184 One Thousand Questions in Agriculture 



throwing water in the dynamited holes. When the holes were watered 

 the ground was very dry and the water disappeared in a few minutes. 



You have used too little water rather than too much. Dry soil 

 of fine texture can suck up an awful lot of moisture, which can be 

 drawn ofif so far, or so widely distributed, that there will not be 

 enough for the immediate vicinity of the roots. The dynamiting 

 tended to deep drying and necessitated much more irrigation. 



Irrigating Young Trees. 



We have just put out lo acres to walnuts. The party zvho put them 

 out wants me to have some boxes or troughs made 15 inches long ivith a 3- 

 inch opening, and put in on the slant so as to have the zvater hit the 

 roots. 



Many such arrangements of boxes, perforated cans, pieces of tile, 

 etc., have been proposed during the last fifty years in California for 

 accomplishing the purposes which are mentioned in your letter, and 

 all such devices have been abandoned as undesirable. They may bring 

 the water to bear upon a lower level as intended, but the free access 

 of air and the fact that, with their use, proper stirring of the soil is 

 neglected renders them undesirable. The best way to water young 

 trees singly is to make a trench around tree, but not allowing the 

 water to touch the bark, applying the water and then thoroughly hoe 

 when the surface soil comes into proper condition. Young trees 

 treated in this way, with the surface always in good condition, do not 

 require much water. The amount depends, of course, upon whether 

 the soil is naturally porous or retentive. 



Underground Irrigation. 



How extensively used and with what results is the underground tile 

 system for irrigation used, and what especial character of soil is it best 

 suited for? 



Not extensively at all; in fact, if there is an acre of it which has 

 been for three years in continuous and successful operation, it has 

 escaped us. After forty years of trial of different systems, none has 

 demonstrated value enough to warrant its use. Theoretically, they are 

 excellent; in practice they are defective. Surface application in dif- 

 ferent ways, according to the nature of the soil, accompanied with 

 thorough cultivation, is the only thing that at the present time prom- 

 ises satisfactory results, except that where the land suits it, irrigation 

 by under-flow from ditches on higher elevations is being successfully 

 used on small areas in the foothills. For gardens the most promising 

 arrangement seems to be a laying of drain tiles rather near the sur- 

 face, which shall be taken up each year, cleaned of silt and plant 

 roots, and relaid along the rows before planting; but this calls for too 

 much labor, except perhaps for amateur gardeners. The kind of soil 

 best suited to such a system is a medium loam which will distribute 

 water sufficiently to avoid saturation and air-exclusion. Both a heavy 



