ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 219 



of cacti will only grow where the soil is almost devoid of moist- 

 ure, with much heat, as can be seen on the deserts of Arizona 

 and Mexico, yet the cactus is almost entirely water. The water- 

 melon does much better and is much richer in saccharine matter 

 where grown with little water. On the other hand, the rush, 

 which only grows in swamps, is almost devoid, even while it is 

 growing in water, of moisture, and is used by the cooper for the 

 joints in his barrels, to make them water-tight. Again, all will 

 have observed that in our dry plains, after the grasses are with- 

 ered and dead, and the soil is apparently dry, a new order of 

 vegetation springs up, grows, blooms, forms seeds and dies. 

 From this we see that different plants have different natures in 

 regard to their water wants. The grape is one of those plants 

 that does not require the excess of water, or, rather, it can exist 

 and grow with a small water supply, and can be cultivated profit- 

 ably for a time ; how long will depend on the kind of soil, and 

 whether a soil is rich in such plant food as the grape requires. 

 I have a vineyard of twenty acres which is on a side hill, south- 

 ern exposure, and very gravelly, dry soil. There is no locality 

 on all of my lands drier and sooner dried out. It formerly, when 

 in a wild state, grew sparingly pin grass of a very stunted growth. 

 All this land is above my irrigating ditch, so that even if I had 

 a desire to irrigate it, it would be impossible to do so. This vine- 

 yard is now about ten years old, and since the second year has 

 produced a fair crop of grapes ; and even two years ago, when 

 we had only three inches of rain, it yet produced more than a 

 half crop for that land. This hillside is planted in the Blaue 

 Elba, Zinfandel and Berger varieties of grape. Now I cannot 

 conceive of a more severe test, and it is worth all the theorizing 

 that could be done in a month. Many persons say to me that 

 for young vines, especially for the first year, water is necessary. 

 Now, the reverse is true. When once a grape cutting begins to 

 put forth its leaves, when roots have formed and both proceed 

 simultaneously, then a very small quantity of water is necessary 

 to maintain its growth. The root of the vine elongates very 

 rapidly, and if water were scarce at twelve inches in depth, it 

 would soon reach out twenty-four inches more, if the water were 

 there for its wants. Plants require water in proportion to their 

 size and the amount of fruit (seed) to mature ; or, rather, more 

 exactly, in proportion to the size and quantity of their leaves, 

 for these are their surfaces to gather plant food in the form of 

 gases from the atmosphere and to evaporate water. All this 

 water which is evaporated in warm days is brought into the 

 leaves from the soil by its roots. It is easily understood from 

 this that a plant that has many leaves has much surface for 

 evaporation. A small plant, therefore, requires a little water; 

 a large one in proportion to its size; whereas, in a vineyard a 



