CROPS. 87 



tivation, which should always follow the watering, will 

 retain this condition of the soil. The crops then are re- 

 freshed and invigorated, and can resist a comparatively 

 long interval of dry weather. An excess of water may 

 very easily be worse than a severe drouth, for permanent 

 and irreparable injury may be done to a crop by flooding 

 the soil to excess; and not only the season's crop itself be 

 lost, but the plants themselves be seriously damaged and 

 future crops be imperiled. With caution in this respect, 

 an adequate%6nsideration for the peculiar character and 

 needs of the different plants, a sufficient regard for the 

 nature of the soil and its facilities for proper drainage, 

 whether natural or artificial, and some reference to the 

 ordinary provisions of nature in regard to the supply of 

 water, one can scarcely go wrong in applying the practice 

 of irrigation to the culture of any of our usual crops of 

 vegetables, fruits, flowers or shrubs. The general appli- 

 cation of irrigation, with few exceptions in this country, 

 will be to make up for the short-comings of dry seasons, 

 in which the deficient supply of rain may be made up 

 artificially. 



CHAPTER IX. 



IRRIGATING ORCHARDS AND VINEYARDS. 



It is doubtful if there is a single orchard or vineyard in 

 the United States, except in California, Utah, or Colora- 

 do, subjected to a systematic irrigation. At the same 

 time it is doubtful if there is any country in the world in 

 which irrigation could be more profitably applied to fruit 

 culture than here. The experience of orchardists proves 

 that drouth is accompanied by destructive attacks of in- 

 sects. How far these depredations might be prevented 

 by irrigation cannot be predicated, but it is beyond doubt 



