, it would not
be advisable to grow clover under irrigation in competition
with it, Under partial irrigation, and where lucern is
not a successful crop, it may be watered moderately at
intervals of 10 to 14 days, according to the nature of the
soil.
Fodder Crops. -Mixed crops of oats and peas; barley
and tares, millet, or Hungarian grass, may be grown in
succession during the whole year, where frosts cto not
occur, or during the summer elsewhere. By sowing in
drills or forming water channels with the roller, as before
described, water may be given with facility during the
earlier stages of these crops. When the ground is hidden by the herbage, no further watering is given.
Sorghum.-As a fodder crop this plant cannot compete
with corn; but when grown for the manufacture of syrup,
it yields largely when irrigated up to a certain point.
Its growth is slow and weak at first, and at this stage it
will need copious irrigation, so long as the soil is not
saturated. Afterwards, when it has commenced its active
growth, water should be given sparingly, otherwise the
sap will be impaired in quality,  No water is given to this
crop for a month before cutting, unless from some unexpected cause it is seen to suffer for want of it, and then
only the most moderate watering is to be given.
Sugar Beets. -When grown for sugar, this plant needs
only moderate irrigation, and at lengthened intervals.
The root fibers are very sensitive to excess of moisture,
and a watering during one night only, will be all that the
plant will safely bear. Excessive growth is not compatible with a yield of rich saccharine juice, and a small solid
I
187 
IRRIGATION.
root is the most profitable. This crop, if it is to be irrigated, is planted in slightly raised beds, between which
the water is flowed, so that it does not come in contact
with the bulbs. When grown for stock, beets and mangels may be more copiusly watered, until fully grown,
when water may be withheld while ripening is completI.
inlug.
Teasels.-Although this is an uncommon crop, yet as it
is grown under irrigation, as a twin crop with winter
wheat, it is mentioned here. The manner of its cultivation is, to sow it in alternate rows, or drills, with the
wheat, or broadcast mixed with the seed. As soon as the
wheat is harvested, the ground is watered, and the irrigation is repeated two or three times, the same season,
and monthly the next season, up to a short time before
the crop is ready for harvesting.
In concluding this Chapter, it may be as well, at the
risk of repetition, to observe, that in irrigation, the object is to supply simply the natural wants of the plants
grown upon the land, and not to stimulate an undue or
excessive growth, merely because we may suppose that
we have the means to do this at our control. The purpose is to supply nutriment to the plants, and not to
saturate the soil. The careful irrigator will study the
peculiarities of the plants he cultivates, and the character
of the soil he works with, as well as something of the
natural laws of plant growth; and apply his knowledge
to his business, carefully, systematically, and judiciously;
not proceeding in a hap-hazard or a "rule-of-thumb"
manner to deluge his soil with water, simply because he
has paid for a certain quantity of it.
188
f
if
I
11
tI
I
If
I 
HOW TO PREPARE THE SURFACE.
CHAPTER XVII.
PREPARING THE SURFACE FOR IRRIGATION.
The method of farming by irrigation is very simple and
easy to learn. The principals upon which it is managed
are summed up in the general laws that water always runs
down hill, and that a certain quantity of it is needed for
the growth of a plant. In preparing the ground for irrigation, then, it is only necessary to remember these facts
and conform the practice to them. The surface of a cultivated field should therefore be of slight slope, generally
in one direction, and of an even, smooth character, free
from irregularities or knolls. If, however, the character
of the surface is such that it is variously inclined with
irregular depressions, having a general course downward
from the level of the water supply, the courses of the
distributing channels may be so laid out as to practicably
reduce the whole field to a regular slope and make it very
easily irrigated. In the first case, the water taken from
the canals of supply will be brought into the main distributing channels, the course of which will be down the
slope; directly, if the declivity is not too great, and
diagonally if not more than three feet in a hundred.
From these channels the water will be taken laterally into other channels, and from them spread over the ground.
This plan being suitable only where the soil presents a
plane surface, inclined from the canal downward, is obviously fitted for only a very few cases, for those in which
the land is altogether free from swells and variations from
a level, are very rare naturally and not very common artificially.
Where, however, it is possible so to prepare the land
that this even plane surface can be secured, it will
manifestly be the best and cheapest in the end, so to prepare it. The great majority of the river bottoms in those
189 
IRRIGATION.
parts of the country where cultivation by irrigation is
now practiced, and where it is destined to be largely extended, admit of very easy preparation by plowing, harrowing, scraping, and rolling. To plow these lands, a
different system from that generally practiced should be
adopted. The swivel plow is the best instrument for this
purpose. With this plow, the furrows may be laid the
same way over a whole field, and the "lands," more or
less narrow, necessarily formed with the common plow
are avoided.  In plowing in "lands" the alternate back
furrows and open furrows leave a succession of ridges and
hollows, which are inconvenient in irrigated fields, except
in those cases in which the system of "bedding" of the
soil is adopted. In this case the water is carried along
the summits of the lands, and flows in both directions to
the open furrows on each side. This may be conveniently done when the general level is once secured.
A good surface will be best secured by using the swivel
plow, beginning by running a back furrow across the
center of the field, carefully laid out exactly parallel to
two of its sides-if the field is square-and equally distant from each. The back furrow should be made by
first throwing two furrows outward in opposite directions,
leaving an open furrow on the line laid out. The plow is
then driven through the center of the ridges thus cast
out, splitting them and throwing the earth back into the
open furrow. This method leaves no unplowed ground,
and very much less ridge in the back furrow than any
other manner of beginning the "land." The plowing
then proceeds in the usual manner, finishing one side of
the field, and then the other. If care is taken to plow
straight and even furrows, the last furrow will leave a
ditch along the boundary of the field, and close to it.
There should be no baulks made in plowing an irrigated
field, as the hard spots there left will not absorb water
equally with the other portions, and the crop will suffer
190
i
f
I 
EXAMPLE OF IRRIGATED FIELD.
on those spots. It might be mentioned here that a very
smooth, fine surface, is objectionable, as being very liable
to bake under the hot sun after watering. A soil that is
somewhat cloddy or lumpy, is not so apt to bake, and is
preferable to a very fine one. The ground is then leveled
with a scraper, the hollows filled with earth from the
ridges and swells, and as accurate a level as possible is
secured.
When the level surface has been procured, or where it
is already sufficiencly level naturally, the course of the
furrows is to be laid out with due regard to the position
of the chief supply canal, and the foot drain by which
any surplus of water is to be carried off. It is understood that the chief supply canal is made with as little
fall as possible; in practice, this should not exceed 3 feet
per mile, and should not be less than one foot per mile.
From this canal the primary, or main distributing ditches
are made to diverge, and these should have a slope from
3 to 8 feet per mile; the medium slope of 4 to 5 feet per
mile  being  preferable.   From  these primary ditches,
secondary ditches are laid out, having the same slope,
about 1,000 to 1,500 feet apart, when a large tract is to
be brought under irrigation; a distance of one fourth of
a mile, or 1,320 feet, is a very convenient distance, as it is
equal to the size of a 40 acre lot, and divides an 80 or 160
acre tract into equal portions. A catch-water ditch should
be laid out parallel to the primary ditch, at about 2,000
to 3,000 feet distant from it; a half mile, or 2,640 feet,
is a very suitable distance, as there would then be 160
acres, or two 80 acre farms in the enclosed quadrangle.
As an illustration might be represented a plot of an irrigation system, belonging to the San Joaquin and Kings
River Canal in California, as described in the report to
Congress of the Commission for the examination of the
valleys of California. This is shown in the diagram, fig.
-81. The main supply canal has a fall of a foot in the
191 
IRRIGATION.
mile, the ground under irrigation sloping 8 feet to the
mile. The dotted contour lines in the plot represent each
foot of slope upon the ground.   The water is delivered
from the main canal into the primary distributing ditch,
at A, D, flowing in the direction of the arrow. This
ditch has a slope of 8 feet to the mile. From these
ditches it flows into the secondary ditches, A B, D F,
/1  /        //_./ /L_
A'  \,'\.. \     k X    u
',,,''  ( 
\\,
/\',...,~-.         \        C.~
V\    \~  \  "./\
\\ \',',,\    \ \,:\
// 
Fig. 81.-PLOT OF IRRIGATED FIELD.
(which have a slope of 5 feet to the mile), through
gates at A, and D, into the catch-water ditches, B, F,
from which it flows into other series of secondary ditches
beyond. Gates are established in the secondary ditches,
midway of their length, as at C, and E.
The subdivision of the plot is as follows: Furrows
made with the plow or with a ditching machine, which
finishes a perfect water furrow at one operation, are run
192
i
I/ 
PLAN OF AN IRRIGATED FIELD.
at intervals of 120 feet apart, parallel to the primary
ditch, and down the slope of 8 feet to the mile. These
are shown by the single dark lines. Other furrows are
made parallel to the secondary ditch, and 156 feet apart.
These shown by the dotted lines are called check furrows.
The secondary ditches are made large enough to supply
11 of these first furrows, each of which communicates
with the secondary ditch, by means of a box, such as is
shown at fig. 61, (page 128), placed in the bank as seen
in the engraving, and opened and shut by a slide at the
head of each. When the gate at C is closed, the water
is turned into 11 of these boxes, and from them into the
connected furrows. The first check furrow stops the
flow, and dams the water back over the space of 165 feet
above it. As the slope of the ground is 8 feet to the
mile, the slope of the interval now covered with water is
nearly 3 inches, and the water must consequently be 3
inches deep at the check furrow before the upper portion
of the interval is watered. (Hlere a fault in the lay-out
is seen at first sight, because from the rapid absorption
of the water by the soil, either the lower portion must be
watered to excess, or the upper portion be left without a
sufficient supply. It is evident that this fault would be
obviated by making the check furrows nearer together,
say 50 or 60 feet, when the ground would be more quickly covered, and more evenly watered. It is true that
some of the water would soak through the check furrow
on to the upper portion of the interval below it; but this
would be an irregular and entirely a too hazardous proceeding to be adopted by a careful irrigator, and one that
would be excessively wasteful, both of water and crop.)
When the interval has been watered sufficiently, the
check furrow is opened with the hoe at each main furrow, and the second strip is watered. The process is repeated until this half of the plot has been watered. The
boxes are then closed; the gate at G is opened, and the
9
193 
IRRIGATION.
other part of the plot is irrigated in the same manner.
The size required for the secondary ditch, or rather that
of the gate at A, by which the ditch is supplied, must be
proportioned to the quantity of land irrigated by it. If
the plot is 160 acres, the gate should have an area of at
least 144 square inches, if the flow is continual, and a
proportionately larger area if the flow is intermittent.
The size of the boxes should be in proportion, or 1411,
square inches for each inside measurement. A box 71,
inches wide by 5 inches deep inside measure, and having
cz a
, —--------
-4 —                               I cs
................ 1,
"i'""'~....~.._    -r —--- ~.11....................
P —--— * —----------
IF I.- A   O F          OW FO.....  AN.....          S
Fog. 82.-PLAN  OF FLOWS FOR  A  IRFGUAR SURFACE.
a gate or slide to open 2 inches, would give 1411, square
inches of water under a head of 3 inches, which is a usual
arrangement for supply.
This plan is an excellent one, and pointed out as an
illustration of ordinary irrigation, could hardly be excelled.
With modifications, it offers a method of preparing the
surface of gently sloping ground that is applicable to a
wide diversity of instances.
The plot given in the illustration is drawn to scale of
194
I
I 
IRREGULAR SURFACES.
960 feet to an inch, and represents a plot of 80 acres,
being 2,640 feet, (half a mile), in length, having 22 furrows, 120 feet apart, in that direction; and 1,320 feet,
(quarter of a mile), in width, and having 8 check furrows, 165 feet apart, in this direction.
For those cases in which an irregular surface cannot be
avoided the arrangement of the water furrows is different.
For a field which slopes on either side from a central
ridge the arrangement is made as follows: (See fig. 82.)
The water is brought from the main primary ditch,
on to the highest portion of the ridge. From this it is
carried by a principal furrow along the ridge, and then
by other furrows, a, a, on each side down the slope, and
from those into distributing furrows, c, c, nearly parallel
with the main furrow, and in the manner before described for the bedding system applied to gardens.  Thus the
water flows down the slope on each side in a series of
channels provided for it, according to the circumstances
or necessities of each case.
Where the surface is irregular in every direction, it is
necessary to discover by careful leveling the course to be
taken by each main distributing canal, which should be
made the boundary line between the fields on either hand,
and will therefore be a permanent construction. The
course of the canal will be such as to give it the least
possible slope, so that none of the head of water may be
lost in distributing it from the end of the canal. It is
obvious that this course should be laid out with great
care and exactness, lest by losing some of the head, some
portion of the land should be left without water. This
work should be done either by a competent surveyor, or
by the assistance of instruments in the hands of the
farmer competent to use them. There is no particular
skill required to do this; it is rather a work that calls for
extreme care and patient verification. The instrument
used may be a surveyor's field or portable level, which will
i
195 
IRRIGATION.
answer every purpose for light and not very accurate work.
A very portable and convenient level, small enough to be
carried in the coat pocket, has been found by the author
of very great use in making preliminary surveys. It is
known as Locke's hand-level, and is shown in fig. 83.
Very accurate levels may be taken by using this instrument in the following manner. A rod is provided, having a blunt foot, that will rest upon the ground, and not
sink in soft soil, and of such a graduated length that it
will reach comfortably to a hight equal to that of the
eye of the person using it. The top of this resting rod
is slightly notched, so that the level will rest easily upon
it. By having the sighting rod marked at exactly the
same length from the foot as that of the resting rod, and
gauged up and down from this mark, (which should be an
Fig. 83.-LOCKE'S HAND-LEVEL.
0), the variations from the level may be taken with the
greatest readiness, and with sufficient accuracy for preliminary work, or for a survey, where complete exactitude
is not required. Any slight errors that may be made will
balance each other, and in the aggregate there will be very
little variation from a true level in a line of some miles
in length. In the illustration the side of the level is
represented as broken away, to show the mirror in the
interior which reflects the bubble and the cross-bar in the
center. The bubble is seen at the top of the level.
