BETTER FRUIT 



April 



Figure 2S— OUTLINES OF PERCOLATION rXDER SIXTEEN FURROWS IN ORCHARn r.S, UNDER GAGE CANAL, RIVERSinE, CALIFORNIA 



this case the head ditch should be 

 brought straight down the side hill, the 

 water being carried in a wooden or con- 

 crete flume. The furrows along, the 

 tree rows are then made to diverge each 

 way from this flume around the hill, with 

 but a slight fall. The water is checked 

 up opposite the end of each tree row 

 by short pieces of lath, resting against 

 cleats on the sides of the flume, and the 

 amount for each furrow is regulated by 

 tin or wooden slides on the outside of 

 the flume. Perhaps the best and must 

 efficient sj^stem of orchard irrigation is 

 the one which is n^w in operation at 

 Lewiston. This is a pressure system, 

 the water being carried in pipes which 

 are laid under ground similar to an 

 ordinar3' water works system, a hydrant 

 being placed at the upper end of each 

 tree row. This system is very saving 

 of water and has been in successful 

 operation at Lewiston for the past sev- 

 eral years. The water for a good share 

 of our city lots in this town is also 

 carried from tlie ditch in underground 

 pipes in much the same manner. 



An irrigation ditch is the best insur- 

 ance that one can have against loss of 

 trees in transplanting. If prime, hardy 

 stock, in good condition, can be secured 

 there is small necessity of losing over 

 two per cent of the trees after they are 

 set out. Trees with plenty of root 

 should be secured, and then care should 

 be used that the roots never be left to 

 dry out from the time the tree leaves the 

 nursery until' it is set in the orchard. 

 The hole should be dug before the trees 

 are unpacked or taken from the trench 

 where they have been "heeled in." After 

 this is done the trees may be hauled to 

 the orchard, the roots being kept cov- 

 ered by a wet blanket or straw while 

 en route. The holes should be plenty 

 large, sa}- ;ibout eighteen inches sciuare 

 and eighteen inches deep, for one year 

 old trees. After the roots are pruned 

 the tree should be held upright in the 

 hole some six inches deeper than in its 

 former position in the nursery while the 

 hole is filled half full of top soil. Water 



from the nearby irrigation furrows 

 should then be let in until the hole is 

 nearly full of water, after which the 

 tree should be worked up and down 

 slightly until the roots are thoroughly 

 "puddled in" and the soil has come into 

 intimate contact with all the roots. The 

 hole should then be filled up w^ith dry 

 soil, leaving the tree planted three or 

 four inches deeper than in the nursery. 

 If this method is carried out the soil 

 will be settled firmly around all of the 

 roots, the same as an old tree, and 

 growth will start just as soon as the 

 weather warms up. 



A large per cent cA all losses in trans- 

 planting is caused by the roots being 

 allowed to dry out in transit or by set- 

 ting the trees haphazardly in dry soil. 

 One is always well repaid for the care 

 he takes in planting his trees. 



During the first season an irrigation 

 furrow along one side of each tree row 

 will probably be sufficient, but during 

 the second year a furrow should be run 

 ahiug each side of the tree rows. As 

 the roots spread during the succeeding 

 years more and more of the area 

 between the rows must be irrigated. 

 Cultivation, of course, must go hand 

 in hand with irrigation, for much moist- 

 ure can be saved b}' maintaining a dust 

 mulch on the surface, Aly department 

 has shown by repeated experiments that 

 there is four times as much evaporation 

 from an uncultivated field in a single 

 month as from one co^•ered \vith a dry 

 three-inch soil mulch. Deeper mulches 

 are also more effective in retaining 

 moisture, for it was shown that there 

 is sixteen times as much evaporation 

 from an unculti\ated soil as from one 

 covered with a nine-inch dry soil mulch. 

 This strikingly shows the effectiveness 

 of culti\ation in retaining moisture. 

 This is not the only advantage, how- 

 ever, as cultivation stirs up and areates 

 the soil as well, which is also highly 

 desirable and beneficial. 



Years of observation and experiment 

 have demonstrated the fact that soils 

 must not be saturated at any time if 



good results are to be secured. Plants 

 and trees require that there be some air 

 in the soil, and seem to do best when 

 about half of the pore space of the soil 

 is filled with air and the other half with 

 water. Thus we see the harmful effects 

 that may result from over-irrigation, 

 which fills all of these pore spaces and 

 drives out the air which is so essential. 



Different soils and seasons will reciuire 

 a dififerent number of irrigations during 

 a season, and for this reason no hard 

 and fast rule can be laid down as to 

 the number of irrigations to applj' during 

 the season. An experienced irrigator 

 seems to know by intuition when his 

 crops need irrigation, but this cannot 

 always be depended upon by the begin- 

 ner. A good way to tell when trees 



Figure 27— TANK EXPERIMENTS AT RENO, 

 NEVADA, TO DETERMINE EFFECT OF SOIL 

 MULCHES IN CHECKING EVAPOR.VTION 



III 



riTKT 



