2 9 



tends to exclude the air from the soil, which is as necessary to 

 the roots as the moisture. 



< m the other hand, as we have said before, if there is not 

 enough water in the soil the tree fails to grow healthily and drops 

 its fruit, or ripens miserable undersized stuff, if any. 



There are some growers in this country who preach the 

 gospel of no water ; there are others who irrigate copiously. 

 Each of these advocates may be right or may be wrong according 

 to circumstances ; because a certain system suits one farm, do not 

 for a moment imagine that it iwll suit the next. 



Speaking generally, we would say that with favourable con- 

 ditions and depth of soil a tree should grow without irrigation, 

 provided there is a rainfall of 20 inches to 30 inches ; but to take 

 the opposite extreme, we have seen stretches of land in' this 

 country carrying beautiful orchards without any artificial irriga- 

 tion, and in districts where the rainfall is under 10 inches. 



Should the leading of water have to be resorted to, we in- 

 finitely prefer the furrow system, drawn with a plough or other- 

 wise. One or two furrows should be drawn along each side of 

 the entire length of trees which must receive water, the distance 

 from the two rows of trees to the nearest furrow will depend 

 entirely on the size of the tree, a four-year-old tree we should 

 say, roughly, at three feet. if. of course, the tree be small, one 

 furrow on each side is sufficient : when the water is turned into 

 the furrow we prefer to let in a strong. head if available, and 

 when the end of the rows is reached turn the majority of the 

 water into the next furrows, leaving just enough in the completed 

 ones to allow the water to reach the far end. and if the soil is 

 deep we like to see the water running so through each furrow 

 for twenty-four hours, for twelve hours at the very least, and 

 we are very keen on this point. The majority of irrigated 

 orchards, especially citrus orchards are irrigated on a system 

 which is as detrimental to the trees as can well be: the water is 

 led in turrows until close to each tree, then turned out of the 

 furrows and allowed to spread over the ground ; when the ground 

 is well covered, in say five to ten minutes the next tree is tackled 

 in like manner. We state that this style of irrigation is as bad 

 a? it can be. and by no means as economical as its advocates (and 

 it has many ) will have one believe. In the ordinary soil such 

 an irrigation will not penetrate more than two feet, and often 

 not more than twelve inches : we do not say that the soil is dry 

 tielow this depth, because those who practice this system begin 

 soon after the rains are over, and keep it up weekly until other 

 rains come, thus preventing the drying out of the sub-soil : but 

 under this system the deeper one penetrates the soil the dryer 

 one finds it instead of the reverse being the case. The result of 

 this system i? that the roots are encouraged to strike up and 



