as Colorado, as there are so many different conditions. In order 

 to do justice in the way of irrigation and cultivation of an 

 orchard, a man should first study the character, depth and the 

 underlying conditions, as well as the surface, together with the 

 fall and natural drainage of the land. If fruit growers had 

 realised the danger of over-irrigation while growing their 

 orchards they could have saved to this country in fruit and fruit 

 wood thousands of dollars. In my opinion the severe losses 

 of fruit and fruit wood during the hard winters were in great 

 measure due to over-irrigation and lack of cultivation. While 

 we might have had some losses from the cold winters, had we 

 not applied the water so freely and put in more of our time in 

 cultivation, we would have grown our trees plenty large and 

 healthy enough to withstand the cold winters much better than 

 they did. But, being inexperienced and having abundance of 

 water at command, it was only natural for us to do just as we 

 did, and that was to over-irrigate. Xow. the question might be 

 asked why were my trees damaged and my neighbour's not when 

 he irrigated fully as heavy as I did? This should be easily s 

 answered. As the line of a fence oftentimes separates the charac- 

 ter of soil, lay of land and natural drainage, the first thing to do 

 upon entering into the fruit business is to study well the character, 

 depth and lay of the land, and then irrigate and cultivate accord- 

 ingly. As to time to irrigate, no one can lay down a rule, except 

 to say irrigate when the trees and fruits require it. Trees re- 

 quire very little water after the soil is once saturated, if proper 

 cultivation follows. In my experience, after the damage of two 

 hard winters, I carried my orchard through the succeeding sum- 

 mers entirely by cultivation, and the trees made all the necessary 

 growth. 1 shall not undertake to do without irrigation this 

 season, however, as the water from over-irrigating during pre- 

 vious years has had time to evaporate and soak through the deep 

 soil. From this test I am convinced that less water and thorough 

 cultivation is more beneficial to tree and fruit than too much 

 irrigation and little cultivation. Orchards on the western slope 

 should be irrigated every season, but judgment should be used 

 as to the number of irrigations and the length of time the water 

 is allowed to remain on the land. Some soils are porous and 

 have good drainage. Such soil is in no great danger of being 

 over-irrigated, but land with a very deep soil, such as we have 

 in Grand Valley, and lying very flat, should be irrigated with great 

 care, and should be well cultivated in order to feed the surface 

 roots from the moisture below. Water should be kept off the 

 latter part of the season in order to allow the wood to ripen well 

 before winter, unless the tree should be heavily laden with fruit, 

 when it will require some additional water to fully develop the 

 crop. Fall irrigation, after the wood has ripened, is very good. 