The Architect's level, fig. 84, made by W. & L. E. Gurley, of Troy, N. Y., is a more costly and complete level,
but a very simple, compact, and serviceable one. It has
a telescope 11 inches long, with the usual cross wires,
with adjustment of eye and object tubes. It may be
mounted on a Jacob-staff, or a tripod; but for sighting
196
i
i
I
I
I 
INSTRUMENTS FOR LEVELING.
along such work as irrigating canals and embankments it
may be placed upon a three cornered plate of iron, or a
trivet, standing upon three pins, by which it may be firm
Fig. 8-GURLEY'S LEo
ly set upon a piece of wood, earth, or a stone. A tripod
and the trivet is furnished with the level by the makers,
for the very reasonable price of $35.  A leveling rod with
target is $5 extra.
An instrument much used by French irrigators is thus
made: Two pieces of
wood, 1 12 inch wide
by 1 inch thick and 10
feet long, are pinned
together at one end,
forming an angle, the
base of which spreads
exactly 16112 feet. This     Fig. 85.-HOME-MADE LEVEL.
gives a hight of the apex or joint from  the ground
of about 5112 feet. The arms are fixed in their proper
position by a cross-piece at about 31 1 feet from the base,
and fixed exactly parallel to it. The end of each arm is
197 
IRRIGATION.
pointed and protected by a metal ring or ferule, and a
pointed iron pin is inserted. The implement is something
like a large pair of compasses with a spread of 161 12 feet
between the points. See fig. 85. This distance is not
arbitrary, but may be varied to 10, 12, or even less feet,
but more would be inconvenient. But 161'12 feet being
exactly one rod, the level may at other times answer for
a measurer of distances conveniently, if made of this
size. A spirit level is placed on the cross-bar, see fig. 86,
care being taken to place it exactly parallel to the line
Fig. 86.-ARRAGEENT OF THE SPIRIT LEVEL.
between the bottom pins, and to verify the parallelism by
reversing the position of the implement as it stands upon
the ground upon a spot shown to be level by its first
position. There is no difficulty in getting the level
exactly placed to one who understands the use of the
spirit level, but unless it is placed exactly the implement
will be useless. To use the implement, a wooden plug is
driven in the ground, level with  the surface,
at a point where the canal is to start from. One
of the legs of the level is placed upon the plug
and the other forward in the direction in which
the water is to flow, and from one side to an        other, until a point is found which is level with
the starting point.  A plug is then driven into
the ground at the second point. If the fall has
Fig. 87. been fixed at one foot in 1,000 feet, which is the
most advisable for distributing furrows or canals, the second plug should be placed a fifth of an inch below the level
of the first. This may easily be done with accuracy by
cutting off with a saw, one-half of the top of the plug
one-fifth of an inch below the other half, when they are
prepared for use. Figure 87. Then when the higher
I
i -
%I
198
I
f
f
II 
HOW FURROWS ARE MADE.
half is placed on a level with the lower half of
the preceding plug, the lower half will be exactly in
position to receive the leg of the level to lay out the next
space. In this way the ground is gone over until the
whole line is laid out and the end is reached. From
these trial contour lines furrows may be traced and laid
out, using pegs, in the same manner as before, and
a plow to make furrows, following the line of the
pegs.  Or one man using the level nearly as fast as he
can walk, may be followed by a boy or another man with
a hoe made for this purpose, with a blade 18 inches in
width, with which a furrow is rapidly opened, almost
as fast as the line can be laid out. The distributing furrows may be laid out in straight lines across the contour
lines, see fig. 82, which will save labor. The main canal,
a, a, fig. 82, passes along the highest part of the field.
The contour lines, which are the lines of level, see dotted
lines b, b, are run from the canal on either side and
meander with the irregularities of the surface. To avoid
the meandering of the distributing furrows, they are
made to run in straight lines from the canal, cutting
across the contour lines with what fall may be found
necessary; these furrows are shown at c, c, c. By regulating the supply of water so that all is absorbed, none
need go to waste. But it would be safe to run a drainage
furrow to carry off any accidental surplus across the lowest
portions of the distributing canals, as shown by the dark
lines, d, d.
When the furrows are properly leveled, the soil may be
watered, either by saturation from the furrows downwards, in the case of steep hill sides, or by tapping the,
furrows, and causing the water to escape downwardsfrom
them. The method of watering lands of considerable
slope; that is, of more than five feet in a hundred, or ten
inches in 16 feet, must be different from that previously
described in this chapter, or by flooding; on the contrary
199 
IRRIGATION.
the water must be led downwards from the furrow in a
thin sheet or in numerous trickling streams, which may
be made to cover the intervals between the furrows.
There will be, however, some instances, and in time, after
the best of the irrigable lands have been occupied, the
majority of the tracts left will be of this character, in
which the surface will offer more than usual difficulties
in the way of preparation for irrigation. These tracts
referred to are hilly lands, or so called foot hills; high
prairie lands or bluffs bordering the more tractable river
Fig. 88.-IMPROVEMENT OF A HIL-SIDIE.
bottoms and valleys. The surfaces of such lands are in
general cut up with hollows, ravines, gulleys, and similar
irregularities of a somewhat miniature character, but
which nevertheless offer obstacles to the passage of water
channels; or there may be aprupt declines and rounded
protuberances, which will require modifying to some extent. By some system of preparation all such lands may
be brought under irrigation, and a few typical cases are
Fig. 89. —MANER OF MILING A GULLI.
here referred to with the requisite treatment. A profile
of a hill too steep in one portion to be irrigated, is represented by the dotted lines in fig. 88. The rounded outline, a, b, c, offers an obstruction to both water furrows
and the passage of men or animals. By cutting away
the projecting portion at b, and depositing it in tbe bot
200
b
I 
IMPROVEMENT OF HILL-SIDES.
tom at c, the outline, as shown by the dark line, is made
passable and easy to irrigate by the method applicable to
lands of considerable slope, (see figures 73 and 74 with
accompanying descriptions), or by that described in the
preceding paragraph. A gulley or a hollow in a moderately sloping surface is shown by the dotted line in fig. 89.
This difficulty is removed by taking away the portions
above the dark line, and depositing them in the hollow
beneath it; thus bringing the new surface into conformity with that surrounding it, and producing an easy slope.
In case the surface soil is thin and the subsoil poor, it
will be necessary to first remove the surface soil from both
the portion to be covered, and that to be moved, and
place it on one side. When the leveling is finished, the
Fig..10.    A,CrG A MLL-SIDE.
surface soil is returned and the subsoil covered with it as
before. There are frequent hill-sides, all through the
country, which offer no impediment to a destructive flow
of water down their slopes, and unsightly and inconvenient gulleys and wash-outs are caused by this unobstructed flow. The terracing of such slopes would prevent the destructive wasting, and would render them
amenable to easy irrigation, either by surplus rain water
collected from the slopes in reservoirs, or by waterbrought
to them by elevation or otherwise. Fig. 90 is intended
to represent such a hillside.  The original profile is shown
by the dotted line, and the terraced outline by the dark
line. This work may be done almost wholly by the plow,
and in difficult cases partly by the plow, and partly by
the ordinary horse-shovel.  Upon the remodelled surface
201 
IRRIGATION.
the water is retained, instead of flowing in streams uselessly and destructively down the slope, and sinks into
the soil moistening the whole as it percolates through
the subsoil and again reaches the light, lower down. Or
the terraces may be so arranged as to lead the rain water
into a reservoir, where it may be stored, and used to irrigate the lower portion of the slope in the drier part of
the season.
As the preservation of a level or smoothly sloping surface is the main point in preparing the soil for irrigation,
it is important to have implements well adapted to this
necessary work, and also to prepare furrows quickly and
perfectly. There is no need for costly implements, but
very effective ones may be constructed with little labor
and skill. To level the ground is the first work after
plowing and pulverizing the surface. To do this cheaply,
a scraper that can be operated by horse-power is needed.
One upon which the operator can ride would be most convenient, as the work may then be overlooked with ease,
and the weight of the rider would add to the effectiveness
of the implement. A horse-scraper, much used in California for leveling ground plowed for irrigation, consists of
a frame, 4 feet wide and 6 feet long, mounted upon a pair
of low wheels, and constructed of planks, upon which the
driver rides. A tongue is fixed to the central part of the
frame, by which the machine is drawn along. A scraper
is fixed to the front of the frame in a perpendicular or
a sloping direction, as may be desired. Handles, or guides,
are fixed to the scraper, by which this direction is governed.  The scraper is a plank, 12 feet long and a foot and
a half wide, shod at the bottom edge by a steel shoe.  A
half circular, flat, iron bar is bolted to the front of the
scraper and passes through an iron strap fixed beneath
the tongue. The bar is pierced with a number of holes,
and a hole is made through the tongue so that an iron
pin may be passed through both tongue and bar. By
202
.1
I 
LEVELING THE SURFACE.
means of this contrivance the plank may be moved from
a straight to a diagonal direction across the path traveled,
and the earth is consequently drawn forward or thrown
~                         ~~~
Fig. 91.-EARTH-SCRAPER.
off to one side, or both together.  In this way a newly
plowed field is leveled very quickly, and is easily prepared
for furrowing. A scraper very easily made is shown at
OA       R F      A 
B
I        A     n      A
A
A
L
Fig. 92.-FRENCH SCRN m.
fig. 91. It consists of a central plank and two other
planks hinged to it as wings, and adjusted in different
a
203
ao
y 
IRRIGATION.
positions, and so held by means of strong braces. It is
shod with steel, and is furnished with a tongue for draft.
By adjusting the wings the earth may be scraped in
different ways, as may be desired; and ridges may be
formed by it, by proper adjustment of the wings and
.shape of the central plank. Another implement for this
purpose is used among the French and Italian irrigators,
which is very effective, and is employed as frequently as
Fig. 93.-FORM OF SCRAPER.
the plow. It consists of a frame, seen at fig. 92, of
timber bolted or mortised together, and braced with two
diagonal braces at the front. It is generally square in
shape and admits of being made of any suitable size.
Two cross-pieces, A, and B, are provided with metal
shoes, similar in shape to plane-irons, which project
beneath the surface, as shown
at figs. 93, and 94.   As the
machine is drawn across the
field the scrapers take off every
protuberance, and deposit the
loosened soil in the hollows,
and in time, by passing across
the field in different direc                          Ttions, a perfect level is gained.
To enable this machine to be
Fig. 94. —ndims vIw.   transported  from  place  to
place more readily, the upper side of the side-pieces may
be provided with shoes made of light bar-iron, affixed in
the manner shown at fig. 95. When it is to be moved from
the field it is simply turned over, and glides over the soil
upon these shoes. As the implement will be in constant
use it should be stoutly made and carefully preserved.
When a smooth, level surface has been obtained, the seed
204
,A
B 
ROLLERS.
sown and the field harrowed, the soil may be furrowed by
passing over it in the direction in which the water is to
flow upon it, a roller provided with corrugations upon
its surface, each of which leaves a small distributing furrow. See fig. 96. This roller may be made of cast iron
disks, 18 inches or more in diameter, and of such a thick
Fig. 95.-SCRAPER rINVTTm.
ness as may conform to the distance between the furrows,
or the disks may be made of sand and cement, forming
in reality artificial stone. The cement may be shaped in
wooden molds. These disks will have holes two inches
in diameter through their centers, through which an axle,
consisting of rolled-iron bar or shaft, may be placed.
The axle may be fixed at the ends in a wooden frame,
provided with a tongue for draft. By such a method of
construction sufficient weight may be secured to compact
the soil and make the furrows durable.  Another form of
fi. 96.-CORRUGATED ROLLER.
roller is shown at fig. 97. This may be made of circular
sections of oak plank, 30 inches in diameter, with others
placed alternately with these, of 36 inches in diameter.
These sections may all be independent of each other, but
it will be more convenient if they are in pairs or triplets;
for the reason that it will be necessary to make these
205
11 
IRRIGATION.
sections of several pieces, and it will be easy to bolt them
together by crossing the pieces of one section upon those
of another, or two more. The most desirable plan will
probably be to make them in triplets in the manner shown
Fig. 97. —ECTiON ROX.
in fig. 98, the dotted lines showing the manner in which
the joints of each section cross those of the others.
These sections may be placed upon an axle, as previously
described, and provided with a frame, upon which there
may be a seat for the driver. Various other forms of
rollers may be devised which
will answer the purpose of
making furrows for those
crops that cover the groundl
1  tf.}~.  entirely, an d which are sown
either in narrow drills or
broadcast.  For such crops
it might be desirable to make
ll9;    I9   9the drills, as well as the dis                            tributing furrow, to run in
an east and west direction
Fig. 98.-FoK OF SECTION.    when  this is practicable.
The ground will thus be
shaded from the southern sun by the growing crop, and'
the moistened furrows will be protected from a too rapid
evaporation. The furrows may be made to traverse the
ground between the drills, leaving the drills and furrows
alternate.
206
I 
DAMS.
It is obvious that the use of the rollers here suggested
is only applicable to the grain crops, and not for those
that are to be cultivated.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE SUPPLY OF WATER-DAMS.-PUMPS.-RESERVOIRS.                  ARTESIAN WELLS.
DAus.-For extensive irrigation, the available supply
of water can be found only in permanent streams; large
and copious wells, from which the water is raised by
pumps of great capacity, operated by steam, or in extensive reservoirs, in which the drainage of large areas
of mountain territory is collected. No dependence can
be placed upon artesian wells, though the contrary has
been erroneously taught by some writers having a limited
acquaintance with this subject. This expectation has
been shown in a previous chapter, to be delusive, both on
account of the limited supply of water that can be thus
obtained, and the costliness of the system.  For exceptional cases, these wells may be employed with profit
These cases will be found to exist where extensive waterbearing strata are depressed in a basin shaped area, at a
moderate depth beneath the surface, so that a copious
and permanent supply can be procured at a moderate
cost, and where the area to be irrigated is small. The
futility of depending upon artesian wells, in other cases
than those above cited, will be evident when the principle
upon which they operate, is explained further on in this
chapter.
