Successful farming : a ready reference on all phases of agriculture for farmers of the United States and Canada . FARM DRAINAGE AND IRRIGATION 773 Farm Ditches.—The size of the farm ditches will be determined bythe acreage of land irrigated by each, the fall in the ditches and theamount of water that must be cared for in a unit of time. On unevenland it is necessary to bridge over the depressions with levees or levee is usually the cheaper, but should be allowed to settle. It willbe subject to wash-outs during the first few years. Wooden flumes are more satisfactory, but wood soon d
Successful farming : a ready reference on all phases of agriculture for farmers of the United States and Canada . FARM DRAINAGE AND IRRIGATION 773 Farm Ditches.—The size of the farm ditches will be determined bythe acreage of land irrigated by each, the fall in the ditches and theamount of water that must be cared for in a unit of time. On unevenland it is necessary to bridge over the depressions with levees or levee is usually the cheaper, but should be allowed to settle. It willbe subject to wash-outs during the first few years. Wooden flumes are more satisfactory, but wood soon decays whenused for this purpose. Metal or concrete pipes cost most, but are durableand generally cheapest in the end. The method of constructing the farmditches depends on their size. Most of the work on them may be donewith the plow and the V-crowder. The crowder makes a ditch with atriangular bottom. This bottom becomes rounded by usage. It isimportant that the ditch be made in the proper place at the older the ditch, the more impervious its banks and bottom becomeand the more satisfaction it. *» Canvas Dam to Check gives. Leaky ditches maybe greatly improved by pud-dling the earth of the sidesand bottom. This may bedone by drawing off thewater and driving a flock ofsheep the length of the ditchwhile it is muddy. Drag-ging the bottom with abrush harrow may be re-sorted to for the same pur-pose. On well-establishedditches the chief items of maintenance are the removal of silt, weedsand aquatic plants that may grow in them. Distributaries.—These consist of small wooden, metal or rubbertubes, imbedded in the bank of the ditch so that the water will passthrough the embankment and be uniformly distributed on the adjacentland. These need not be permanent, but may be imbedded temporarily,and moved from field to field as needed. Square boxes, made of lath cutin half, are cheap, light and serve the purpose as well as more expensivemetal tubes. Being square and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
