262 



THIRD ANNUAL SESSIONS 



order that the trees may not use up the inoistui*e more quickly than 

 you impound it. 



Conservation of Moisture. 



"I will nofw show by a single calculation that a full grown apple 

 tree cannot use up all the moisture that falls on a square of forty feet, 

 provided this area is scientifically cultivated. A square of forty feet 

 contains 1,600 square feet, a cubic foot of water weighs 62.33 pounds. 

 Now with a precipitation of twelve inches, we have exactly 1,600 cubic 

 feet, which is fortj^-nine tons of water per annum to each apple tree. 

 With a precipitaf-on of fourteen inches, we get one-sixth more, 

 equalling about fifty-seven tons to the tree. 



Demand of tlie Tree. 



"The botanists claim by actual experiment that a twenty foot apple 

 tree will use up and transpire into the atmosphere during the four 

 growing months some ten to thirty gallons a day or fifteen tons for the 

 season. The horticulturists say it takes a ton of water to make a 

 barrel of apples; allowing for ten barrels of apples per tree another 

 ten tons is used up. That makes twenty-fiTe tons used up out of fifty- 

 seven, less than half. We can then allow fifteen tons for run off and 

 waste and a surplus will remain in the subsoil of ten tons per tree 

 every year. 



Fourteen inches Precipitation for Fruit. 



"If the above amounts are checked off with the amount of water 

 found to have accumulated in my orchard during the last twelve years, 

 they will be found approximately correct, and these show that it would 

 be quite feasible to raise trees and fruit with even less precipitation 

 than fourteen inches. 



"I allow forty feet for apples, twenty feet for cherries and plums, 

 and ten feet for small fruits. 



Holding tlie Snow. 



"In localities where it is necessary to secure all possible moisture, 

 some increase can be obtained by the snow fence method. This can be 

 applied to any land. Throw up back furrows with the plow every 

 twenty feet at right angles across the path of the blizzard, as high as 

 possible; one man and team can do twenty acres a day. This device 

 will often cover your whole freld with a foot or more of snow drifts 

 when the rest of the prairie is perfectly bare. 



"After the trees attain some growth they catch their own snow, 

 and it often banks up in the orchard two feet deep. More moisture 

 also can be accumulated by plowing, as well as cultivating, but not 

 too deep on account of the roots. 



Shade Trees. 



"On these same principles any upland shade tree can be raised 

 that will stand the winters. Very few trees are ever killed by drouth 



