I started irrigating my cotton in early June. I'm using my new surge flow irrigation valve. (If you're really interested in this high-tech gadget, you can find all kinds of information on the web. Try searching Alta Vista, using "surge flow irrigation" in an advanced query.) The idea is that the irrigator can greatly improve the efficiency and accuracy of his (see note below) water applications in furrow irrigation by using this thing.And it's true. Unfortunately, there are limits to what can be achieved. I didn't do a good enough job keeping the rows in my first "set" running evenly, and some of my furrows didn't make it through to the bottom end of the field. I was much more careful about adjusting the rows in my second and third sets, and they worked very well.
What is a "set," you ask? A "set" is the part of a field one irrigates at one time. You see, my field has 641 furrows. That's an odd number because the cotton is planted eight rows at a time, and there's always one furrow more than the number of cotton rows. I irrigate every other furrow, starting with the outside furrow, so I have 321 furrows to irrigate. My water supply is a deep well, driven by a 60 horsepower electric motor. It produces about 1200 gallons per minute. This is not enough water to irrigate all 321 furrows at one time, so I must divide the field up into "sets."I irrigate one "set" of furrows, and then the next, and so on, until the field is done. "Batch" would be a better word for all you computer people to understand. We "batch process" one "set" at a time. But all the other farmers would laugh at me if I started a "batch" of furrows. Just like at the hardware store, you have to learn the lingo if you don't wanna get laughed at!
Using the surge flow irrigation valve, I used less water, and applied it more evenly, than I would have without the surge flow valve. I finished in six days, using 31.8 acre-feet. Without the valve, I would have needed 12 days, and 63.6 acre-feet, to do the field. And the results would have been worse, with much more uneven water distribution.
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