148 One Thousand Questions in Agriculture 



A depth of 3 1-2 inches is not satisfactory in orchard cultiva- 

 tion, although there may be some condition under which greater 

 depth would be difficult to obtain because of root injury to trees, 

 which have been encouraged to root near the surface. Both experi- 

 ence and actual determinations of moisture in this State show that 

 cultivation to a depth of 5 inches conserves twice as much moisture 

 in the lower soil as can be saved by a 3-inch depth of cultivation 

 under similar soil conditions and water supply. It is all the better 

 to go 7 inches if young trees have been treated that way from the 

 beginning. 



Alfalfa Over Hardpan. 



/ have land graded for alfalfa and some of the checks are low and 

 water will stand on the low checks in the winter. There is on an average 

 from tzvo to three feet of soil on top of hardpan and hardpan is about 

 tzvo feet thick. Will water drain off the loiv checks if the hardpan is 

 dynamited, and will this land grow alfalfa with profit? 



Yes ; much of the hardpan in your district is thin enough and under- 

 laid by permeable strata so that drainage is readily secured by break- 

 ing up the hardpan. Standing water on dormant alfalfa is not in- 

 jurious. 



Trees Over High-Water. 



Which are the best fruit trees to plant on black adobe soil with water 

 table between 3 and 4 feet from surface? The soil is very rich and pro- 

 ductive. The land is leveled for alfalfa also; will the alfalfa disturb the 

 growth of trees? 



We would not plant such land to fruit at all, except a family 

 orchard. The fruits most likely to succeed are pears and pecans. 

 On such land alfalfa should not hurt trees unless it is allowed to 

 actually strangle them. The alfalfa may help the trees by pumping 

 out some of the surplus water. 



Soil Suitable for Fruits, 



7 am sending samples of soil in which there are apricots and prunes 

 growing, and ask you to examine it with reference to its suitability for 

 other fruits. Will lemons thrive in this soil? 



It is not necessary to have analysis of the soil. If you find by 

 experience that apricot and prune trees are doing well, it is a dem-- 

 onstration of its suitability for the orange, so far as soil is con- 

 cerned. The same would also be a demonstration for soil suitability 

 for the lemon because the lemon is always grown on orange root. 

 The thing to be determined is whether the temperature conditions 

 suit the lemon and whether you have an irrigation supply available, 

 because citrus fruits, being evergreen, require about fifty per cent 

 more moisture than deciduous fruits, and they are not grown suc- 

 cessfully anywhere in this State without irrigation, except, possibly, 

 on land with underflow. The matter to determine then is the surety 

 of suitable temperatures and water supply. 



