74 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Main street. This is an ideal place for a reservoir as all points are 
easily accessible from the bluff. The supply of water for city pur- 
poses will be derived from wells driven into the rock, while, if this 
supply is inadequate for irrigating the many small fruit farms, ar- 
rangements have been provided for pumping for that purpose 
directly from the La Crosse river. 
Owing to the severe drouth last season the berry crop of this place, 
of which Minneapolis receives about 1,000 cases per day from June 
10 to Aug. 30, was nearly a failure, causing a loss to Sparta of about 
$100,000.—/inneapolis Journal. 
j 
HOW BEST TO IRRIGATE. 
FROM “YHE SALT LAKE HERALD.” 
In reference to orchard irrigation, I believe too much water is ap- 
plied to our orchards, and in a very wrong manner. Frequent irri- 
gations of the surface of the soil are not sufficient for good results 
on trees. Not enough water is applied at one time to reach the 
deeper roots, and as a result, while the surface soil may be perfectly 
moist, the deeper soil is quite dry and the trees present a sickly ap- 
pearance. Surface irrigation is conducive to great evaporation and 
loss of moisture. My plan of irrigating an orchard is to apply 
enough water at one time to reach the deeper roots, and then retain 
that moisture in the soil by cultivation and keeping the surface of 
the soil loose. I think the best method of applying water to this 
end is to block the orchard off in squares, using for this purpose an 
instrument made in the shape of a letter “V,’ but open 12 to 16 in- 
ches at the narrow end. Two planks are used, 12x14 inches wide, 10 
feet long, nailed securely in the shape described. A team is hitched 
at the broad end and driven through between the rows, collecting the 
dirtinridges. The orchard.is gone through with in this way, and 
then cross-ridged in the same manner. We now have the trees in the 
center of a square with ridges 10to 12 inches high between the rows 
to retain the water. The water is turned in at the upper end and al- 
lowed to run to the lowest square in the row. This is filled and 
then shut off and the next one above is filled, and so on back to 
the first, or upper square. By this method of irrigation a person 
can approximately tell the amount of water he is applying. This 
method was adopted in the experiment station orchard last year, 
which is located upon very dry land. Two irrigations were given. 
Probably between twelve and fifteen inches of water was applied. 
As soon as theland was sufficiently dry the orchard was thoroughly 
cultivated to loosen the surface soil and prevent evaporation. The 
orchard made better growth and is in better condition than ever be- 
fore, and I believe the result is largely due to the method of irriga- 
tion. 
Bs) yh 
