IRRIGATION IN FLORIDA. 45 



on, the portable pipe is connected by pushing the joints together, 

 and through it the water is transported to any desired part of the 

 grove. The furrows carry the water some distance, which reduces 

 somewhat the labor necessary in transferring the lengths of pipe. 

 The work is hard and requires some experience and judgment, but 

 the results are highly satisfactory and the plant is cheap and durable. 

 The pipe costs 20 cents per foot, or $200 for the entire distributing 

 system, which is less than $10 per acre. The cost of the well, pump, 

 and engine was very high, on account of the difficulty of drawing 

 water from a bored well where the water level stands 50 feet below 

 the surface of the ground. Construction of a pump pit was difficult, 

 as the sandy soil extends to great depths. If this place bordered on 

 a lake, as do many of the Florida groves, the total cost per acre would 

 have been light. 



IRRIGATION OF GROVES FROM FLOWING WELLS BY THE SURFACE METHOD. 



The method of irrigation from flowing wells, as practiced exten- 

 sively in Lee County around Fort Myers, is cheap and efficient. The 

 groves irrigated by the free flow of water from artesian wells are 

 necessarily on the lower lands, as flowing wells are not obtained on 

 the higher elevations in the State, and, as a rule, can not be expected 

 above the 50 to 60 foot contour. (The highest elevation in Florida 

 is about 275 feet above sea level.) The ground surface in the Fort 

 Myers flowing- well area is mostly level, nearly all the groves requir- 

 ing drainage during the rainy season. The trees usually are grown 

 on ridges or embankments of earth in order to keep them above 

 standing water in times of heavy rainfall. The depressions between 

 the rows also act as drainage ditches to carry off any excess water. 



The average depth of wells here is about 500 feet. Some have 

 a strong flow and exert a pressure as high as 20 pounds at the 

 well when capped. The cost of wells depends on the size and depth 

 and varies from $500 to $1,000. The average well in most groves 

 will water 20 to 40 acres. Some of the larger groves have a number 

 of wells in convenient locations. 



Between 2,000 and 3,000 acres are irrigated by this method in Lee 

 County. Some of the larger groves contain 100 to 500 acres, the 

 average size of the irrigated grove being about 50 acres, most of 

 which is in grapefruit. 



Distribution of water in this section requires no particular refine- 

 ment of methods, as the supply is abundant and there is no operating 

 cost after the well is dug. For the distribution of water most of the 

 growers use open ditches, which require no particular attention. 

 Others run water in several furrows in each space between the tree 

 rows, sometimes using rough wooden control gates. 



