IRRIGATION IIST FLORIDA. 9 



nine times during the season of 1910-11, although it appears to have 

 been as droughty as the previous season. This may have been due to 

 a difference in the cropping, of which there is no record. There were 

 three irrigations in October, three in January, two in February, and 

 one in April. The season 1911-12 appears fairly well supplied with 

 rainfall, judging from the chart, yet the plot was irrigated fifteen 

 times as follows: five times in December, twice in February, five 

 times in April, and three times in May. Fifteen irrigations were 

 necessary in the season of 1912-13, as follows : three in October, one 

 in November, one in December, three in January, two in February, 

 three in April, and two in May. There are no records available for 

 the last two years shown on the rainfall chart, but it is likely that 

 fifteen irrigations, which is an average of the previous four years, 

 would not be too high in either case. 



Further study of these records will show that irrigation for truck 

 crops may be practiced throughout every month in the growing 

 season if there is a short period of dry weather, some of the irriga- 

 tions apparently occurring even at the time of heavy rainfall. This 

 may be due to the fact that several of the irrigations may have been 

 made on successive days preceding a heavy rainfall, or the rainfall 

 may have come in a number of small showers and been of little 

 benefit to the plants. Examination of the entire chart would lead 

 to the conclusion that Hypoluxo's rainfall was such as to call for 10 

 to 15 irrigations per year for truck crops for the last 22 years. If 

 this is the case it can be seen readily that even more irrigation would 

 be needed in Orlando and Fort Myers, assuming that the same crops 

 were grown on the same type of soil. As a matter of fact, much of 

 the sandy soil around Orlando calls for more water than does the 

 soil around Hypoluxo, while some other crops require more water 

 than do peppers and eggplant. On the other hand, many of the 

 soils which are growing truck are lower and heavier than on this 

 farm, and such truck crops as cabbage and melons need little water. 



For citrus groves the dates of past irrigations are difficult to 

 obtain, as no reliable data are at hand covering a long period. How- 

 ever, some records concerning an irrigated grove at Orlando are 

 available and extend from the spring of 1909 to the fall of 1913. 

 This plant was not completed until April, 1909, at which time the 

 leaves of the trees were curling from lack of water. The grove was 

 irrigated four times the year the plant was completed, once each in 

 April, May, June, and July. The rainfall chart shows that water 

 should have been applied several times before April, and the owner 

 reports that he could have saved a great quantity of fruit if he had 

 been ready to irrigate in February. This grove was irrigated once 

 61867°— Bull. 462—17 2 