For the present, and for many years to'come the main
207 
IRRIGATION.
supply for irrigation will be derived from streams. The
water, in most cases, will be taken directly from the
stream at its regular level, by means of a main supply
canal, into which it is diverted by the ordinary flow, or
by means of wing drains placed in the stream; or else
the level of the stream must be raised by a dam, and the
flow diverted at a higher level than the usual one. It. is
always advisable, in fact necessary when profit is the main
purpose, to choose such a location for the commencement
of the canal as shall give the greatest possible head of
water. The cost of a few miles of canal may be insignificant, as compared with the value of several thousand
acres of land that may be brought under irrigation, by
adding a foot to the head of the supply. But a dam may
often be constructed at a much less cost than would be
Fig. 99.-LONGITUDINAL WING DAM.
necessary to carry a large canal a distance of even a
thousand feet. If the level needs to be raised but a few
feet, a wing dam may be constructed. This should be
placed where the level of the stream falls sufficiently,
and should be carried up the stream, at a convenient
distance from the bank, as far as may be necessary to
raise the water to the hight required.
The manner of constructing the wing dam will vary
according to the character of the stream, the nature of
the river bed, and the materials to be most conveniently
procured. The typical form of the dam is shown at fig.
99, in which the structure is seen projected up the
208 
CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS.
stream to a point at which the required level is reached.
This point should be found by careful survey, before any
work is done, because the strength and size of the dam
must be proportioned to the pressure of the water contained within it, and this is in a ratio with the hight of
head of the confined portion of the stream. This kind
of dam very rarely requires elaborate construction, but as
it is exposed to frequent erosive washing by the stream,
in floods, it should be built of such materials as are
known to bind well together. When but little head is
required, a very simple dam of brush, stone, and earth,
will be sufficient. The work is commenced at the head of
the canal, which is first excavated to the proper depth,
up to the river bank where the head-gate is, (see a in the
figure), properly constructed. The building of the wing
dam is carried up the stream from this point. A few
piles driven into the river bed, three feet apart in a double
row would be advisable at this point, and for such a distance up the stream as may seem proper, as this point of
the dam is exposed to the greatest pressure, and is generally the weakest; for the reason that in all earth-work
the junction of the old and new material is the most
difficult to consolidate evenly. If brush is to be conveniently procured, it may be interwoven between the
piles of each row, and rammed down compactly. Crossties may be bolted or pinned to the piles, to prevent them
from spreading, and earth is then thrown between them.
Brush should be placed between the rows of piles, and
the brush should be placed so that the buts lie down
stream, and the fine part in the contrary direction. As
the earth is dumped into the dam it will cover the brush.
Afterwards coarse gravel or stone may be used to fill on
the outside. In this manner the dam is carried onwards
to the extremity where brush covered with earth will be
sufficient to divert the current where the difference
between the levels is but slight.
209 
IRRIGATION.
Where a more substantial construction is needed, or
where the current is so swift that loose earth would be
carried away, the method of construction will be different. Crib work would then be required, or else the piling should be continued to the end, and should be of a
substantial character. The piling, or the cribs, should be
connected by stringers and cross-ties, and the vacancies
may be filled with brush and stone. It is not always
necessary that the dam be absolutely tight, as if it were
one of the usual kind; if it diverts a sufficient quantity
of water, that is all that is required. But a tight dam
may be made in this manner, if the cribs, or the space
between the piles are filled with brush and stone, and
earth be thrown upon the inner side of the dam. Then
Fig. 100.-CROSS-WING DAM.
the cribs, or piling, serve as supports to the dam, and the
earth serves to confine the water. In some cases wing
dams of a different form may be used. Where, for instance, a longitudinal dam would need to be of extreme
length, because of the inadequate fall of the stream, and
where it is desirable to avoid closing the stream entirely,
cross-wing dams may be constructed in the manner shown
at fig. 100.  Here partial dams of crib work, or piles,
filled in with stone; or dams of logs, brush, and earth,
are thrown into the stream, from each side, but not upon
the same line, so that when each reaches the middle, an
open space it left through which a portion of the water
escapes in a rapid. The distance between the ends of
210 
SOME NECESSARY CONSIDERATIONS.
the dams requires to be arranged so as to raise the level
of the water above them to a sufficient hight, and yet
leave an open passage with a current that may not be insurmountable to vessels or boats navigating the stream.
When dams of the ordinary construction are required,
it may be necessary to consider, before the work is begun,
the principles upon which their stability is founded.
This is more especially necessary, when the work is of
any considerable magnitude, and where a failure may involve the loss of the money spent, and much direct and
indirect damage besides.  The chief points for consideration in this regard are, the position of the dam in the
stream; the material of which it is to be made; the form
most consistent with permanence and stability; and the
manner of its construction.
The position of the dam has reference only to its
power of resisting the pressure of the water behind it.
No increase of the flow of water into the canal, or lateral,
can be gained by placing a dam in a diagonal position
across the stream, instead of at right angles to the banks,
as has been stated by some who have written upon this
subject in the public journals.  As an instance of the incorrect and misleading notions thus spread abroad, by uninformed writers, might be cited the following from an
article on "Practical Irrigation in Colorado," published
in the Report of the Department of Agriculture for 1871.
The writer says, "it has been contended that the stagnation of water extends to a sensible hight, above the
horizontal line of the regurgitation from the dam or
sluice, or any other fixed obstacle. This is accounted for
by the compression or closer adhesion of tke particles of the
water."  Again he says, "if you confine the water, and
divert it from its natural course, you may compress it into
a smaller space; but the same quantity will be found below the compression, as is found above it!"  Now, it
ought to be known that water is practically incompressible,
211 
IRRIGATION.
and rather than submit to pressure, its particles may be
forced through the infinitely small pores of cast iron, if
the iron is strong enough to resist the enormous pressure
required. So many instances of this property of water
are supposed to be popularly known, that a statement
to the contrary not only misleads and confuses those who
read it, but tends to cast doubt and suspicion upon whatever else the writer may say.
To expect, therefore, that by the use of diverging
entrances to a canal, or by the use of a funnel-shaped
sluice, a larger quantity of water may be forced into a
channel, will be found fallacious, and will lead to disappointment. A funnel-shaped box will pass no more water
through it, than can be passed through another with
straight sides, and of the same diameter as the narrow
throat of the funnel, unless the inclination is changed
and the velocity increased. This is an established principle of hydraulics. Other principles of hydraulics, which
relate to the construction and use of dams, are, that the
pressure of water is equal in all directions; that it is
exerted only in proportion to the hight and area of the
base of the column of water resting upon a given space;
that water will always seek and maintain an exact level,
and that the disturbance of the level sets it into immediate motion.
The pressure of a body of water upon a perpendicular
wall, a dam, or any other obstacle to its flow, is exerted
to force it forwards in the direction of the stream. A
dam placed directly across the stream is, therefore, weak
and faulty. It will be rendered very much stronger by
being placed across the stream in a curved, or angular,
form, with its apex towards the resistance, and giving it
somewhat the shape, and consequent strength, of an arch.
The material of the dam should be selected for its impermeability to water, and for its more perfect capacity
for binding together, and resisting disintegration. There
212 
BEST FORM FOR DAMS.
is no better material for a dam than earth which contains
a large proportion of clay, with enough sand intimately
mixed in the mass to make it easily worked, and closely
compacted. But dams may be made of rock and timber,
as well as of earth, the former materials being selected,
when the work needs to be of the most substantial
character, to enable it to resist the wearing action of
strong and heavy currents of water which would tear,
away an earth work in a short time. Where this contingency is likely to occur, only timber or rock should be
used, and the manner of construction should be left to
the direction of a practical engineer.   For a work of
timber, cribbing filled in and backed with rock, and
planked thoroughly well, will be found very substantial
and satisfactory. There are many different kinds and
forms of cribs with which the hydraulic engineer is
familiar, of which those may be selected that will meet
the particular features of the cases requiring them, and
which for want of space cannot be referred to here. A
few will be described further on, of those only which
may be found useful to the irrigator who desires to perform his own engineering, and in cases where professional
assistance may not be required.
Upon the form of the dam will depend, in a very great
measure, its strength and stability, for it is evident that
the form has much to do with its power of resisting the
enormous pressure bearing upon it, and which is always
exerted either to overthrow it or to push it from its
foundation. Further than this, the form of a dam should
be such as will best resist the wearing and abrading action
of the water. A typical form of a perfect dam is shown
at fig. 101. The reasons why such a form is best adapted
for its purpose may be briefly stated as follows:
It is evident that a structure, intended to sustain a
pressure of a body of water, can fail only in two ways, if
its solidity is preserved from disintegration by the wear
213 
IRRIGATION.
ing actions of currents. These are-either by being
overturned by the horizontal pressure of the water, or by
being forced from its position bodily by sliding upon its
base. The first alternative may be examined by considering what power a certain structure-a vertical wall
for instanceexercises to resist the pressure of water, and
what the pressure amounts to for a certain hight. The
pressure of water upon any surface immersed in it, is
equal to the area of the surface multiplied by the depth
of its center of gravity below the level of the water, and
by the weight of a unit of water. The unit adopted in
these calculations is a foot, and a cubic foot of water
weighs 62 12 pounds.  The resulting pressure is therefore
Fig. 101.-G RPL FORM OF ODAM
readily found. Let it be supposed that a wall 10 feet
high is sustaining a body of water behind it, as shown in
fig. 102. One foot in length of the wall is taken as a
basis for the calculation. There is then 10 square feet
subject to pressure; the depth of the center of gravity
is 5 feet; and the weight of a foot of water is 62' 12 pounds.
The product of these numbers is 3,125, which is the
number of pounds pressing upon one foot in length of
the wall. But this pressure, in this case, is not evenly
distributed over the whole wall, but in consequence of the
mobility of the water, the pressure is so distributed as to
be equal to, and to operate as, a single force acting at a
point one-third of the hight of the wall from the bottom. For this reason the product previously arrived at
should be multiplied by one-third of the hight, or 31 I,.
which will give as the total pressure exerted to overthrow
or push forward the wall, 10,406 pounds on every foot in
214 
THEORY OF THEIR CONSTRUCTION.
length. To resist this, there is nothing but the weight
of the wall, and as we have already the length and hight,
the thickness only is needed to give the required resistance. The rule for finding this, or to be more precise,
for finding the required weight of the wall for its stability, is to multiply together the hight of the wall in feet,
by half the thickness, and by 112, the weight in pounds
of a cubic foot of masonry, and divide the amount of
pressure, previously ascertained, (10,406), by the sum
given. In this case we get 411, feet as the required thickness of the structure.
It is evident that this supposed case is one of the weakest illustrations that could be chosen, because a wall of
i' I  
I  t                    i \
I        I      \      i
I 
____________. _ _
.... 
. —            --                                    I
__________~                ~~ I.I'
~                                  i    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I
l.       I
I     l
I-     I     I
-—;.________    I -   I
________                 I 
______ ~~___m
I                       I:
.i                        I
I                                 I
I                      I  I
I I
____                          IeSHe\
Fig. 102.
this character is poorly calculated to resist the pressure.
But it is a perfectly safe method of calculation, because
all the errors are on the right side. If we take off a
portion of the upper part of the wall, and place it at the
bottom, as shown by the dotted line in the illustration,
fig. 102, it is clear that we remove some weight from a
point where it is not needed, and put it where it will give
much greater resistance, both to oversetting, and displacing; removing the point upon which the wall must
turn in case of overthrow, and therefore increasing the
I
215 
IRRIGATION.
leverage, and consequent resistance, and also greatly
adding to the tendency to resist sliding. The more this
weight at the bottom is increased, the stronger, therefore, is the dam. This principle of calculation applied
to a bank of earth, or any other construction of the form,
shown in fig. 101, will easily show  that the power of
resistance to overthrow is immensely increased when long
slopes are made instead of vertical walls. Besides this
increase, the downward pressure of the body of water
upon the inner slope, adds to the resistance against both
overturn and sliding, and when the foundation is excavated, as shown in the illustration, this tendency to resist
sliding is again increased, because the adhesion between
the old and new earth is rendered more perfect. The
thorough incorporation of the old and new surfaces of
earth must be carefully made, as a preliminary condition
of stability. The full conditions of stability include a
weight of bank which with the vertical pressure exercised
by the water, to hold it down, will equal the horizontal
pressure of the water, against the dam, and leave a surplus to meet any unexpected contingencies. In addition
to these, the materials of the construction must be of
such a character as will resist percolation of the water,
and will bond together intimately and with cohesion.
It is not often that dams give way by sliding upon their
foundations; but an instance of this has happened in the
author's experience, when from faulty construction an
earth dam, founded upon a smooth rock bottom, gave
way bodily to the pressure of the water. But this dam
was made by an inexperienced man, in defiance of professional advice, and of proper principles of construction.
The best examples of the inside slope of a dam is either
3 feet horizontal to 1 foot perpendicular, or 2112 to 1.
The outside slope may be from 11 i, to 3, to 1, depending
upon the character of the material, and the means used
to prevent the surface from washing or crumbling away.
216 
EARTH DAMS.
These may be either by covering the face with sods, in
case no overflow is permitted, or with masonry or planking.
The manner of constructing a dam is of the greatest
importance.  The modern method is to introduce a puddle wall in the middle, to place selected materials upon
each side of this, and to form the slopes of the most
convenient materials to be procured, whether gravel,
rubble stone, or waste broken rock. But there are many
very ancient embankments, still existing, that have been
constructed without puddled centers, or any special precautions to make them water-tight. The ancient manner
of making these embankments was, to carry the earth in
baskets upon the heads of the workmen, and deposit it
where it was required, without any particular care as to
the disposal of it.  The constant  treading and the
thorough consolidation of the earth, by being thus thrown
in small quantities beneath the feet of the workmen,
tended to make a well incorporated, homogeneous mass,
which would be impenetrable by the water. It would be
difficult to discover any better mode of construction than
this. A dam constructed by the author upon an uneven
rock bottom which furnished an excellent foundation,
and of a crumbly, loamy clay earth, which melted down
in water to a pasty mass, was made without any puddling,
and by simply carting the earth and dumping it into its
place; the stream having been previously confined within
a flume of timber where the waste gate was afterwards
put in. The treading of the horses and men, and the
packing caused by the cart wheels, so perfectly consolidated the earth that no leak was observable, and the
dam is now probably better than it was when first made,
15 years ago. This dam was faced upon both sides with
waste broken rock, and in one severe freshet, water has
poured over the top to a depth of more than two feet, for
several days, without any injury.
