Preparation of Land for Planting 29 



are to be placed. While the majority of our young or- 

 chards have been planted on raw land, it is no doubt true 

 that best success is attained by planting on land that has 

 been previously cultivated and irrigated. Men who are 

 in a position to make comparisons have intimated that 

 fruit trees of the arid region are shallow-rooted, and if 

 this is true, it can no doubt be attributed to setting on 

 new land; the subsoil is dry, and the roots of the young 

 tree seek the moisture supplied by the first irrigations. It 

 requires several years to get some soils moistened to the 

 depth that tree roots normally go. 



Orchards on raw land are more difficult to irrigate the 

 first season, and as a rule poorer stands are secured. 

 From the observations of several seasons it would seem 

 that, in the long run, it would pay to crop the land at 

 least one season before planting the orchard. The texture 

 of some of our heavier soils and the water-holding capacity 

 of some of our lighter mesa lands would be greatly im- 

 proved by plowing under a good green-crop of some kind. 

 Cropping the proposed orchard site for one season with a 

 grain crop not only puts it in better physical condition and 

 insures a better growth and stand of trees, but largely 

 does away with the annoyance of releveling among young 

 trees, a condition that must be contended with in planting 

 young orchards on some types of raw land. Young or- 

 chards on alfalfa land, properly prepared, make even a 

 better showing than those on areas previously cropped 

 with grain. 



Settling and Leveling 



In the arid regions there are types of land (as indicated 

 in Chapter II) that settle from one to three feet when irri- 



