IRRIGATION FOR ORCHARD AND GARDEN. 229 



ground will evaporate very quickly and the roots of the tree derive 

 no benefit from it. 



Question — Have you had any success with fertilizers, or don't 

 you use any ? ^ 



Mr. Fort — No, sir; the arid lands are the richest lands of Amer- 

 ica and there is no necessity for using fertilizers. They have never 

 had the rains to leach out the mineral qualities in the soil. 



Mr. Jenkins — Do I understand you that on Mr. Park's land it is 

 only ten feet to water? 



Mr. Fort— That is all. 



Question — Do the roots run down easily to water? 



Mr. Fort — 1 hardly think they would run down to water. Un- 

 derlying all the land, after you get down two or three feet, is a stratum 

 of clay mixed with alkali, and when the roots strike that they can't 

 go through; but if you get it thoroughly saturated with water it be- 

 comes soft and the roots will work down. 



Question — What methods are being used for conveying the water 

 by means of tiling;? 



Mr. Fort — Oh, some use gas pipe, some buy this cheap locomotive 

 boiler tubins, similar to what is used for making; fences around the 

 yards here in the city, and some use hose. I came across one man 

 who had a hose made out of duck cloth sewed together and was irri- 

 gating his orchard and garden with that; it made a very cheap hose. 



Question — I asked that because I know that people when they 

 first start in are so apt to think that it I'equires a very carefully con- 

 structed ditch, and that they must have all sorts of apparatus for run- 

 ning the water to where it is needed. 



Mr. Fort — Water runs down hill; we all know that. There is 

 nothing difficult about this question of irrigation ; it is the easiest 

 thing imaginable. Just simply get your water up on the highest piece 

 of land and let it run down hill. If you have a little valley between, 

 throw up the earth and carry it over, or if there is higher groiuid, 

 put in a siphon. 



Question — Would it not be a good deal of work to run the water 

 from one pipe to another where you have two pipes, one on either side 

 of the tree? 



Mr. Fort-^I would arrange to run the water from one pipe to the 

 other without too much labor. That plan is only recommended for 



