194 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW T1JK.M 



are undertaken, the large furrows are multiplied. In this case the 

 water is admitted to the furrows from a board flume. Large fur- 

 rows are often used in a bearing orchard, the furrows being filled 

 from a lateral ditch, this lateral being parallel to the main ditch. 

 In this case the board dam is used to divert the lateral into one 

 large furrow after another, and when the furrow is filled dirt is 

 thrown in to prevent the reflow of the water into the lateral. 



The great variety in large furrow practice is suggested in the 

 foregoing. A systematic manner of proceeding is that of Mr. A. 

 Trost, of Palermo, California, as described by himself: 



The soil is red, gravelly clay, the upper 12 inches without rocks; below 

 this the gravel is more rock. At the depth of 3 or 4 feet the red clay changes 

 into a whitish one and water enters it very slowly. My orchard is 12 acres 

 1,120 feet long from north to south and 510 feet from east to west. The 

 northeast corner is the highest. Here the water ditch enters, and I run 

 my head ditch along the east side from north to south. There are 1 51 rows 

 of trees in that direction, the north and sout|i outside rows being olives. 

 There are 23 orange trees in the row from east to west and 1 olive tree on 

 the west end. All trees are 20 feet apart. I use 24 miner's inches per day 

 for 5 days in the following manner: I use 4 furrows about 5 or 6 inches deep 

 and about 3 feet apart between rows, leaving the furrows nearest the trees 

 from 5 to 6 feet from the trunks. The 4 lower rows on the west side I cross 

 furrow with 2 furrows between the trees. I divide the 24 inches into 51 

 equal streamlets by using one gate for each 4 rows. First turn this amount 

 in the furrow south nearest to tree. When the water has moved to the olive 

 tree, I divide the water between the 4 furrows for the lower 6 trees and 

 through the cross furrows. The next morning I divide the water at the tenth 

 tree for the 4 furrows. On the third day I let only one-half the water 

 go down in the furrow south of tree, the other in the one north nearest 

 to tree. On the fourth day I turn part of it in the middle furrows near 

 the head ditch, and by the fifth day I have my place equally wet from one 

 end to the other, taking care that the top soil near the trunks of trees remains 

 dry on the surface. I keep the soil around the trunks of the trees about 

 2 inches higher for a width of 3 feet. In this way I use all the water with- 

 out running any off, and lose only the evaporation. The whole amount of 

 water used is 120 inches, equal to 10 inches or 130,000 gallons per acre, or 

 4.5 acre-inches or 1,200 gallons per tree. 



I irrigate about every four weeks, running the water five days and turning 

 it on again three weeks after it is taken off. I have irrigated as early as the 

 1st of April and as late as the middle of October, depending on late rains 

 in spring and early rains in fall; usually from five to six irrigations per year. 

 After four or five days I cultivate 14 feet wide between the trees from 6 to 8 

 inches deep; for this I use a 7-foot cultivator and four horses. Near the 

 trunk of the tree I work about 2 inches deep and a little farther away 4 

 inches deep, using the three-cornered orchard plow with a cultivator 4 feet 

 wide and tw r o horses. 



Irrigation by Large Furrows Without Summer Cultivation. 

 An exception to the continuous cultivation of orchard ground 

 which is prevalent in the irrigated regions of the Pacific coast is 

 found in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California, where 

 furrows are made at the beginning of each irrigating season and 

 used continuously during that summer. The ensuing winter plow- 

 ing and early spring cultivation are relied upon to keep the soil 

 in good condition. Although this constitutes an exception and 

 the practice is Avidely followed for what seems to the growers of 





