19 r 9 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 17 



THE 



Orchard Ladder 



of Quality 



Must bear the name ''Northwest." 

 Thousands are sold on their merits. 



Ask your dealer 



to let you see 



our ladder. 



A PRUNER 



Which does the work 

 twice as fast as any 

 other make and costs no 

 more. 



Why Not Use 

 THE BEST 



It's the 



Northwest Standard 



Eagle Ladder 



If your dealer does not carry our Ladder and Pruner in stock, write us 

 direct for prices. 



Information on our Orchard Supplies gladly given on request. 



NORTHWEST FENCE & WIRE WORKS 



Successors to N.W. Fence ^- Supply Co. and Reliance Wire & Iron Works, 



PORTLAND, OREGON 



BASTIAN 



« ^ TATER requirements of fruit crops 

 \^/ are gauged by the variety of 

 T T fruit, age of the trees, soil types, 

 and climatic conditions. In general, or 

 at least as near the one figure will ex- 

 press it, an equivalent of 30 to 36 acre 

 inches of water (irrigation and rainfall) 

 must be available for the use of a 

 mature tree during its growing period. 

 Hence irrigation practice is mostly con- 

 fined to sections either having limited 

 rainfall or else in danger of suffering 

 from long periods of drouth. As prac- 

 ticed commercially, water for irrigation 

 purposes is mostly derived from streams 

 by some gravity system, or by pumping 

 — communities often working together 

 co-operatively to bring water from re- 

 mote districts or in large volume for 

 extensive tracts of land. Where an ex- 

 tensive system is desirable, the need is 

 sooner or later met by community 

 action, and the problem of the individ- 

 ual grower confines itself to a determi- 

 nation of whether or not he personally 

 can afford to use water for his trees. 



Will It Pay? It makes little differ- 

 ence whether a grower takes water 

 from a public, a community controlled, 

 or a private system, or puts in an inde- 

 pendent pumping system of his own. 

 In any case, the way of finding out 

 whether or not it will pay is the same. 

 To meet the various expenditures inci- 

 dent to the upkeep of a system, the 



Orchard Irrigation 



By R. L. Adams, University of California, Berkeley 



returns from the crop, by improving 

 quality or increasing quantity of the 

 yield, or the enhancing of the value if 

 a young orchard, must fully offset all 

 items of operation, upkeep, depreciation 

 and interest on the money. For in- 

 stance, a plant just put in to supply 

 enough water for a twenty-acre orchard 

 has cost the owner .?820. The various 

 items to be covered by increased return 

 are: 



Interest on plant — 6% on one-half cost. . . . $25 

 Depreciation and renewal — 10% on orig- 

 inal cost 82 



Repairs and maintenance — 3% on original 



cost 25 



Running irrigation furrows in orchard 



three times 4.i 



Running expenses — fuel, oil, grease 67 



Labor applying water and attending plant. 92 



Cultivating furrow-s after irrigating 45 



Cleaning ditches, annually 5 



Giving a total of $386 



Since this orchard comprises twenty 

 acres, each acre must produce enough 

 more in intrinsic value of the orchard, 

 or in cash return, to equal $19.30 per 

 acre. And yet there is danger of being 

 too conservative. In some of the citrus 

 bells of the United Slates, the open soil 

 types, the long periods of rainless 

 weather, and large demands made upon 

 tfie moisture by an evergreen tree have 

 brought about some wonderful exam- 

 ples of irrigating systems, costing in 

 some instance several hundred dollars 

 for a share of water in a co-operative 



enterprise. Individual systems consist- 

 ing of pumping plants and a distribut- 

 ing system comprised of numerous lines 

 of concrete pipe run the cost up to as 

 high as $60 per acre for the initial 

 installation. Yet the value of the crop 

 under proper methods of handling fully 

 justifies the expense. 



The cost of providing water must of 

 necessity be computed independently 

 for each case. The cost will depend 

 upon the system to be used, the source 

 of water, the amount required, when it 

 is to be applied, and how large a head 

 is needed. In considering the installa- 

 tion of irrigation, a form such as the 

 following may be used to advantage: 



Kind of fruit in orchard — Prunes. 



Acreage — Ten acres. 



Source of water — Wells. 



Method of obtaining water — Private pumping 



plant. 

 Method conveyance to orchard — Concrete pipe. 

 Method of distribution — Six furrows between 



row s of trees. 

 Probable periods of applying — May, June, July. 

 Amount required each time — Six inches. 

 Time limit for each application — Eight days. 

 Flow required (including estimate of ditch 



loss) — 120 gallons per minute. 

 Cost of pumping plant— S600.00. 

 Cost of conveyance system — $100.00. 

 Cost of distriI)Ution system — $ 



Such a variety of conditions are to be 

 met that a little outline of this kind 

 helps in crystallizing the problem and 

 in pointing out the need of possessing 

 a well-defined idea of what is really 



Continued on page 20. 



