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Leonard Coates, one of the best known California orchardists and 

 looked upon as an authority, writes as follows on orchard 

 irrigation : 



" It would be a difficult task for one man to undertake to in- 

 struct the irrigation and cultivation for as large an area of land as 

 Colorado, as there are so many different conditions. In order to 

 do justice in the way of irrigation and cultivation of an orchard, a 

 man should first study the character, depth and the underlying 

 conditions, as well as the surface, together with the fall and 

 natural drainage of the land. If fruit growers had realized the 

 danger of over-irrigation while growing their orchards they could 

 have saved to this country in fruit and fruit wood thousands of 

 dollars. In my opinion the severe losses of fruit and fruit wood 

 during the hard winters were in great measure due to over-irriga- 

 tion and lack of cultivation. While we might have had some 

 losses from the cold winters, had we not applied the water so 

 freely and put in more of our time in cultivation, we would have 

 grown our trees plenty large and healthy enough to withstand the 

 cold winters much better than they did. But, being inexperienced 

 and having abundance of water at command, it was only natural 

 for us to do just as we did and that was to over-irrigate. Now 

 the question might be asked why were my trees damaged and 

 my neighbour's not when he irrigated fully as heavy as I did ? 

 This should be easily answered. As the line of a fence oftentimes 

 .separates the character of soil, lay of land and natural drainage, 

 the first thing to do upon entering into the fruit business is to 

 study well the character, depth and lay of the land, and then 

 irrigate and cultivate accordingly. As to time to irrigate, no one 

 can lay down a rule, except to say irrigate when the trees and 

 fruits require it. Trees require very little water after the soil is 

 once saturated, if proper cultivation follows. In my experience, 

 after the damage of two hard winters, I carried my orchard though 

 the succeeding summers entirely by cultivation, and the trees made 

 .all the necessary growth. I shall not undertake to do without 

 irrigation this season, however, as the water from over-irrigating 

 during previous years has had time to evaporate and soak through 

 the deep soil. From this test I am convinced that less water and 

 thorough cultivation is more beneficial to tree and fruit than too 

 much irrigation and little cultivation. Orchards on the western slope 

 should be irrigated every season, but judgment should be used as 

 to the number of irrigations and the length of time the water is 

 allowed to remain on the land. Some soils are porous and have 

 good drainage. Such soil is in no great danger of being over- 

 irrigated, but land with a very deep soil, such as we have in Grand 

 Valley, and lying very flat, should be irrigated with great care and 

 should be well cultivated in order to feed the surface roots from 

 the moisture below. Water should be kept off the latter part of 

 ^the season in order to allow the wood to ripen well before winter, 

 unless the trees should be heavily laden with fruit, when it will 

 require some additional water to fully develop the crop. Fall 



