462 SECOND ANNUAL CITRUS EXHIBITION 



cation which referred to the moisture in the subsoil. One might have 

 a soil sixty feet deep, with a quicksand to China; another, thirty feet 

 of soil, with hardpan under it. The former would require heavy 

 rains and frequent irrigations, and then the soil would frequently be 

 too dry, while the latter would get along with little water. He had 

 land the soil of which was twelve, twenty, and even sixty feet to clay. 

 He had adopted the idea of winter irrigation. Some people told him 

 that putting water on his ground in winter would ruin his trees. He 

 answered, does a wet' winter ruin the trees? If it is good for the 

 country to have an abundance of natural winter irrigation, would it 

 not be a good thing to have a thorough artificial winter irrigation 

 in the absence of a bountiful natural down-pour? He simply pro- 

 posed to make it a wet winter, whether the Signal Service said so or 

 not. The roots to his trees were going down in search of moisture. 

 The nearer he could keep his soil of an even moisture during the 

 entire year the better. All that the land wanted in summer was 

 water enough to supply the evaporation and the moisture taken up by 

 the trees. He had tried sub-irrigation on a small scale; he had put 

 down wooden boxes next to trees and tilled them with water once 

 a week. The trees so treated had grown nicely and were untouched 

 by frost while others had been badly nipped. He was satisfied that 

 the application of water below the surface was much the best plan, 

 and trees thus treated would be much more healthy than when the 

 surface was flooded. He had laid the asbestine s^^'stem of pipe 

 through a portion of his place as an experiment. 



J. M. Hixson, of San Francisco, was not accustomed to citrus fruits, 

 but had been engaged in deciduous fruit culture since 1858. When 

 he planted his trees he dug holes three feet deep and three feet in 

 diameter. Before planting his trees he had a small box made for 

 each tree, which extended down to the bottom of the tree hole. He 

 ran the water through his orchard in small streams, so as to till these 

 boxes. From these boxes the water would seep out through the soil. 

 The orchard so treated was at Nevada City, and the trees thus irri- 

 gated were much more successful and vigorous than those irrigated 

 -in the ordinary way. 



Judge H. M. Willis, of San Bernardino, had been interested in 

 orange culture for ten years. He had no stream of water to pour on 

 his trees. He thought that Mr. Richardson's remarks were very valu- 

 able; but what would do in San Gabriel would not do in San Ber- 

 nardino. Dr. Conger had stated that dry earth exposed to the atmos- 

 phere over night, in the drj^ summer season at Pasadena, would 

 gather moisture. He thought that if the doctor would try his experi- 

 ment at San Bernardino after the flrst of June, his dry earth would 

 be drier in the morning than the night before. He cultivates his 

 land thoroughly up to the close of the rainy season, but not after- 

 ward. He was more successful in pursuing this plan than when he 

 stirred his land in hot weather. A board laid on cultivated land 

 over night would accumulate moisture on the under side; mulch 

 acts in the same way. Last season taught him a lesson; he mulched 

 his trees; and those trees which were mulched and had no water 

 were to-day in a much more flourishing condition than those which 

 had plenty of water and no mulch. Cultivate deep- in winter, and 

 mulch in summer. Too much water is used in his neighborhood. 

 Trees that are irrigated often will sufler unless that frequent irriga- 

 tion is kept up. 



