HORTICULTURE BY IRRIGATION. 



83 



young, well remember when it was difficult to sell 

 peaches, for example, at 25 cents per bushel in cen- 

 tral New York, and when apples were often sold at 

 fifty cents to a dollar per wagon-load in some dis- 

 tricts, we may take courage from the knowledge that 

 although the product is now immeasurably greater 

 than it was then, the prices are also far higher at the 

 present day. 



IMPORTANCE OF FRUIT CULTURE. 



From a side issue on the farm of twenty or thirty 

 years ago, fruit production has come to be recognized 

 as a leading rural pursuit in very many parts of the 

 country, covering wide areas of territory. No other 

 form of agricultural life compares with that of fruit 

 production in point of scientific requirement or in the 

 elevating and educational tendencies of the pursuit 

 itself. In fact, the successful pursuit of horticulture 

 requires a high degree of intelligence, and no incon- 

 siderable amount of culture along scientific lines. 

 Indeed, it may almost be termed a profession, so ex- 

 acting are its requirements when the best results are 

 to be alone accepted. 



These facts, if fully considered, should give com- 

 fort to those who fear the early overstocking of all 

 markets with fruit products. Not all who engage in 

 the business will succeed. Many failures must occur 

 as the result of mcompetency or other conditions 

 which time and experience may or may not over- 

 come. Certain limitations fixed by nature, for ex- 

 ample, may never be exceeded. Oranges may not be 

 produced in Michigan nor apples in Florida. The 

 "peach belt" must be narrowed down to those sec- 

 tions of the country wherein excessive cold in winter 

 does not destroy the trees, nor late spring frosts blast 

 the buds or blossoms. In all sections the utmost 

 vigilance must be exercised in protecting orchards of 

 all kinds from -the ravages of insect pests. Prunes, 

 apricots, olives and figs cannot pass the barriers 

 which nature has erected, and other fruits and nuts 

 can be produced only upon limited areas. From all 

 this it must follow that intelligent adaptation of 

 means to ends is a sine qua non to successful fruit 

 culture in the United States, and especially in new 

 and undeveloped regions. The commercial orchard- 

 ist is a comparatively new factor in our industrial 

 system, but from this time forward, upon him must 

 mainly rest the burden of supplying the American 

 people with that quantity and variety of fruits which 

 their awakened and more refined gastronomic sense 

 will hereafter demand. Old methods must give way 

 to the more advanced ideas of the modern specialist, 

 and the slipshod ways of a few decades ago cannot 

 be expected to win in the horticultural battle of the 

 present and the future. It is not the purpose of the 

 present article to go into details of varieties, cultiva- 

 tion , fertilization and marketing; but merely to call 



earnest attention to the vast and far-reaching impor- 

 tance of the subject of fruit-growing in general. In 

 future issues of THE AGE other phases of the subject 

 will be treated, and the adaptability of certain vari- 

 eties of fruit trees and vines to conditions of climate, 

 soil and cultivation within the wide domain of the 

 arid zone will be considered in due course. It may 

 be here stated that in the peopling of the irrigable 

 areas of the newer west, horticulture is almost cer- 

 tain to be a corner-stone of the edifice of that higher 

 and mightier civilization that is sure to result from a 

 comprehensive, just and enlightened policy on the 

 part of the people of the older sections and of Con- 

 gress towards those regions which need but the re- 

 vivifying touch of water upon their fertile though 

 arid soils to transform the desert into a blooming gar- 

 den of the Hesperides. Small but intensely tilled 

 holdings will characterize the future developments of 

 arid America. And while a mixed husbandry will no 

 doubt predominate, as being more conducive to 

 financial independence, except under extraordinary 

 conditions, the production of some variety of fruit in 

 commercial quantities will almost necessarily be- 

 come a certainty growing out of the favorable con- 

 ditions which may be artificially supplemented in the 

 arid belt. It will be the pleasing duty of THE IRRI- 

 GATION AGE to aid to the utmost of its ability and to 

 guide aright the home-builder who seeks the arid 

 lands whereon to establish his fields, his gardens and 

 his fruitful orchards. 



IRRIGATION BY PUMPS IN CALIFORNIA. 



Irrigation by means of pumping appliances has 

 been resorted to with advantage in some cases even 

 in California, where fuel is expensive. As a general 

 proposition, irrigating water is distributed in that 

 State by gravity, from reservoirs situated in the 

 mountains or higher canons of the foothills, whence 

 issue streams which may be utilized by damming or 

 otherwise by their perpetual flow for purposes of irri- 

 gation. 



In the Santa Clara valley, California, the great 

 prune center of the United States, irrigation of or- 

 chards is not generally resorted to. A considerable 

 rainfall at opportune seasons has generally been 

 accepted heretofore as affording sufficient moisture 

 for purposes of successful prune culture. 



During recent years, however, the rainfall has not 

 proven sufficient in all cases, and some growers have 

 resorted to irrigation devices of some kind. But it is 

 not probable that ordinary farm crops would bear the 

 expense of irrigation by means of pumps driven by 

 steam power. Mr. Henry Booksin, of San Jose, lately 

 gave his experience in irrigating his fruit orchard by 

 means of pumping machinery. He found that his 

 fuel cost at the rate of $6.75 per cord for wood, but 