10
217 
IRlIGATION.
As a general rule, for dams of not more than
20 feet in hight, when earth of the best kind, or such as
is mentioned above, can be procured, puddling may be
dispensed with. When puddling is used, it would seem
to be more properly placed upon the inner side of the
work, with the selected material next to it, and the poorcst used as a backing to support the work; this, although
seeming reasonable, is not in accordance with practice,
and no one seems inclined to risk the innovation upon an
accepted custom, with the risk of blame for it in case of
failure from whatever cause.
The first requisite, in constructing a dam of any magnitude, is to ascertain the character of the foundation, and
to excavate this to a bed of solid rock or impermeable
earth. If springs are encountered the location may be
abandoned and another chosen, or else the spring must
be carried away in tight drains, beyond the outer slope
of the dam. The channel for the water flow is then to
be constructed-in case the dam is to be used for a reservoir-in the solid subsoil, and the pipes or culverts used
for this purpose should be flanged every few feet of the
length, that the puddling around them may be more
thoroughly compacted, and the danger of leakage at this
most important point, by the creeping of the water along
the surface, be prevented. All disturbance to the pipes
or culverts, by settling of the work, which might occur
if they were placed in the body of the dam, is thus
avoided.
The best of the selected material is then disposed in
thin layers upon the foundation, and well rammed, or
puddled.  The puddle wall may be carried up in the
centre of the selected earth or clay, or upon the inner face
of it; which, although an innovation upon established
practice, would be an improvement upon it. The earth
should be brought to the dam by carts, in preference to
wheel-barrows or to tip-cars upon a track although the
218 
PUDDLING.
expense may be greater, because of the more perfect consolidation of the work by the trampling of the horses,
and the cutting of the wheels. It should be disposed in
regular layers, of 2 to 3 feet in thickness, over the whole
work. These layers should be depressed at the center of
the work, so as to give a basin shaped form to the section.
This is shown in fig. 101, in which the puddle wall is
placed in the center of the dam.
The puddle work should increase in thickness downward,
2 inches for every foot of hight over and above the proper
thickness at the top water line of the dam. The object of
the puddling is only to give security against any imperfection in the rest of the work, through which water
might percolate; but if the earth work is properly constructed, of the best materials, it is probable that the
water would never penetrate more than a few feet beyond
the surface, and would never reach the puddled portion.
Nevertheless, puddling should not be omitted, unless
under the most favorable circumstances, and even then
in no case in which disaster or loss of life might result
from a failure, as when a large body of water is impounded in a reservoir. When a sufficient quantity of selected
materials has been placed in the dam, the facing on either
side may be continued to the proper slope, with any
material that will serve the purpose; the inner slope may
be finished with soft material, such as peat, or dredging
from marshes, when no disturbance by waves, or washing
is to be apprehended, but the outer slope should consist
of solid matter, which will retain its position, and will
not crumble, as for instance, broken stone, rock, or
shaly soil.
When an earth dam is thrown across a stream, the most
important points to secure are, the waste gates, the outer
slope over which surplus water flows, and the foundation.
The waste gates should be built in one of the banks,
which should be dug away for this purpose, and the
219 
IRRIGATION.
frames should be thoroughly well cased in with planking,
which should extend some distance into the bank, and
be well protected with puddled clay, tightly rammed in
around it. The outer slope, and top.of the dam, should
be of plank or timber, with an apron upon which the
overflow is received and carried off. The bed of the
river at the foundation should be well searched for sunken
logs, or brush, which should be removed before any earth
is thrown in. These points should be looked to whether
the work be large, or small.
For small streams, dams of very simple construction
will be sufficient. Cribs of timber, consisting of a sill,
an upright post mortised in the center of the sill, and two
timbers placed like the rafters of a house-but one at a
greater angle than the other-from the ends of the sill
to the top of the post, are placed lengthwise in the
bed of the stream for the framework of the dam. The
timber which slopes at the greater angle is placed at
the front of the dam.   The cribs should be placed
from 6 to 12 feet apart, as the stream is smaller or larger.
They are joined together by planks or timbers, spiked or
bolted to them, and the rear of the dam is covered with
plank jointed and fitted together very closely. Stone or
gravel may then be thrown in, until the cribs are filled,
care being taken to pack clay closely at the bottom,
so that no water will escape.   The front of the dam
may then be planked over, and an apron, or floor of
plank, laid to protect the bed of the stream from the
waste water.   The earth-dam upon the banks of the
stream must be carefully joined to the crib-dam, and
should be supported in the center by posts driven in the
ground, to which three or four planks in hight are spiked.
A dam of this kind may be made to serve for streams of
any size, as it admits of expansion in length, bight, and
width, and increase of strength, indefinitely. Where
the hight required is not more than four feet, a dam of
220 
BRUSH AND ROCK DAMS.
earth, brush, and logs may be made to answer the purpose. There can be no better principle of construction
adopted for such dams, than that made use of instinctively by those sagacious dam-builders, the beavers, whose
works, able to withstand floods and freshets, easily made
and easily repaired, last for ages, and mock in their simple
A-,
Fig. 103.-BRUSH AD  LOo DAM.
strength many of our best engineering works. These
dams have a foundation of mud and brush, which bind
together very intimately; the brush always being laid with
the buts down stream, arrests all floating or suspended
matter which is brought down with the current, and thus
adds daily and constantly to the material, and the
strength of the dam. Into this brush is interwoven logs
and sticks, limbs and stems of trees, and stones, so placed
that the pressure of the water tends to hold them down,
and the interstices are filled in with earth which is also
Fig. 104.-DAM OF PILES Im ROOK.
thrown upon the submerged ends of the timbers. For
dams of no greater hight than a few feet, and of a length
of from 50 to 100 feet, there is none more simple, useful,
economical, and permanent than this. For streams the
bottoms of which are soft, sandy, mucky, or muddy, this
style of dam has no superior. A section of a dam of this
221 
IRRIGATION.
kind is shown at fig. 103. A dam made of piles and rock
is shown at fig. 104.
This form of dam is suitable for river beds in which
piles can be easily driven, such as those consisting of
quicksand, mud or soft earth, upon which a structure not
founded upon piles would be neither substantial nor permanent.  It is made by driving, across the river, three
rows of piles, of graduated lengths, as shown in the engraving. These are connected by stringers, solidly bolted
to them, and the framework is stiffened, where necessary,
by girts and braces. Cap pieces of flattened timber are
bolted on to the top, and the whole frame is filled in with
rock, and then planked over. The face may be filled in
with fine brush, and earth, to a proper slope. Dams of
this kind may be made of great lengths, where the fall
is not more than 10 or 12 feet, and resist the most severe
freshets.
In taking the water from the stream, it is necessary to
consult the laws which control the motions of liquids,
else counter-currents or eddies may be established, which
will wear away, or undermine the dam, or sluice. The
dam should slope away at an angle toward the sluice, so
that the current of the stream may be easily diverted into the canal without reflux, or regurgitation. To further
this end the dam may be placed diagonally across the
stream, or partly so, and the floor of the dam should be
carried so far up the stream as to cover the entrance to
the canal, and a few feet into it, so that the bed may be
protected from washing by the current.
PuMPS.-The use of steam pumps in irrigation, will
probably be found profitable within a few years, when
the valley lands that are easily and cheaply irrigated, are
supplied with water. The surplus then running to waste
will eventually be raised to the higher lands, by whatever
power may be cheapest. In many localities there are
no valley lands, but the banks of the streams are abrupt,
222 
USE OF STEAM.
and if the water is used at all it must be elevated. When
it is considered that one bushel of coal contains a latent
power within it, sufficient to elevate to a hight of one
foot, 50,000,000, (fifty millions), pounds of water, or a
less quantity to a proportionately greater bight, the future
probabilities of the use of steam pumps in irrigation,
will not seem to be misjudged. All that is necessary is
to consume the coal beneath a boiler, and apply the
power of the steam in the most economical manner, with
the best constructed engines and pumps, to the work of
bringing the water where it is required. At the present
time water is thus procured by one farmer at least, in
California, who employs a steam engine and a pump, to
raise water from a well, for the irrigation of his crop of
vegetables for the Sacramento market. The high price
procured for his product, is offset to some extent by the
high price of coal, which costs in that locality from $18
to $20 per ton. Where coal is much cheaper, the gain
would go to offset the probable lower prices of the product. Yet in many localities, where market crops are
raised, it would undoubtedly pay to employ steam power
to raise the water, either from streams or wells. If from
wells, reservoirs or tanks would be required, both for the
purpose of gaining the necessary head for distribution,
and for the warming of the water.
There is a large variety of pumps that may be used for
this purpose, that are of great capacity.
No mechanical power that we possess is so cheap, or
so effective as steam. The effective energy contained in
one bushel of coal being able to elevate six million gallons of water one foot high, or a million gallons six feet
high, or a hundred thousand gallons 60 feet high, it becomes only a question if the cost of coal and that of the
application of the power, will enable us to use it profitably.
It is not to be doubted that in some cases now, and in
numberless cases in the future, the possibility of the use
223 
IRRIGATION.
of steam in agriculture, and especially in irrigation of
arable lands may become usefully available. When we
see that the consumption of one bushel of coal, costing
20 to 40 cents, in a day, will irrigate 22 acres of land continuously, and as much more than that as the continuity
is broken and the consumption per acre is lessened, it
becomes very clear that there are many cultivators of the
ground that could now make the use of pumps driven by
steam to pay them handsomely.
Our present mechanical appliances for raising water are
Fig. 106.-METHOD OF OPERFig. 105.-CENRIFUGAL PUMP. IATING A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP.
very wonderful. The great rotary pump which discharged
the enormous cascade of water at the Centennial, which
astonished every visitor to that remarkable display of
mechanical powers, is able to throw 100,000 gallons per
224
11'
Fig. 105.-CENTRIFUGAL PUMP. 
PUMPS.
minute. This would supply about 7,000 acres of land
with water for continuous irrigation. The principal upon
which this powerful pump works is that of the common
propellor of the steam ship. An ordinary propeller shaft
is enclosed in an iron pipe, and is rotated by means of a
pulley and a belt from an engine. A section of this pump
is shown at fig. 105. It is known as Shaw's Compound
Propeller Pump, and is manufactured in Philadelphia.
The method of its operation is shown at fig. 106. It has
the advantage that it can lift water any desired hight by
proper adjustment. Perhaps no pump is better adapted
to extensive irrigation than this.
It is, however, at the present time, the smaller pumps
that will be most available for watering crops at intervals
when rain is inadequately supplied. To have then a re
Fig. 107.-W[IITMA  & BURRELL'S STEAM ENGINE AND PUMP.
source that can be drawn upon will be invaluable. For
such purposes smaller pumps are made, the cost of which
is comparatively trifling. One of these, intended to be
operated by steam, and known as the Fairchild Steam
Engine and Pump combined, is manufactured by Messrs.
Whitman and Burrell, of Little Falls, N. Y., for the very
moderate cost of $75. This pump will raise 30 gallons
a minute, which will be sufficient to cover 2 acres of land
225 
IRRIGATION.
an inch deep every day. The engine is of 2 horse-power,
and requires a boiler of equal capacity. The whole, complete, will cost but little over $200, a sum, which considering the inexpensiveness of its operation, is within
the profitable employment of almost every market gardener, or fruit grower, who cultivates 10 to 12 acres. This
combined pump and engine is shown at fig. 107.
A  force pump, designed for house and farm use, but
which is usefully applicable for irrigation of gardens, is
shown at fig.
108. Thisisthe
"Blunt's Uni                  versal   Force
Pump,"  made
by the Nason
Manufacturing
Co., of Beek- ~
man  St., New          E
York.  A care-   
ful   examina                  tion of this
pump, as to its
manner of
manufacture,,, r,
and effective                  ness in use for
Fig. 108. -BLNT's  the purpose of Fig. 109. —iLm'S S   FORCE-PUP
light irrigation       Cu~ER.
has been entirely sufficient to show its very great value as
a cheap and effective pump. Being simple in structure,
any person can take it apart, and put it together if necessary; its strength gives it the durability needed for this
work, and being furnished with a very capacious sandstrainer, it may be used to pump river or other water
which may be muddy, or have sand in suspension, without the least injury to the interior parts. Not the least
226 
RESERVOIRS.
of its value is that it may be put to this use while it fills
the place of a house or barn pump, or both. It may
be worked by hand, or attached to a windmill or steamengine.   It has attachments for pipes or hose at the
spout, or these may be made beneath the surface. The
sand-strainer (fig. 109) may be attached to this or any
other pump. While there are a great variety of pumps
that may be turned to the uses of the irrigator, yet these
undoubtedly meet all the requirements of those who may
be called upon to use them, from the greatest operator to
the least.
RESERVOIRS.-A vast amount of irrigation has been
done, and may be done, by the help of storage reservoirs,
in which the rainfall of a part of the year is impounded
for use during the dry season. The most prominent
examples of these storage reservoirs are in India, where
ancient works exist, which surpass in immensity, and
solidity of construction, what are usually considered as the
wonders of the world. The people of India, 100 millions
of which depend for their existence upon the water supplied by these reservoirs for the irrigation of their land,
have takea advantage of every valley, ravine, or nook,
large and small, and have converted them into storage
reservoirs, by throwing across them banks of earth, in
which the water supply is husbanded, so that none may
run to waste. In fourteen districts of the Madras Presidency alone, no less than 43,000 irrigation reservoirs are
recorded by the Indian Government as being in effective
operation, while at least 10,000 have fallen into disuse.
The average length of the embankments is half a mile;
one of them, now no longer in use, extending for 30
miles, and enclosing a space of 80 square miles, or over
50,000 acres. The second largest, which is still in use,
has an area of 35 square miles, and a dam  12 miles in
length. Curious statisticians have calculated that these
Indian embankments contain altogether as much earth as
227 
IRRIGATION.
would serve to encircle the whole earth with a belt 6 feet
in hight and thickness. One embankment of solid
masonry, strongly cemented together and covered with
earth, exists in Ceylon, which is 15 miles long, 100 feet
wide at the base, slopes to a top width of 40 feet, and
extends across the foot of a spacious valley. In Europe
there are many reservoirs for irrigation. In Spain there
are a large number; Italy has most of any European
country; in France there are many of considerable extent,
one contains 500,000 cubic yards, another 4,000,000 yards,
and hundreds contain from 20 up to 50,000 cubic yards.
