The farmer who
desires to utilize in the most economical manner the small amount of
water at his disposal must prepare the land according to dry-farm
methods and then must spread the water at his disposal over a larger
area of land. The land must be plowed in the fall if the conditions
permit, and fallowing should be practiced wherever possible. If the
farmer does not wish to fallow his family garden he can achieve
equally good results by planting the rows twice as far apart as is
ordinarily the case and by bringing the irrigation furrows near the
rows of plants. Then, to make the best use of the water, he must
carefully cover the irrigation furrow with dry dirt immediately
after the water has been applied and keep the whole surface well
stirred so that evaporation will be reduced to a minimum. The
beginning of irrigation wisdom is always the storage of the natural
precipitation. When that is done correctly, it is really remarkable
how far a small amount of irrigation water may be made to go.
Under conditions of water scarcity it is often found profitable to
carry water to the garden in cement or iron pipes so that no water
may be lost by seepage or evaporation during the conveyance of the
water from the reservoir to the garden.
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