202 



Cost. It is reckoned that with one horse and plough one 

 man can prepare ten acres for irrigation in a day at a cost of 9s., or 

 a little under a shilling per acre. With a scarifier six feet wide and 

 a pair of horses, one man can cultivate the same area of ground after 

 each watering at a cost of 12s., or Is. 2|d. per acre. 



AMOUNT OF WATER REQUIRED. 



No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down. Local experience, as 

 well as the general appearance of the crop, are the best guide in 

 this matter ; for instance, the amount of rainfall varies sometimes 

 considerably even in the same seasons in different years ; again 

 one soil may be more retentive than another ; or, owing to its con- 

 figuration and the more or less porous and gravelly nature of its 

 sub-soil, may either be very quickly drained or else may receive 

 abundant moisture from the drainage of the slope above it ; the 

 varieties and age of the trees have also a direct bearing in regu- 

 lating the amount of water to be applied ; thus certain soil will 

 be quite moist enough for deciduous trees, such as plums, apples, 

 pears, and would require irrigation for citrus trees, or moist enough 

 for young and not for bearing trees. In a very dry climate, for 

 instance, the young orange orchard should be irrigated every three 

 weeks at first, and then once a month during the first season by 

 simply running one furrow at a distance of two or three feet on each 

 side of the trees. 



The second and third seasons, the trees having been well 

 established, less irrigation will be required, and in our climate one 

 watering every six or eight weeks will be sufficient. 



By the fourth year, the trees having gradually increased in 

 size and being in bearing, the number of furrows between each row 

 will likewise be increased until, when the trees have grown to their 

 full size and produce heavy crops, by the tenth year, the distance 

 between the furrows is brought to five or six feet and the time given 

 for each watering is gradually prolonged. As a rule, orange trees 

 in full bearing will require as much as three times the quantity of 

 water required by the same trees during their second and third year 

 in the orchard. 



In the case of the vine, the water management also requires 

 judgment. During the first season of planting, one or two good 

 waterings are more than will be needed, the ground having re- 

 ceived a good soaking previous to planting out the cuttings or the 

 rooted plants. The second season, one early autumn and one 

 summer watering will be found sufficient, and later on as the vines 

 enter into bearing they should not be irrigated more than once every 

 five or six weeks in the case of table or raisin grapes, and once 

 every six or seven weeks in the case of wine grapes. In either 

 case, the watering should cease when the berries have attained their 

 full size and are ripening, or else they will burst, viz., according to 

 localities and varieties, the beginning of December to the beginning 

 of February. In the case of wine grapes, the last irrigation should 



