MULCHED-BASIN SYSTEM OF IRRIGATED CITRUS CULTURE. 1 9 



the fruit having been set in the spring of 1913 before the mulch was 

 applied. In the spring of 1915, however, there was a much heavier 

 set of flowers on the trees basined than on the check trees; but, owing 

 apparently to the effect of cold weather after the fruit bad begun to 

 set, the entire district suffered considerably from a heavy drop of the 

 young orange fruits and the unset flowers. On August 2'.',, 1915, ;i 

 careful count was made of the number of fruits on the trees under 

 the two systems. The fruits at that time were of good size. The 

 number of fruits on the check trees averaged 116 per tree, while the 

 number of fruits on the basined trees averaged 281 per tree, or 2.4 

 times as many as on the check trees. The quality of the fruit on the 

 basined trees during this season was also superior to that on the check 

 trees, and the fruits were larger and more nearly uniform in size. 



VICTORIA TRACT. 



In April, 1915, one row of 33 orange trees in this tract was basined 

 and mulched, one-half of the trees being mulched with alfalfa at the 

 rate of about 1^ bales, or 185 pounds, per basin, and the remainder 

 with cow manure of good quality at the rate of about 20 cubic feet 

 per basin. Some of the basins in each treatment also received 200 

 pounds of lime, but as no effect of the lime was observable, the discus- 

 sion will be confined to the mulching materials alone. The basins 

 were circular in form and about 15 feet in diameter, covering an area 

 of about 170 square feet. 



There was practically no fruit on these trees in 1915, owing to gen- 

 eral deterioration and to a severe scale attack and severe top pruning 

 in the season of 1914—15. On August 12, 1916, 16 months after the 

 installation of the basins, the oranges on each tree were counted. The 

 trees mulched with alfalfa averaged 483 oranges per tree and those 

 mulched with manure 242 oranges per tree. In other words, the trees 

 mulched with alfalfa carried twice as much fruit as those mulched 

 with manure. 



The alfalfa mulch was applied to the first eight and the last nine 

 trees in the row and the manure mulch to the intermediate trees. 

 Both ends of the row responded similarly to the alfalfa mulch, not 

 only in fruit setting but in the density and dark color of the foliage 

 as well, the trees showing distinctly the boundary between the two 

 treatments. 



At the time the above row (No. 3 in the grove) was basined and 

 mulched an adjoining row (No. 2) was left untreated, and this was 

 furrow irrigated in the usual manner but not cultivated. By August, 

 1915, row No. 2 was looking so bad that it was decided to basin it. 

 The basins installed were small (about 8 feet in diameter, or 50 to 



