Winter Irrigation of Deciduous Orchards. 223 



moisture content, as during the previous year. For the purpose 

 of determining how much moisture would be lost during the sum- 

 mer, by evaporation of water from the surface of the soil without 

 passing through the trees, the space surrounded by four trees was 

 covered with roofing tin. 



No samples of the soil were taken until October 9th. At this 

 time it was found that, with the exception of the upper six inches, 

 the soil under the roofing tin was as dry as in the uncovered area. 

 Rootlets had formed in great numbers in the surface foot, from 

 which they were almost entirely absent in the uncovered portion 

 of the orchard. 



TABLE I: RESULTS OF MOISTURE CONTENT DETERMINATIONS. 



The accompanying table gives the results of the determina- 

 tions from the soil samples taken during the summers of 1899 

 and 1900. 



The " weight per cubic foot " is the weight of the soil com- 

 pletely dry. In order to ascertain the degree to which the soil 

 was saturated, it was necessary to determine the "maximum wa- 

 ter capacity" given in the second column of the table. The per- 

 centages of moisture in the samples were determined by the usual 

 method of weighing them before and after being completely dried 

 in an oven kept at a temperature of 230 F. 



