50 ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



abundant for effectually flooding all our irrigable lands during 

 the non-irrigating months, does not admit a doubt. It is prob- 

 able that the ground itself is the very best reservoir for the 

 storage of water for summer use. Certainly this is measurably 

 true. If we thoroughly saturate the soil by winter irrigation, 

 do we not wholly obviate the effects of a dry season? Do we 

 not make the season a wet one for grounds thus treated, and, 

 for all practical purposes, render ourselves in a measure at least 

 independent of Jupiter Pluvius? The winter months are par- 

 ticularly adapted to this work; the water supply is then not 

 only more abundant, but the short days, long nights, and more 

 or less cloudy weather and consequent impeded evaporation, 

 prevent the too rapid drying of the surface soil, and favor that 

 thorough stirring and pulverizing of the ground which should 

 always follow irrigation. This subject of fortifying by winter 

 irrigation against the effects of dry seasons, and diminishing 

 the amount of summer irrigation that would otherwise be re- 

 quired, is one demanding our careful consideration as orchard- 

 ists. There need be no fear of putting too much water on our 

 lands, or that the winter waters are too cold, for they are not 

 ordinarily colder than the winter rains. 



"The month of June is early enough to begin the work of 

 summer irrigation, in seasons of ordinary rainfall, or on lands 

 that have received the proper winter irrigation, especially if the 

 soils are in any way retentive of moisture. If the trees are grow- 

 ing rapidly, or producing full crops of fruit, they will need irri- 

 gation by this time, to replace the draft made by them on the 

 moisture in the soil. Let me refer, in this connection, to a 

 simple but often overlooked fact. Trees that are fruiting or 

 making a rapid growth are great consumers of the moisture in 

 the soil, while those that are not fruiting or not growing rapidly 

 consume comparatively little moisture. In the first case, abun- 

 dant and frequent irrigation is necessary to supply their de- 

 mand, while in the latter instance little irrigation, if any, is 

 needed. 



"Much difference of opinion prevails as to the quantity of 

 water that should be applied at a single irrigation. On com- 

 pact soils with close and retentive subsoils, light and frequent 



