CITRUS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA — FRUITFULNESS. 45 



presence has rendered partiall}' useless much of the fertihzer, 

 water, and labor used. 



Third — The disposition is to economize bj' delaying the ap- 

 plication of water in the hot season until the tree plainly 

 manifests its need. This policy, at least in a soil like that of 

 Riverside and Redlands, is a mistake. I admit that by the 

 use of manures which lighten the soil it can be made to absorb 

 and retain water and fertilizer, and that such treatment is a 

 valuable aid where water is scant; but I find the best results 

 obtained where no attention is paid to the theor}- of infrequent 

 irrigation, and water is regularly supplied. 



A fact to which I wish to call j'our attention is that in every 

 one of the healthy and productive old orchards these three 

 points of treatment are f'lithfuUy attended to, while I find not 

 one of the ordinary or inferior orchards in which either one or 

 two, and sometimes all three, are disregarded. I do not mean 

 that they are intentionally ignored in the latter class. The 

 owner hasn't the means to properly manure his orchard. He 

 follows the conventional method of cultivating, and would be 

 surprised if one should intimate that his work was lacking in 

 thoroughness. He runs water in abundance, and often enough, 

 but the shallow stirring of strong soil prevents its proper pene- 

 tration. It has been a surprise to m3'self to find that I have 

 failed in thoroughness, and I am sure that if others shall exam- 

 ine they will find that there is need of improvement. Old orange 

 groves will not be profitable unless we use intelligent methods. 



Where unhealthy trees exist because of a shallow soil, or 

 where the rise of surface water has made the locality unfit for 

 citrus fruits, or where the frost too often does injury, what I 

 have said does not apply. Such conditions it is impossible to 

 overcome. 



No man can study the condition of our older orchards with- 

 out having proof supplied of the truth of the scriptures to the 

 effect that "To him who hath shall be given." Men of wealth 

 who dare to invest heavily in fertilizers every season, and 

 whose orchards want neither for intelligent labor nor for irri- 

 gation, are the ones whose dividends are assured and regular. 

 Handicapped with a heavy mortgage, the intelligent and 

 shrewd orchardist may be forced to try to extract profit from 

 his grove with the least possible annual expenditure, and may 

 make thorough cultivation and faithful attention serve fairly 



