320 



CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



The minimum quantity of water required depends 

 upon the character and depth of the soil, the kind of 

 stock, the age and the bearing capacity of the trees. 



In California, where irrigation of citrus fruits is 

 practiced on an extensive scale and where intelligent care 

 is exercised in the conservation of moisture, the total 

 amount of water provided by rainfall and irrigation is, 

 in most cases, between thirty and forty inches. In times 

 of extreme drought and scarcity, even less than two feet 

 has sufficed. But if the attempt were made to make this 

 amount do season after season, failure would result in 

 most cases. 



In relation to irrigation, the areas in which citrus 

 fruits are grown in the United States may be divided into 

 two sections. The first embraces California and Arizona, 

 in which water must be supplied artificially that the 

 trees may grow and mature fruit. The second consists 

 of the citrus sections of Florida, where irrigation is the 

 exception, not the rule, but where it is occasionally re- 

 sorted to, to supplement a copious, but sometimes irregu- 

 lar, rainfall. 



IRRIGATION IN FLORIDA. 



ANNUAL PRECIPITATION IN INCHES AT FOUR POINTS IN FLORIDA FOR 

 FIVE YEARS, AND THE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION FOR THE STATE. 