In our own country, where we have seen a railroad system
so vastly and successfully extended, it cannot be doubted,
that at some time not far in the future, equally costly
and valuable works may be constructed, having for their
object the reclamation of fertile soils from aridity by
bringing to them a supply of water which now flows
away uselessly. By impounding the winter rainfall of
thpusands of valleys, or the melting snow from thousands
of hills, floods may be prevented and a store of water be
accumulated for use in the rainless season, which may
bring into productiveness millions of acres of now waste
lands. The manner of making these storage reservoirs
is to throw across the outlet of a valley or of a series-of
valleys connected together, a dam of sufficient hight and
strength, furnished with outlet pipes, which discharge,
either constantly or intermittently, into a canal. The
proper construction of the dam has been already treated
of; it will now only be necessary to consider some important and pertinent characteristics of the valleys themselves.
At fig. 110 is shown a system of valleys, which have
but one outlet at the narrow neck where the dam is
thrown across. This is a typical example of a most
favorable opportunity for constructing an irrigation reservoir.  In some cases it may be necessary to make more 
DRAINING A VALLEY.
than one dam; some subordinate ones maybe required
to prevent overflow at lateral points. This will be discovered when the contour lines of the level of the valley
are run, as they should be for every three or six feet of
A
Fig. 110.-A VAILEY RESERVoMR.
elevation. From these contour lines the capacity of the
reservoir may be calculated for each level. In the case
here illustrated, it will be observed that two valleys run
together, and meet where two spurs of high land approach
near each other. This combination of favoring circumstances frequently occurs in mountain regions, or among
the lateral spurs and foot hills of higher ranges. In the
mountain ranges and hills which lie within our territory
229 
IRRIGATION.
most subject to aridity, opportunities-occur for constructing such reservoirs on the grandest scale, at the most
moderate cost. Deep, narrow canons, which open out
into extensive, and sometimes vast valleys, now of little
use, for want of soil and on account of their rocky surface, might be easily and cheaply closed, and thus a reservoir of great magnitude might be made.  The normal
Fig. 111.-7ALLEY IN INCLINED.,TRATA.
-,i. -..- -1           IN-I.TRAT.
Fig. 111. —~ALLE~Y IN INCL,INED STRATA.
flow of the issuing stream might thus be regularly maintained, and destructive torrents from "cloud bursts,"
and rapidly melting snow banks, might be prevented.
But before any expenditure is made in such operations,
the geological character of the valley should be examined,
lest from unfavorable conditions failure mrlight ensue.
This will clearly appear by a glance at the three annexed
illustrations. At fig. 111 is shown a section of what is
known as a valley of erosion, situated in an inclined
formation. It is apparent, that if such a valley be
dammed, the water might escape through any one of the
strata on the lower side, that might happen to be porous.
In this case failure might be expected.
At figure 112 is shown a section of a valley occupying
an anticlinal axis. It is equally apparent here, that the
escape of the impounded water might be looked for, and
that upon both sides if any of these strata be porous.
Failure would be certain in this case also.
230 
THE WASTE-WAY.
At fig. 113 is seen a section of a valley occupying a synclinal axis. It is apparent that a reservoir formed in such
a valley could not leak by any possibility,;even though all
II                                  IIPq/J,,
-                   I   \\\\          -       -____                  II
~ __
________                                                ('
__                         -                              -
Fig. 112.-AN ANTICLINAL VALLEY.
the strata were porous. In addition to this, a valley of
this character will almost always have abundant springs
issuing from its flanks, while the previous one can have
none at all, and the first mentioned can have them on but
Fig. 113.-A    CLINA                    VALY.
Fig. 113.-Ax SYNCLINAL VALLEY.
one of its sides, and what maybe gained in this way, may
be more than lost in another.
The surplus overflow from a reservoir, should be
made to discharge at a point away from the dam, as
shown at A, in fig. 110. This is necessary or at least
advisable, as the dam may be damaged by the overflow;
or lest to provide the requisite strengthening to resist
erosion, the cost may be augmented unnecessarily. A
waste-way may be formed in a depression in the edge of
the basin, either by excavation, if it is already too high,
or by masonry if the existing depression is too low. In
case of rupture from any cause, the main work will remain intact. In addition to the waste-sluice, the appendages of a reservoir consist of the apparatus for the dis
231 
IRRIGATION.
charge of the water, which include the pipes, the valve
tower, and the culvert. For convenience and safety, in
tower, and the culvert. For convenience and safety, in
Fig. 11i-DAM WITH CULVERT AND TOWER.
case of the giving way of a joint in the discharge pipe,
this should be carried out through a culvert of masonry,
of sufficient size to admit a man. This culvert communicates with the valve tower as shown in fig. 114. The
valve is a circular plate, which
slides between two flanges
within the pipe, the surfaces
which come into contact be                           ing ground to fit accurately
together. This is raised by
means of a screw attached to
a  rod  having  a horizontal
wheel for turning it at the
top. A form of valve frequent                           ly used is shown at fig. 115,
the section of pipe contain                           ing the valve being bolted by
S t___~:the flanges to the discharge
pipe.   A  valve, in common
use in Italian and French ir                           rigating works, is shown  in
Fig. 115.-DISCHARGING PIPE  section at fig. 116.  This, A,
VALIVE.           may be made of wood, shod
at the foot with a plate of cast iron, ground to fit another similar plate attached to the opening of the pipe, E.
It is raised by the rod, B, keyed to the upper part, and is
guided by means of eyed wings, D, D, which work iup
and down upon the rods, C, C.
232 
DISCHARGE FROM RESERVOIRS.
The hight of the dam above the crest of the wasteweir should differ for different depths of the reservoir.
When the dam is 25 feet high, the waste-weir should be
4 feet lower, and for every 25 feet of additional hight of
dam, the difference should be increased one foot. The
size of the waste-weir should be proportioned to the
quantity of overflow to be carried off. This is a matter
for calculation of the amount of rainfall and the extent
of the area supplying the reservoir. It would always be
safe to form a temporary dam of flash boards, or earth,
B
.trL
__   0
///// /
Fig. 116.-DISCARGING PLUNGER VALvE.
upon the top of the waste-weir, which would raise the
surface of the water to the extreme limit of safety, when,
if this were overflowed, it would be carried away, and the
safe level quickly restored. This is a common practice in
India, where a large waste-weir is essentially necessary,
on account of the sudden torrents of rain which fall at
certain seasons, and where the necessity for saving every
gallon of water is paramount. In this way the safety of
the works is secured against sudden and unexpected
accident. But this possibility of providing for an eventuality, which brings danger with it, in this manner, should
I
233
.
7-~
..3
.~. %."
C
AD 
IRRIGATION.
not lead to the neglect of carefully gauging the excess
of water to be carried off, at times when but little is
used in irrigation, and of providing ample accommodation for it.
Reservoirs of smaller size, for use to a limited extent,
or for farms and gardens, may be made in a much more
modest manner. Where the surface of the ground is
Fig. 117. —SEsRVOiR ON LEVEL GROUND.
level, the reservoir may be made by digging out the bottom, and forming the banks of the excavated earth, as
shown at fig. 117. A reservoir upon sloping ground may
be made by throwing to one side earth excavated from
the bottom, and forming the bank, as shown at fig. 118.
A reservoir in a natural hollow may be made, by excavating the bottom, and using the earth to raise the sides, as
~  _
Fig. 118.-RESERVOIR ON SLOPING GROUND.
shown at fig. 119. In these examples, the original outline is shown by the dotted lines, and the finished work
by the shaded portion. The scope for the use of such
small reservoirs as these, by farmers or gardeners, is in
reality very extensive.
It is a question of profit solely. Will it pay for the
farmer or gardener to be master of his operations? Will
the cost of reservoirs, and of the necessary preparation
of the surface of the farm, to make the application of
the reserved water possible, overbear the value of the
crops raised? With our present defective agriculture, and
our consequently unprofitable crops, the necessary cost
234
A      _ ~~~~~-    ------ 
ARTESIAN WELLS.
may in many cases prohibit the improvement.  But it
cannot always thus remain.  The exigencies of a rapidly
increasing population will sooner or later compel a different system of agriculture; there must be more enterprise,
a greater employment of capital, new methods of producing food, and compelling the soil to yield its maximum
crops. One of the improvements will surely take the
shape of equalizing the supply of water. There is an
extensive scope for profitably doing this now, if we will
g_= —=...
Fig. 119.-RESERVOIR IN A HOLLOW.
only make the most of what opportunities we have.
There are numberless farms through which, every Spring,
a flood of water pours from the ground upon a higher
level. Numberless streams are torrents in Spring and dry
gullies in the Summer and Fall. By individual or associated effort, reservoirs more or less capacious, might be
made to catch all this useless or injurious water, and
make it serve a useful purpose.
ARTESIAN WELLS.-The operation of an artesian well
may be explained by the illustration, fig. 120. In this
is shown a basin-shaped deposit of various strata, either
of rock or of clay, gravel or sand, resting one upon
another. One of these strata consists of porous material,
lying between two impervious strata; it may be that the
one consists of sand or gravel, lying between two beds of
clay, or it may be of fissured sandstone, or limestone,
placed between two beds of compact rock. At the outer
edge of the basin these strata reach the surface. The
softer materials being easily worn away, may form valleys
through which streams may flow, and a large portion of
their contents may escape down the porous bed until the
basin is filled. In some cases, when streams are thus
235 
IRRIGATION.
situated, the whole body of water sinks out of sight, and
flows in an underground channel, until it breaks out in
copious springs here and there, or in a body at one place.
This happens in well known cases in the limestone regions
of Kentucky, West Virginia, Florida, and in Texas,
where large streams thus suddenly disappear. In other
cases considerable streams or lakes pass over or lie upon
such porous strata, and a large quantity of water escapes
from them. Let it be supposed that, in the diagram
given, a stream or lake is situated at the point a, or
otherwise that the rainfall of the locality here sinks into
the ground and disappears. The water passes through
A
Fig. 120.-PLAN OF ARTESIAN WELLS.
the porous stratum, shown by the pebbled shading, (b), until the basin is filled. Then if at any point within the basin,
c, c, a well be bored until the porous water bearing stratum
is penetrated, the water is at once forced to the surface
by the pressure, and if confined in a pipe, would rise until the level of the source is reached, as shown by the
dotted line. This would be an artesian well.
It is evident that a combination of circumstances, rarely existing, must be found to furnish a source of water
of this character at all, and that there must be an abundant and permanent supply to furnish wells that can
yield copiously and permanently. If there is only an
accumulated store of rainfall to draw upon, there is
danger that it may soon be exhausted, and afterwards
236 
CANALS.
that only a limited supply can be expected. If the source
of water is inexhaustible, then only can the wells be made
permanent. Thus a few wells in a district, may perhaps
yield copiously for a while and then fail, or if the number
be added to, the supply of water may be inadequate for
all of them, and those at the higher part of the basin
will cease to flow the first, and afterwards the remainder
will act no longer than the supply holds out. It is certain,
therefore, that the risk of expending large sums of money
in sinking wells of this kind, will be very great, and that
as the number in any locality is increased, the risk of
failure increases. Further, the expectation of a permanent supply is seen to be delusive, excepting under a narrow range of circumstances. For these reasons, caution
should be exercised in making considerable investments,
and founding large hopes upon the basis of irrigating
farms by the means of artesian wells. More especially
should caution be exercised where an extensive district is
to be made dependent upon these wells, and a large
number of them are to be sunk in contiguous places.
CHAPTER XIX.
SUPPLY CANALS AND THEIR CONSTRUCTION.
The proper location of the main supply canals of an
irrigation system, is a very important consideration.
Upon it depend, in a great measure, the cost of the works
and their future efficiency. The first cost of a canal will
depend, as a matter of course, upon its length, as well as
upon its manner of construction. It may be, in some
cases, a matter of little moment whether the course of
the canal be in a straight line or should curve with the
meanderings of the level, or on the other hand, it may
237
so 
IRRIGATION.
be a very important one. No extensive system of irrigation can be built up in a year, or a few years. All the
great works in existence have been the growths of lengthened periods, and have been altered, or improved from
time to time. But nevertheless, the construction of a
system of irrigation works should not be looked upon as
a temporary expedient, that may serve a present purpose,
and may be changed as need may arise in the future.
This would be a short-sighted policy, and one that would
be costly in the end. When works of such a useful
character as this are completed, many various interests
become involved in their stability, and to change their
course or character, might, and undoubtedly would, give
rise to damage, disputes, and conflicts. The location of
the main works should, therefore, be chosen with every
regard to future as well as present requirements. As a
general rule, the chief consideration should be to select
the location with regard to the most copious supply of
water, and the largest amount of territory that may be
served by it. The actual supply of water should be ascertained with great care and exactness, lest costly works
may be constructed, and afterwards found to be inadequately provided with water. There are not wanting
cases amongst our new works, in which this unfortunate
dilemma seems to be inevitable, The fall in the course
of the canal determines at least two things; one, the
amount of water which may be passed through it, and
the other, the stability of the banks, or the resistance to
the wearing action of the current.
The fall should not be more than onefoot in a tousand,
except there are the best reasons for departing from these
limits. This will give a current of 2 feet per second, or
about a mile and a half in an hour. Half of this fall, or
2112 feet to the mile, may be taken as the standard for
average circumstances. This will give a flow of about
one mile per hour.
238 
THEIR LOCATION.
The fall should be regular from beginning to end, else
the current will be more rapid in places where the fall is
increased, and this will cause the washing of the banks
in the steeper parts, and the deposition of the detritus in
places where the current slackens. This, in time, will
either destroy the canal or render costly repairs necessary.
