234 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



THE CONSERVATION OF WATER FOR ORCHARDS. 



HE following paper, by Prof. I. P. Roberts, was prepared 

 for the fruit-growers of western New York, but the doctrine 

 it contains will be found of general application : 



Water carries all of the food of plants and animals into 

 circulation and all excreted material out of circulation, so 

 there cannot be abundant growth and vigorous healthy life 

 without there is an abundance of water always present in 

 the tissues of growing organisms. Most living plants contain from seventy-five 

 to ninety-five per cent, of water, but, notwithstanding the great need of plants 

 for a liberal supply of water, the soil may easily contain so much as to injure or 

 even destroy them. Superfluous water in ordinary cases may be carried off by 

 surface and underground drains, but the problem of supplying water cheaply to 

 plants when there is a lack, is a difficult one. 



In most localities in the Eastern and Middle States, surface irrigation is 

 found to be impracticable (i) on account of lack of water, and (2) because on 

 many soils surface irrigation injures the land. Clay lands, unless most thoroughly 

 underdrained, become puddled, sour and reduced in productive power when 

 thus irrigated. Only on certain classes of soils, usually found in arid countries, 

 does surface irrigation become fully successful. Sub-irrigation is the ideal 

 method, but it is so expensive that it can only come into use where large amounts 

 of very valuable products can be secured on small areas. 



With few exceptions, all cultivated plants have to depend on the water 

 stored in the soil. How to make a great store-house for water in the soil with- 

 out saturating it, and how to get the water near the surface for the use of the 

 plant without letting it escape during dry weather, are, therefore, subjects of 

 prime importance to every plant-grower. 



An acre of soil one foot deep will weigh about 1,600 tons, and may contain, 

 when in good condition for growing crops, thirty-two per cent, of water, say, 500 

 tons or 4,000 barrels per acre. If the soil is too compact or too loose, not more 

 than half this amount, sometimes not more than one-quarter, will be contained 

 in the interstices of the land. Soils vary greatly in their power of holding water 

 without being saturated. A friable clay loam has the power of storing water to 

 a much larger degree than heavy clay or loose sandy soils. Heavy rains in the 

 fall or spring tend to puddle the land — that is, fill the interstices which are 

 between the particules or molecules of earth, thereby diminishing to a great 

 extent the storage capacity of the land. Often about the only object of deep 

 culture is to overcome the effect produced by heavy beating rains and to enlarge 

 the capacity of the soil for holding on to moisture. There is a large amount of 

 water stored in the first twelve inches of the surface soil, and we know that a 

 large additional amount is found in the subsoil. In some cases it is far more 

 than is found in the surface soil, although usually that is not the case. 



