106 The Principles of Fruit-growing 



will be shaded; and it is well not to plant the most 

 robust varieties. 



The growing of clover, buckwheat, rye and other 

 crops for the purpose of plowing under belongs to another 

 hne of practice. It is discussed in the succeeding chapter. 



lEEIGATION OF FEUIT-LANDS 



The irrigation of fruit-plantations is of two kinds, — 

 that which is necessary to the growing of the plants (as 

 in arid and semi-arid regions), and that which is employed 

 secondarily in a humid region to help make a particular 

 crop. The former kind is, in essentials, the same as general 

 irrigation, in the coimtries and regions in which irrigation 

 is essential to farming; only the special applications of 

 the water may be peculiar. The reader who intends to 

 raise fruit in an arid or semi-arid region will perfect him- 

 self on this subject before he undertakes the enterprise.* 



Supplemental irrigation for humid regions is often 

 feasible and profitable for special crops, mostly for those 

 that represent a high investment in capital, equipment 

 and labor. 



Irrigation in the East (C. S. Wilson). 



The systems of irrigation used in humid regions may 

 be divided into two classes: (1) surface irrigation; (2) 

 overhead sprays. 



The surface system, which is the more widely used, 

 distributes the water by means of ditches and furrows. 

 A ditch, which is the main, carries the water along the 

 side or through the orchard and empties it into the furrows, 

 by which it is distributed over the entire area. For such 



♦Consult, for example, Paddock & Whipple, "Fruit-Growing in Arid Regions." 