It maybe a question whether it is better to follow a long
curve around a hollow, or to carry the canal in a flume or
aqueduct directly across it. This question may be decided by considering the cost involved in both plans, and the
advantages that may be derived, if any, from adopting the
more costly of the two. If there is land that may be
conveniently irrigated by following the longer course, that
would be a point for consideration. But it should be
taken into account that a secondary canal can at any time
be made to supply dependent territory, and it may not be
advisable to carry the main canal to it, for no other purpose than to supply it.
The character of the soil in which the bed is to be
made, should be regarded in fixing upon the location.
There are some canals in existence which lose 40 per cent
of their water by filtration through the subsoil. It is
evident that, in such cases, it would have been prudent
at least to have been sure that no better location could
have been selected.
After this point has been duly settled, the methods of
construction need the most careful study. It will be a
wise precaution, that may hereafter turn out to be a great
economy, to deposit all the excavated earth upon one side
only of the canal. If any increase in its size should ever
afterwards be determined upon, it can be enlarged at
greatly less cost if this precaution is observed.
The same principles which relate to the construction of
the larger canals are also involved in that of the secondary and distributary ones. The following remarks will
therefore apply to irrigating canals of every description,
239 
IRRIGATION.
and to a great extent, to the furrows; excepting those of
the most temporary character. It may be that some
repetition of previous statements may be made, but as
they will be found pertinent to the matter in hand, no
apology may be needed for that.
In the construction of canals of whatever description,
so long as their bed and banks are of earth, the inclination of the bed, the size of the channel, its form, and
the nature of the soil through which it is carried, are of
the utmost importance; because upon these depend its
capacity for delivering water; its cost of construction;
its permanence in use; and the prevention of loss of
water by filtration through its banks or bed. Upon the
inclination of the bed depends the velocity of the current
and the stability of the banks. It is necessary to limit
the velocity of the stream in the canal, lest the banks
should be degraded, and washed down into the bed.
Water flowing at the rate of 120 feet per minute, which
is the rate of flow with a fall of one foot in a thousand,
is considered the limit of safety in the most consistent
soils. Water flowing at half this speed will wash the
banks of a canal made in sand and fine gravel, but it
must not be forgotten that the velocity of a stream is
greatest in the middle of the surface, and least at the
bottom and sides where it comes in contact with the
earth. Thus the flow in the center of a wide stream
being at the rate of ten feet in a given time, will be only
eight feet in a deep canal, and six feet in a shallow one.
The following table gives the different and the mean
velocity of streams
Vaity in inches per    Vanty in inces p   ean vdity.
seconad at the surface.    seo  at the bottom  2.
4                 1.                 2.5
8                 3.3                5.6
12                 6.                 9.0
16                9.                 12.6
20                12.                16.0
24                15.                19.5
28                18.4               23.2
32                16.                26.8
240 
SLOPES OF CANALS.
The slope of some of the largest irrigating canals in
Europe is from 13 to 200 feet in 10,000. The slope in
the canals of the Tyrol and other localities in the Alps is
frequently as great as six feet to the thousand. In these
cases the sides of the canals are of masonry or timber.
The rule upon which the average fall of canals is indicated
is as follows, viz.: For
a bed which consists of'
fine mud,  16  feet  in'~~~~~,~:      ~
100,000; for soft clay,
45 in 100,000; for sand, 
136  in  100,000;  for          Fi, 121
gravel, 433 in 100,000,
and for solid clay, 570 in 100,000.  With  greater inclinations than these there is a probability that the substances of which the bed is formed will be taken in supension and transported by the water.
It is obvious that in those cases in which the fall is at
the minimum, the size of the canal must be enlarged
proportionately to pass a required amount of water. The
velocity may be hastened without enlarging the size in
certain cases. For instance, it is a rule in hydraulic
engineering, that the velocity is in proportion to the mean
Fig. 122.-A sH TLOW CANAL.
radius or diameter of the canal, other things being equal.
Thus the water in the canal deep in proportion to its
width, as illustrated in fig. 121, meets with less resistance
from the surface of the bed and sides, (called by engineers
the "wet perimeter") than that in the shallow canal
seen in fig. 122, and its velocity being therefore greater
than in one of a contrary cl:aracter, a larger quantity of
water is passed through it in a given time.
241 
IRRIGATION.
In soils that do not admit of rapid currents, and in
cases where a greater fall is unavoidable, it is customary
to construct the canal in sections, joined by chutes of
stonework or timber. The water passes through these
chutes with great velocity, and accomplishes the fall without injury to the canal.
The inclination of the banks depends upon the consistency of the soil. The angles of repose, or the slopes
at which various kinds of soil will cease to slide down a
declivity, are as follows: Wet clay, 16 degrees from the
horizontal; dry clay, 45 degrees; coarse gravel, 40 degrees; compact earth, 50 degrees; arable loam or mucky
earth, 28 degrees; wet sand, 22 degrees; dry sand, 38
degrees; fine gravel, 40 degrees. It depends upon the
position of the canal as regards the surface as well as
Fig. 123.-LOPE OF " ONE FOOT IN ONE."
upon the nature of the soil, what inclination is necessary
to be given to the banks. When the canal is excavated
wholly beneath the surface, an angle of 45 degrees, or a
slope having one foot of vertical hight to one of horizontal
base, is generally chosen. This is shown in fig. 123, in
which the dotted lines show that the slope is the diagonal diameter of a perfect square, and therefore one
of 45 degrees, or of "one foot in one."  When  the
canal is deeply excavated, the slope should be broken
by a narrower bank, slightly above the level of the water,
shown in fig. 124, and the upper slope above the bank
should be increased. The width of the bank should be
proportioned to the hight of the upper slope; its purpose
is to prevent earth loosened from the slope falling into
242
,... —-...........
i     ~        ~               ~     ~.'A 
FORMS OF CANALS.
the canal. In carrying a canal around the spur of a hill,
the earth excavated should be made to increase the width
of the bank, as shown in fig. 125, in which the dotted
line marks the excavation and the removed earth. The
moved earth will adhere more closely to the old surface
Fig. 12l-FORM OF A DEEP CANAL.
if that is loosened with the pick, so as to secure an intermixture of the new earth with the old. Where the hill.
side is of loose earth, it may be necessary to protect it by
stonework, laid up as seen in fig. 126. Where a curve is
made upon a hillside, it must not be forgotten that the
Fig. 125.-CANAL AROUND A HILL.
stream impinges upon the bank at every point of the outward curve. Sometimes, therefore, the stone-work will
need to be laid up upon the outer side, as the proper
place for it is where the water will wear the most.
Protection of some kind will be needed at those points.
This may be given by driving stakes and wattling
brush among the stakes, with the buts pointing down
stream, or by increasing the slope of the banks on
243
t 
IRRIGATION.
the outside curve. Sometimes a canal needs to be carried
underground, beneath roads or buildings. A wooden
bridge may be made as
shown in fig. 127, which,
when covered with earth,
~  ~| wappears as at fig. 128.  It
consists of a piece of round
timber, to which short
planks are strongly nailed
by o!e of their ends. The
otherends are spread apart
Fig. 126. —PROTE(ITED CANRL.
as far as may be necessary
to give sufficient capacity to the canal. The bridge is put
together in the canal, and when it is finished is covered
with earth.   Its triangular
form gives it great strength.
Where  the soil is porous
and open in its character, considerable loss of water often
occurs by percolation.  This   \ 
is to be prevented by puddling       -.X..
the bottom  and sides with 
clay or compact earth.  The  Fig. 127. —  mai for RCmVERT.
clay is deposited upon the banks, and as it is softened
and reduced to a plastic condition by the action of the
water, it is carried down and de                      posited in a layer upon the bot                      tom of the canal.  Gravelly and
loamy soils may be made water                      tight by puddling the moist bot                      tom. This may be done by driv      ~|  \\\\\    ~   ming a flock of sheep up and down
the canal when the bottom is wet,
Fig. 128.-compLETED    or drawing logs up and down by
CULVET.         horses. When a canal must either
cross a valley or be carried around it, it will often be
244 
MEASURING CANALS.
found profitable to extend its length around the curve.
It will be so in cases where the soil of the valley can be
brought under irrigation, and where it is compact and
capable of retaining the water. Where these circumstances are not present, it will be best to carry the water
across the depression by a wooden channel, supported upon timbers, or by an inverted siphon resting upon the
surface and covered with a bank of earth, or buried
wholly beneath the surface. If an inverted siphon is
used, it must be remembered that the confined water
exerts considerable pressure, which must be provided for
by securely strengthening the tube.
The capacity of the canal is an element which enters,
in an important degree, into the calculation as to its construction. To estimate the capacity of a stream of water
it is necessary to find the area of the cross section of the
stream in feet, and to multiply this by the velocity in
feet per second or minute. This should be reduced one
I........ L
Fig. 129.-PLAN OF MEASURnG A CROSS-SECTION.
fifth, to allow for the lesser velocity at the bottom and sides,
before explained. The result is the cubic feet of water
passing down the canal or river in the time indicated. A
cubic foot of water weighs 621 12 pounds, and measures
about 71 12 gallons. To find the cross section of a stream,
the figure formed by the surface of the bed and that of
the stream is taken and averaged, or reduced to determined geometrical outline. Thus a stream one foot deep in
the center, four feet wide on the surface, two feet at the
bottom, with banks sloping at an angle of 45 degrees,
will have a cross section of three feet. This result is ob
X\\ESsbE\\\\\\E~\\6\@\3@''.1
245 
IRRIGATION.
tained by adding the width of the surface to that of the
bottom, dividing by two, and multiplying the sum by
the depth. This is explained by fig. 129, in which it is
seen that the two triangular side sections of the area of
the stream are equal to half the central section. If the
bottom of the stream came to a point and had no width,
then the two halves would be equal to a square with a
diameter equal to half the width of the surface. The
velocity is found by floating a cork or piece of light wood
upon the stream, and accurately measuring the distance
traveled in a minute. The usual estimate of the water
required in extensive, continuous irrigation, is one cubic
foot or 71[2 gallons per second for 100 acres. Other
estimates double the quantity of water required, but it is
found, as the soil becomes saturated, that much  less
moisture is required to supply the crops. This smaller
estimate may thus safely be taken as the basis of, calculation for the size of the main canals.
In calculating the capacity of the canal, or rather the
amount of water that will be carried through it, allowance must be made for the loss by filtration, and also by
evaporation.   The  total loss  from  these  sometimes
amounts to 50 per cent of the water entering the canal,
during a flow of a few miles. The Platte Water Canal
Company, of Denver, loses 700 inches of water out of a
total inflow at the head of their canal of 1,700 inches.
Both filtration and evaporation may be reduced to a
minimum by giving to the canal the form shown in fig.
121, by which the bed is narrowed, and the surface exposed to the atmosphere is decreased.
The measurement of the water supplied should be accurate. Generally this is done by means of a gate of given
dimensions, fixed in a sluice-way accurately constructed,
which is graduated so that it may be raised to a mark
designating the quantity of water passing through the
opening. The quantity issuing is regulated by the head
246 
WATER GATES
or hight of the water above the opening, as upon this
depends the velocity of the stream escaping. The exact
velocity of the stream issuing under a certain head is not
ascertained by any arbitrary rule, but is estimated and
agreed upon by irrigators as a matter of custom and convenience.
The method of measurement common in this country,
is by an opening of so many square inches with a head of
three inches of water in the flume. The actual quantity
of water which may flow through this opening depends
upon many varying circumstances, such as the size of the
canal, the substance of which the flume is made, the
shape of the flume, its position with regard to the course
of the main current, with other modifying influences, all
of which may cause differences in the quantities delivered
through openings of the same size. By and by, when
our circumstances require it, however, some more precise
method to arrive at the exact quantity of water escaping
through the orifice will undoubtedly be discovered.
The gates for the passage of water into the smaller
canals should be care- 
fully  made.   Wooden
c
sluices are destructible,
and can scarcely be made
close.  If timber sills,          a
sideposts, and plank are
used,  they  should  be
made of the best of oak.
A cast-iron plate should
be laid in the sill for the        f
gate to close upon, and
the gate should be shod
with a cast-iron shoe,
beveled and planed to fit     Fig. 130.-SECTION OF GATE.
the planed surface of the plate. There will then be no leakage. A well constructed sluice-way should have a cast
247 
IRRIGATION.
iron plate in the sill and a cast-iron shoe upon the gate.
A common mode of construction is as follows: The gate
slides in side quoins; a flat bar supports an upright frame,
in which a toothed-wheel is fitted, gearing into the rack
of the stem of the gate. By turning the toothed-wheel
Ii         / ///
F A LEER-GATE.
n is raised or lowered, and the
a form of sluice worked by a
l a projecting eye, b, in the
t, c, and lever-wheel, e, in the
ever-wheel the gate is raised.
i g. 131.  The gate is lifted by
an arm a, which works on
a pivot, and catches into a
rack on a quadrant b, and
is there held, keeping the
gate open at any desired
hight.   A  very  common
wooden stop is shown at
fig. 132.  This is suitable
for small channels, and is
made of two boards joined
together, but separated at the ends, as shown at a, a. In
the space between the boards a sluice board, b, is passed,
being lifted by a hand-hole, and kept at any point by a
wedge, c. An aperture is made in the boards of a size
required, the lower edge being level with the bottom of
the channel.
I
!~~~~~~~~~~~
I
a   |illill                   i ~iiii
Fig. 132.-  - G,-Tm. 
CROSSING CANALS OR ROADS.
Sometimes it is necessary to carry one channel across
another at the same level, and yet keep them separate.
This is done by constructing a pipe of plank, see fig.
133, in the shape of an inverted siphon, and carrying it
beneath the channel to be crossed. This pipe is sunk
in the channel of which it is a continuation. At the entrance to the pipe a well or basin, c, is sunk in the chan
C\~~7A,A
Fig. 133.-MAOWER OF CROSSTNG A CAL.s
nel, in which matter suspended in the water may fall and
be caught so that it may not obstruct the pipe. In the
same manner a canal may be carried beneath a road.
In forming the smaller permanent channels, some labor
may be saved by taking advantage of natural depressions
in the ground, and forming the channels there, using the
excavated earth for filling up the depression. Thus in
the case illustrated by fig. 134, the earth is removed from
the center of the hollow, and placed on each side,
raising the sides, as shown by the dotted lines, andileav
Fig. 134ANAL IN A HOLLOW.
ing the canal of the shape indicated. A case in which
a canal is needed upon sloping ground is shown at fig. 135.
