watering. This is followed by a third watering five days after. After that 

 irrigation should be given in the usual manner according to the needs of 

 the plant. Flowers generally appear one month after the first watering and 

 fruits ripen ten months after that. 



In the case of trees that have already commenced to hear the ambe-bahar 

 the usual water supply should be gradually lessened when half the crop 

 is gathered, so that, by the time the last fruit is harvested the surface 

 soil is fairly dry. The necessary resting period varies with the nature of 

 the soil. In very well drained soils this period is very short and flowers 

 appear almost im mediately after the first wateung In the ordinary orange 

 gardens of the Foona Dist'iot four weeks resting is sufficient ; and in r< ten- 

 tive soils six weeks resting is necessary. In places which are surrounded 

 by sugarcane fields from which the ovange trees receive constant percolation, 

 fl wering is hardly possible or if it dots occur at all," it is meagre and 

 most irregular. Similarly, trees growing on an extensive plain with deep 

 black clay soils do not pnduce flowers at regular intervals Such planta- 

 tions are rarely, if ever, paying. Suggestions for treatment of plantations 

 of the latter type will be found in the next. chapter. 



Climatic conditions also ^eem to have some effect on the condition of the 

 plants with respect to their rtt-ting season. Dry and hot conditions, such 

 as those of Khandesh, remove soil moisture very quickly. ! ranspiration 

 from the leaves is also very rapid. Trees in such a condition, therefore, 

 quickly respond to resting operations and three weeks 1 rest is generally 

 sufficient. At VVawoshiin the Pen Taluka of the Kolaba District, the atmos- 

 phere is very moist, the crop is harvested and finished by the end of March 

 and from that time to the commencement of rains the trees are given no 

 water at all. The soil is poor and trees have during the fruiting season 

 to be irrigated at an interval of six days, lest the fruits drop. In spite of 

 the long resting period of two months the trees remain in good healthy 

 condition and flower well in the rainy season. 



The water table iu the sub-soil also has an indirect effect on the resting 

 period. When the well water is very low, it is lifted up at a considerable 

 expense and it is natural, therefore that that no move water is given than 

 what is actually n-sceaeary for the welfare of the plants. The trees, there- 

 fore, s-how tho drying effect very quickly ; but such is not the case with the 

 trees which receive a liberal supply of water as, for instance, in gardens 

 commanded by canals or wells with a high water table as in some places of 

 Juunar Taluka of the 1'oona District. 



For the mrig -bahar it is usual to withhold water during all April and 

 the first week of May. Tho exposing and pruning of roots are done exactly 

 in the same manner as explained above in the case of the ambe-bahar. The 

 first watering is give a iu the second week of May and flowers appear in the 

 second week of June; the crop is harvested in March. In some places 

 where the water level goes very low in the welis or where the water supply 

 altogether tails in the hot season, the resting period is either prolonged or 

 shifted to May. In some parts of Khau flesh, resting is given in May and 

 the treos flower in July ; at Wawoshi in the Pen Taluka the trees are rested 

 for two months (April and May). . 



For the hatti-bahar it is impossible to rest the trees in the months of 

 August and Septomber, as there is rain during this period. This crop 

 therefore is not taken as a rule by the cultivator except when the rainfall 

 is very scanty or when tho mrig-bahar is missed. 



