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it up weekly until other rains come, thus preventing the drying 

 out of the sub-soil, but under this system the deeper one 

 penetrates the soil the dryer one finds it instead of the reverse 

 being the case. The result of this system is that the roots are 

 encouraged to strike up and remain near the surface where they 

 recognize that they receive the most water, instead of striking 

 down deep, in search of the sub-moisture which in most soils is to 

 be found at some depth below the surface. Any fool can 

 recognize that if the roots are near the surface irrigation is 

 needed much more frequently, and if they strike deep and when 

 water is applied it gets down to them it evaporates much more 

 slowly, so that we claim as a practical result of the system of 

 irrigation that we advocate that if carried out correctly one 

 irrigation only every four weeks will be found necessary in place 

 of a weekly one, and instead of a man being always present to 

 look after the water, somebody to go once in a while to see that it 

 has not taken a mole hole instead of tne furrow is all that is 

 required. 



We again state most emphatically that too much water is 

 being used in many orchards throughout the country, this 

 being the cause of thousands of sickly and unhealthy trees, 

 especially those Citrus trees having an unhealthy yellow 

 appearance. Another reason which tends to make the manner of 

 our usual irrigation still more fatal is the almost entire absence of 

 drainage in orchards. We have seen many pieces of orchards that 

 were being regularly irrigated that needed not water, but 

 the water at present contained in the soil effectively carried off by 

 a system of drainage ; in fact, there being already water in the soil 

 in excess, and even the trees suffering from it. We are practical 

 enough to recognize that it is often for one reason or other 

 impossible to irrigate on the lines we suggest, and we are not 

 dogmatic enough to say that a fine orchard cannot be grown with- 

 out following out the system which we prefer, but we simply 

 wish to point out to growers and planters the danger of over- 

 irrigation and also point out the advantage of getting the 

 irrigation water deep down. 



The ideal irrigation would be sub-irrigation, where the water is 

 led in underground drains and where no water is seen on the 

 surface at all. We have seen often orchards growing in a soil 

 which is naturally moist and which has a natural system of sub- 

 irrigation and drainage ; it is in such sites trees do so well and 

 thrive with less than 10 inches of rain. Finally we must impress 

 on planters the absolute importance of moving the surface soil 

 with either plough, cultivator, spade or hoe after each irrigation ; 

 this is just as important as the giving of water itself ; everybody 

 knows how if it is not done the soil after receiving water opens up 

 with deep cracks, through which all the water brought on to the 

 soil is soon evaporated away from the lower depths of the soil. 