The earth excavated is placed as before on each side, and
the level raised as shown by the dotted lines.
The distributing furrows upon cultivated grounds cannot be permanent.  They are destroyed at every plowing,
and must be re-made for every crop. For the majority of
crops that are planted in hills or drills, the furrows be
249
--              --      -—.            - 
IRRIGATION.
tween the rows will serve for the irrigation of the crop.
For other crops that are sown broadcast, the furrows may
be made by rollers, figs. 96 and 97, which press the ground
into regular corrugations as soon as the seed is sown, and
harrowed.
It may be well to notice in this place the exaggerated
and erroneous ideas of some writers upon the subject of
irrigation, who do much injury by misleading public
opinion upon some vital points. For instance in a paper
upon this subject, published in the Report of the Department of Agriculture for 1871, it is declared, "that with
very few exceptions, every foot of land lying in Colorado
and Kansas, between the base of the Rocky Mountains
and Kansas City on the
Missou ri river, is sus-'
ceptible of irrigation."....
It is true that it is susceptible of irrigation if
the necessary water can   Fig. 135.-CAL ON A EmL-sE.
be found  by this  too
sanguine and mis-informed writer. But the water is not
there, and in fact but a very small portion of the territory
can ever be brought under irrigation with the existing supply. As an example, the Arkansas valley may be considered.
The nearest crest of the water-shed, on the north side of
this river, is 45 miles distant; on the south it is much
more distant. If we calculate a territory only 90 miles
wide, and 500 miles long, depending upon this river, it
would contain 28,800,000 acres, requiring at one cubic
foot per second per 100 acres, 288,000 cubic feet per
second. To supply this there would be required a river
nearly 2 miles wide and 10 feet deep, flowing 2 miles an
hour, with no allowance for loss by evaporation and percolation. The Arkansas is not one-fifth of this capacity,
and could not supply one-tenth of the territory. What
then becomes of the rest of the territory which is without
250 
INCORRECT IDEAS.
any great river to supply it? The absurdity of the above
assertion is manifest.
Again, this seems a proper place to refer to the erroneous figuring, noticed on page 172, in regard to the
canals in California. A canal 55 feet wide, upon the surface, (and averaging only 50 feet in width), 4 feet deep,
and flowing 2 miles an hour, can only supply 600 cubic
feet per second, or enough to give one cubic foot per 100
acres to 60,000 acres, or half a cubic foot, per 100 acres,
to 120,000 acres; instead of supplying 325,000 acres-the
capacity claimed for it. But 25 per cent of the supply
may easily be lost on the route, and this would serve to
still further reduce the number of acres served. It is
very important that these calculations should be made
with exactness, or some very costly mistakes may be made,
which may very reasonably tend to disgust persons who
are not well informed, as to the actual cost and merits of
irrigation.
The manner of construction of lesser canals, for distributing the water, should be consistent in all respects
with the conditions and requirements here pointed out;
there is probably no necessity to enter into details which
might be tedious, and would necessarily be a repetition,
to some extent, of what has been described heretofore.
One point, however, must not be omitted; that is the
connections of the earth works with flumes, gate frames,
sluices and boxes for the proper conducting of the water
into devious courses.  It is a known property of water
that it is very much inclined to "creep" along the surface of any pipe, arch, culvert or sluice, whether of iron,
brick, masonry, or wood, which is imbedded in earth
work.  The connections should, therefore, be made with
great care. As a rule, the walls of gateways, or sluices,
should be protected with flanking walls of the same
material of which the main works are constructed, or
else should be protected by piles driven firmly into the
251 
IRRIGATION.
bed and braced or anchored into the bank with timber
stays; and the water surface of the piling should be
planked. For small works, piles and wattling of brush
may serve a very good purpose to prevent erosion and
undermining. But in whatever way it may be done,
some protection against the wearing effect of currents or
eddies, or the penetration of water into the work should
be provided, wherever the course of the water is changed,
and a stream is divided or diverted.
For smaller ditches or canals, such as those of six feet
in width or less, a grade of one foot to the thousand will
be found hardly sufficient. Two feet to the thousand
would not be an unsafe inclination for such channels, and
where the soil is firm or tenacious, an inclination of three
feet might be allowed.  The narrower the canal the
greater ratio of inclination would be needed.
Caution should be exercised to frequently observe the
condition of the banks of secondary canals, when the
soil of which they are made is not of a very consistent
character, and where the water is confined within embankments. The cutting of a bank of earth by a current
of water, is a work which grows rapidly from small beginnings to great proportions, and a break in a bank may
be the work of a very short time, if a little wasting is
allowed to pass unchecked. The damage that may easily
be done in one short hour, by the escape of the water of
a ditch carrying but a square foot and a half, would easily
surprise one unused to such effects, and might be irreparable for a whole season. While the irrigator is greatly
benefited by the water he uses, so long as he can control
it in his service, he is always liable to be damaged if he
permits his servant to escape control and become his
master. This, however, can only happen by inexcusable
negligence or mistakes arising from inexperience.
252 
SILTING OF LANDS.
CHAPTER XX.
THE APPLICATION OF WATER TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF
LANDS.-SILTING OR FERTILIZATION OF LANDS BY
FLOODING.-RECLAMATION OF SALT MARSHES,
RIVER FLATS, AND SUBMERGED LANDS
The methods of irrigation described in the preceding
chapters, have for their object the supply to the soil of
water sufficient for the growth of various crops, either
during the season of heat and drouth, or in climates in
which the rainfall is not sufficient for the needs of vegetation.   But there are methods  of employing water
in the improvement, reclamation, or indeed, the actual
making of land, that belong to the art and practice of
irrigation which claim at least some notice in this work.
It is very probable that many years may elapse before the
gradual growth in value of our agricultural lands shall
arrive at that point, which will make it desirable to make
extensive use of these methods of improvement. But
there are many cases occurring, in which the owners of
lands that are amenable to improvements of the character
here referred to, are either putting these improvements
into operation, or are anxiously seeking for practicable
plans for reclaiming their property. It would be well,
however, to caution the owners of waste lands against
unwisely undertaking large expenditures of money, before they have consulted some competent engineer who
is practiced in this special business, or until they have
felt their way by completing some portion of the work
in a satisfactory manner.
"Silting," orfertilizing by flooding with water having
much earthy matter in suspension, is the first of these indirect methods of irrigation to be treated of. - This practice depends for its effects upon the presence of much
suspended matter in the water used; a large supply of
253 
IRRIGATION.
water; a soil that is destitute of fertility in its present
condition, either naturally, or as the result of damage
by washing or flooding, and that is so situated that it
can be covered with water from a muddy stream, from
which the load of suspended matter may be deposited
during a period of rest. After this has been done, the
clear water is withdrawn slowly, so that the newly deposited soil is not disturbed, and a new supply is let on.
The lands that may be thus improved, are obviously
only those in river bottoms, or in bends of streams, where
damage has been inflicted by the washing of freshets, and
upon which water from the stream may be flowed either
by damming, or by the high water of floods, and upon
which the water may be retained by a series of banks
until it has served its purpose, when it may be withdrawn
through flood-gates or spouts in the banks.
After the surface has been brought to a level, or to a
smooth, regular and not excessive slope, in one direction,
the arrangements for retaining the water should be made.
A succession of banks, as described in Chapter XII, pp.
Fig. 136.-WASTE GATE.
126-127, will be needed. The higher the banks, and the
deeper the sheet of water that can be retained, the better;
for the more water that can be impounded, the greater
the burden of soil that will be deposited. The discharge
of water must be carefully regulated, lest the deposit be
stirred up by the current, and carried off by the retreating waters. To obyiate this danger, the gates should
open at the top, and not at the bottom. The best ar
254 
IMPROVEMENT OF SALT-MARSHES.
rangement consists of a flume of plank, built in the embankment, as shown at fig. 136, in which three or four
or more narrow planks are made to fit in grooves. When
the water has become clear, and is ready to be withdrawn,
the top plank is raised at one end, or is removed altogether, and the water allowed to escape. When the water
has reached the top of the second plank, that is removed,
and so on until the ground is cleared.
As soon as a deposit has been made, sufficient to bear
a growth of grass, the seed may be sown and the operation
suspended. It may be repeated again when the herbage
has taken root, in which case the management will be
precisely the same as that of a water meadow, described
in Chapter XII, and the same rules that are there given
will be proper for its treatment.
The reclamation of Salt Marshes is a work of draining,
primarily; and would be out of place here, except that
the following work, the freshening or desalation of the
soil, which is a process of irrigation, is so closely connected with it that the one becomes a part of the other,
and can only be carried on in conjunction with it. The
importance of the reclamation of the millions of acres of
salt marshes along the coasts, is so highly considered by
thoughtful persons, that at a recent meeting of a scientific society at Boston, this was stated to be one of the
chief means of the recovery of the agriculture of Massachusetts to its former vigor and profitable success.
The drainage of salt marshes consists in embanking
them from the tidal flow, in draining the waters from the
marsh into ditches, from which the escape is by means
of sluices with gates which permit the outflowing water
to pass, but which close themselves against a flow from
without. A gate of this character is shown at figure 59.
As soon as the salt water has been diverted from the land,
the work is but begun; for the soil, saturated with salt,
produces no herbage but coarse sedges, reeds, or other
255 
IRRIGATION.
sea-side plants. Generally there is an abundance of fresh
water available for the improvement of the marsh, but
in the effort to keep the salt water out this is kept in,
with the result of perpetuating the marsh, notwithstand
ing its drainage. The remedy is by flooding the land
systematically and as copiously as possible with this fresh
water, and then withdrawing it; repeating the process
until the salt has been dissolved and carried off.
The remedy can be applied in two ways, at least. The
one is, in case a stream of water passes through or by the
marsh, when the fresh water is diverted by a dam in the
stream and a canal or ditch, upon the salt land, where
it is retained for a time and then discharged through the
gate at low tide. Another is, by closing the gates and
securing them so as to retain all the drainage water until
the ground is deeply covered, when the gates are opened
and the water discharged. The repetition of this process will, in time, remove the salt from the soil and leave
it ready for the plow, and the profitable cultivation of
crops. To carry out these operations effectively, it is
only necessary to apply to practice any of the methods,
found to be most advisable, that are explained and described in the preceding chapters of this book. It is
difficult to imagine a case, in which it would be impossible
to apply some of the plans herein described for the
drainage and irrigation of meadows.
The Improvement of River Flats, that are partially oI
periodically submerged, is another of the direct opera
tions of irrigation. The object of this improvement is,
to reclaim low lying banks of gravel, sand, or mud, eithel
upon the sides of tidal estuaries, or upon streams thai
have changed their course, and have left these ruined
spots to mark the ravages made by former freshets. This
process of reclamation consists in forming banks or
courses of piles and brush, by which the tidal flow or the
high water of rivers at certain seasons, when a large quan
256 
IMPROVEMENT OF RIVER FLATS.
tity of suspended matter is carried down, is arrested or
retarded, and made to deposit its burden.
When land is to be thus reclaimed, the first thing to be
looked to is the nature of the outfall for future drainage,
when the newly made ground requires to be dried and
made fit for cultivation; the second is, to be sure that the
amount of solid matter carried in suspension by the
stream, is sufficient to warrant the expectation that the
processwill be completed in areasonable period of time, and
at a cost that will not surpass the probable future value of
the land.  When these points are decided favorably, the
next thing is, to choose the method by which the work may
be done; as one method may be used, by which eight or
twelve years may be required to do the work which may
possibly be done in two or three years, by another method.
Thus, by simply retarding the flow by cross-lines of
stakes, with brush wattled between them, or by coarse
basket work or gabions anchored with stone and deposited
in lines, which is the least expensive plan, some years may
elapse before the ground may reach the hight of ordinary
high water, and become solid enough to sustain an embankment; when by throwing up banks of mud upon
foundations of piles and gabions filled with earth or
gravel, and making sluices so as to enclose the muddy
water and retain it until its loanc has been dropped, when
the clear water could flow off, a depth of soil of from
one foot uip to four or five feet has been gained in one
year. Generally the process is a very slow one, and before the work is undertaken some trustworthy estimates
should be procured, as to the cost of the work, and the
probable length of time that may be required for its completion.
The erratic course of rivers and their fickle behavior
when in flood, is an element that deserves close study.
Much of this depends upon the geological character of
the banks, as well as upon the velocity of the stream.
257 
IRRIGATION.
For instance, it is a well established fact that, while
coarse gravel resists a current of two miles per hour, fine
gravel is moved by a current of one mile per hour; ordinary sandy soil by a current of half a mile per hour, and
fine mud is carried away by a current that is almost imperceptible; so that the abrading action of flowing water
depends upon both of these contingencies. When a
stream, flowing with sufficient velocity, meets with a soft
spot in the bank, it soon excavates a concave outline
forming a bend, around which the current sweeps and is
deflected with violence against the opposite bank. Cutting away then begins in a new place, and a second bend
is formed here. The effect is continued, the banks are
hollowed out in opposite directions, the river, deflected
from bank to bank enlarges the bends and lengthens its
course. But as the course is lengthened, the fall is reduced, the velocity is decreased,  and the destructive
stream becomes a placid,
gentle, harmless current;
incapable of inflicting fur                              ther injury upon its banks.
Besides, in time of floods,
~'',', a,the broad  stretches be,-:.')~.~           t ween the bends are swept
over  by  the  spreading
stream, and the wide course
permits the waters to es                              cape with rapidity, and
o-...~.)Y    ~       without dangerous veloci  Fig. 1s7.-PLoA  OF A CUTOPP.    ty. When, therefore, it is
determined to reclaim one of these broad stretches, over
which the water flows, it must be remembered that it is
an effort to return to the former conditions when the
river was an active and destructive agent. The work,
therefore, requires to be done with care, caution, and
skill; lest a new course of destructive action be caused,
258 
CUT-OFF FOR A BEND.
which may seriously injure the banks below, and totally
upset the slowly acquired stability of the stream. An
illustration of the channel of a river, that has established
a winding course, and has formed bends or fiats that may
be brought under improvement, is given in fig. 137. This
Fig. 138.-SECTION OF CUTOFF.
may be either a tidal river, or otherwise. The course of
reclamation of the extensive tongue of land, surrounded
by the bend, will be the same in either case. Here is an
excellent opportunity for a cut across the narrow neck,
as shown. The cross section of the cut, with its embankments, is shown at fig. 138. By this cut the current is
diverted from the bend, which at times of flood may be
covered with muddy water, and gradually silted up. Two
gates are made in the right bank of the stream, as shown
\\NNNNThTh.~~
Fig. 139.-MODE OF PROTECTING THE BANE.
at a, b, fig. 137. The in-flow gate is at a, and the outflow at b.
The banks of the cut should be protected from the
abrading action of the increased velocity due to the greater
fall, by means of rubble stone, retained in place by
piling and planking, or by the piling alone. Bundles of
brush may be used in place of stone, and covered with
earth, as shown at fig. 139. Nothing tends more to the
permanence of a river's banks, than a smooth surface
upon which the water can find no irregularities to beat
259
swum 
IRRIGATION.
against, but from which it glides gently. In forming the
protecting banks, it is best to place them at such a distance
from the bed of the river, as to leave a solid fore-shore.
No angles or bends should be made, but the lines should
either be straight, or in easy curves. The materials should
be such as will bind firmly together; a mixture of clay
and sand being the best.  Combinations of masonry and
earth-work should never be used, as no proper bond or
union can be formed between them.
The surfaces of the banks should be covered with
grass as quickly as possible, and no trees should be planted upon artificial embankments. If water passes beneath
an embankment, a trench should be sunk, and filled with
clay puddle. When one side of a river is protected, the
other side is greatly endangered, unless equally guarded,
and the protecting works should therefore be made upon
each side.
Where the formation of a new cut is not possible, as
upon banks in tidal rivers, or in streams only one bank of
which is owned, or in estuaries, the method of staking or
piling, should be adopted. This consists in driving piles
or stakes, in double or single rows, across the tract to be
reclaimed; or in dividing it into sections by cross lines of
stakes or piles with brush interwoven, or by making deposits of stone along the lines of stakes. By these
methods the current is retarded, eddies are formed, and
the water is rendered stagnant; in either case, any
suspended matter is dropped within the lines of the obstructions. As the surface rises, additional stakes are
driven and more brush is placed between them, and
weighted down with stones, until the level is raised
sufficiently to warrant the exclusion of the water by more
solid structures. Runs or water-ways, by which the receding water escapes, whether it be the tidal flow or the
water of rivers, are to be filled by running lines of stakes
across them, and filling between them with brush or
260 
COST OF THE IRECLAMATION.
stone. These cross lines should be made lower in the
center than at the ends, lest the water should escape
around either or both ends, and form new channels.
When deep gullies have been formed, a different course
must be pursued, viz.: to throw into the deepest part
coarse basket work, gabions, or bundles of brush, which
are loaded with stones, until the bottom is gradually
raised; when it will become possible to use the stakes
and brush. When the level of the made ground reaches
the usual high water mark, it is ready to be enclosed
between banks, and rarely before this point is reached.
The course to be followed is then such as has been already
described in this chapter.
The surface having appeared above water, and having
been embanked and freshened, as previously described, it
is prepared for cultivation by being sown to grass as a
preliminary proceeding; for this may be grown long before any other cultivated crop can succeed. Perhaps as
meadow and pasture land it will be found more profitable
than in any other condition, because of the ease with
which it may be brought under irrigation, and kept as a
water meadow; for there are scarcely any lands better
situated for this purpose, or that can be more cheaply and
profitably managed in this way, than such lands as are
here under consideration.
The cost of such a process of reclamation, as is described in this chapter, will of course depend considerably
upon the size of the tract operated upon; the more or less
favorable circumstances attending the operation; and the
skill with which the works are managed. The most
reasonable estimate, when every thing is favorable, is $25
per acre, and from this sum up to $100 per acre may be
held to be the probable limits of the cost, unless some
very unfavorable circumstances present themselves.
Finally, it may be stated that to insure success in any
of the methods of reclamation here considered,
261 
IRRIGATION.
First, the space to be reclaimed must exist within the
influence of water which contains much alluvial matter,
whether it be situated upon the banks of an inland stream,
or of a tidal river or estuary.
Second, that the spaces to be reclaimed shall be allowed to receive the deposit left by the water for as long a
period as possible, and the water should not be excluded
until, by gradual accretion, the surface of the land has
been brought, if possible, to the level of high water of
ordinary tides, or above the ordinary level of the stream.
Third, that careful surveys and observations should be
made of the amount and quality of the solid matter
brought down by the stream, in order to determine the
length of time that will be required to complete the reclamation; its cost when complete, and the probable
value of the land when it is made and brought under
cultivation.
As an instance of the profitable reclamation of marsh
lands, bordering upon rivers, and that are periodically
overflowed, the " tule" lands of California may be cited.
These lands have been formed by gradual accretions,
brought down by the rivers, until they have risen above
the level of low water. At seasons of flood, these lands
are overflowed. When embanked, drained, and reclaimed, these lands bear enormous crops of alfalfa, grass, or
wheat. Eight tons of hay, and 40 to 75 bushels of
wheat, per acre, have been grown upon these reclaimed
lands, and there are none more valuable than these in the
whole State. The process of reclamation consists of embanking, draining, and irrigating, although from the
moist character of these lands, and the great depth of
soil, it is only in the more than usually dry seasons that
irrigation is found necessary, and then not by any means
to so great an extent as is needed by the valley lands.
262 
INDEX.
Absorption of Water by Soils.................. 24
Alfalfa Cultivation of.............1 186
Arable Lands, Irrigation of.........163
*Arrangement of Irrigated Gardeii. 46
Artesiani Wells, Inadequacy of.. 23-207
*Artesian Wells, Prlinciple of.......236
*Bank River Protection of......... 259
*Beds, Formation of for Gardens... 41
Beets, Cultivation of....................188
Broom Corn, Cultivation of.........183...3
*California, Canals, Plan of, in.....        aoainoWae192
Rainfall in..................  15
Irri,atioa   by Tiles in..................... 56
Irrif ation in......7...........171
Broom Corn    in................183
Value of Tale Lands in.......262
Vineyards in..................... 88
*Canals, Capacity of.................. 246
Formation of....  191-237-244-249
Proper Fall for............ 238
Protection of Banks..........1 243
*Cart for Liquid Manure...........70
*Cistern, Brick.....................  37
*  Open........                     3.............38
Clim           ate,  Easects of..................26
Clover, Cultivation of................ 187
Col       or    ado,   Irrigation in a............ 167
Cottoi2,                                          Cultivation of.............. 185
Commission, Congressiov2al to Cali        fornia............1.............173
Corn, Cultivation of...............183
Cost of Irrirution  o.......-... 30 164-163
of ReClaiming Salt Marshes..26;1
Croton River Water, Analysis of.... 19
Crops, Management of various Gar        de n..................... 81
Management of Field..........183
Cultivation of the Soil.............                     95. 9
*          Culvert for a road................... 50
*     for a   Reservoir............... 232
*Cut-off in a Bond of River........1     *     em s.                         258
*Dam     s  Form              of.................111-14
*     Brush and Low................221
*     Construction of..........207-315
* Piles and Rock.............. 221
Rule for Calculating Size of..215
* Wing, Loniditudinav...           208
* Cro~s.........rs.'..............210
*     with Culvert and Tower....23'2
Delaware River Water, Analysis of. 19
Drainage with ILtii  tion..........  115
of Irrigated gFields............ 145
* of Sw%amp, Examples of...... 146S
* of a Meadow.................1499
Effects of Irrigation on Nat-bearing
Trees....................... 93
oni Orchards and Vineyards... 94
Errors in Estimiiates................ 23
Estimates of Water Needed....... 23
Evaporation of Water......... 12-25-26
Flax, Cultivation of................184
*Flow, Manner of Diverting....... 136
Fodder Crops..................77-187
Fruits, Culture of...................86
*Furrows for Steep Slope..........45
* Form of................. 49-139
*    Protected.....................49
*    Cross, Trough for...........50
*    for a Meadow.............135-139
* for Inclined Field............ 136
* Laying Out............... 141
* for a Slope............... 141-142
*    Catchwater................... 144
* for Irregular Surface......... 194
Garden Cropg, Culture of........ 78-81
Tim e  for Waterinlg...........  79
Gardens, Irrigation of...........31-46
*Gates, Hand..................45-248
* for Draining, Meadows....... 127
* for Canals....127-247
* Waste..............................24
Grade, Proper for Canals...........252
Grass, Value of Crop...............17
Product  of,  on   Irrigated
Meadows.......96
Greeley, (Col.), Irrigating Canals...   16S
Hemp, Cultivation of...........184
*Hills. Crops in, Irrigation of......44
*     Furrows for................. 144
* Terraces for.................. 144
* Improvement of.............200
Hollow, Improvement of a......... 200
Horse-Powver, Effect of.............34
Hudson River Water, Analysis of.. 19
*Hurdles for Pastures..............153
* Movable....................154
* Plan of Setting..........i55
*I pl ements Used in Irrira tion.138-202
Imiiprovement of Land for........... 180
Irrigated Fields, Maniagement of..152
Plain of................. 192
*  llusti-ated.
263
so
Dra!DS. Position of................ 79
of Stotie.................... 114
between FurroNvs............ 1413
]Aatiiier of Closing.......... 150
*Drills, Irri,,.-ation of Crops in...... 43 
INDEX.
Irrigation, Cost of............... 164
Al i tiquity of............. 165-178
iii Coloratdo................. 167
Effects of..................... 181
Italy, Irrigation in.............  28
*Reservoirs on Uneven Ground... 234
t Plan of................... *  107-108
Rivers, Capacity of.................35
Solid Matter Conveyed by.... 20
Use of, In Irrig, ation.......... 35
*Roads, Culverts for................50
*Rol lers............................ 206
Rolling, Effects of................ 206
Lands that may be Irrigated........ 21
*Level for Drains................. 115
Liquid Manure, Irrigation with.....57
Managemenit of........ 65
*          Plans for Use of.......59
*.   Pump for..............68
*          Tank for...............67
Value of........... 72
*          Use of on Farms....... "73
for Fodder Crops.......77
Schuylkill RiverWater, Analysis of. 19
*Scraper for Levelin  g tile Soil.. 188-203
Siltiiig, Improvement )y..........253
Siphon for a Reservoir............ 110
*Sloping,-Grouind,Furrows for43-141-142
Soils, Absorptive Powers of....... 24
Sorglitum, Cultivation of............187
*Spout for Passing Water..........128
Sprints, Inadequacy of............. 29
*      Collecting Water of......112-117
*      Use of in Irri,ation......105-116
Streams, Velocity of.............2..40
Sutbsoil, Effects of................... 29
Sutpply of Water...................207
Stlrlace, Preparation of:........40-189
Irregular...............195
*3Meadow, Irrinated, Plan of..97-99-135
Wa te    r, Fo rm ation of 118-134- 137
Drainage of........... 122-142
Fertil  izers for......... 161
Grasses fo r...........120-159
* in a Valley............. 1
in Eastern France......  130
Management of....128-158
*           with Furrows    and
Drains............... 142
Meadows and Pastures, Irrigation ofl33
Irrig-ation of.................95
Irrig,ated. in England........ 104
Time of Irrigationi of.....100-132
Orclards, Irrigation of............87
*      Irriga:te(l, Plan of....  88-89
Ownierslip of Water............... 172
*Tank, Barrel..................... 62
*Taiiks for a House................59
*    for Storage of Water........ 33
* Liquiid M1alnure............... 67
*    Sel:Dischargino..............  60
Teasels, Cultivation of..............188
Terracitng Hill-sides............    }44-201
Tiles, Irrigation by.................51
Tobacco, Cultivation of............ 185
Passaic Riser Water, Analysis of... 19
PIasturi(s, Irrigation of.............. 153
*     Hurdles for....................153
Season for Irrigationi of...... 156
Pipes, Capacity of................  34
*     and Ilose, Irrigatioin y)y.......... 53
*     and Hydrants, Irrigation by..,54
Ilril(atioii by..............51
*     Irriiation of Meadows by.... 55
Plow, Swivel, Use of...............190
Proflt of Irridation............8.... 174
Pum(p,le Work iU  Dams.............. 219
*Pump. Blhmnt's Universal Force...226
* Centri fugal.................. 224
*     Liquid Maniure............... 68
*     Steam, Whitman & Birriell's.225
* Woodenl........................
Pumps, Use of.....................22
Rainfall in England and America.. 11
in California..................    15
increased by Irrigation....... 181
Reolamation of River Flats........ 256
Salt Marshes.................9 2a5
Sublmerg-ed Lands.............    25
Reservoirs, Ancient in India...... 227
Capacity of.................. 207
Construction of.......... 228-234
in a Valley...................   2129
* Manner of Disclharging......108
IUtah, Irrigation in................. 181
*Valleys, Geological Form of..230-231
Valute of Lands that may be Irrigated 51
of Crops by Irrig;ation.......5.B2
*ValN es for Discharging............232
velocity of Streams............... 240
Vineyards, Irrigation of........... 87
in California............ 88
in Europe.......... 88
Irrigated, Plao..........".'..'.. 91
Water a Nutriment for Plants...... 9
Amount contained in Plants..  9
Evaporated for one lb. of grain 12
Analysis of River Waters... 19
Amount neede d for Irrigation
* e W t i i r s.......................... 21-27
Meadows in England.........102
*          Format ion of...118-123-126
Grasses for............1'20
* Mode of Elevating........... 124
Cost of.......................  177
Sutpply of................ 207
Pressure of............... 212
Weiaht of Cubic Foot of.... 36
Watering, Times for............79-179
*Wells, Irrigation from............ 48
Wheat Crop, Maniagement of.....182
*Wheel for Raising Water.........124
*Wiiidmi       lls..................82
Winter Irrigation...................101
264
Kansas, Possibility of Irrigatioii in. 170
?I
I "-".
.!I
i-i: I --