FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
117 
with a few showers make a very good 
crop of fruit; but there are cases where 
a supply of strawberries or pineapples is 
desired for home use or a profitable local 
demand, and there is no moist land 
available. In such cases some method 
of irrigation is a necessity. 
METHOD OF IRRIGATION. 
A head of water must be secured by 
means of a windmill or a hydraulic ram 
and then distributed by means of pipes. 
Instead of using a hose a sufficient num¬ 
ber of lawn sprinklers may be perma¬ 
nently attached, and the simple turning 
of a valve will in a few minutes give the 
plants a good drenching. We have 
tried various methods of irrigation and 
believe the method of piping and the 
use of sprinklers is by far the best. By 
this same method you can have a su¬ 
perior vegetable garden on the highest, 
dryest sandhill. 
We know of two very superior straw¬ 
berry and vegetable gardens grown in 
this way. They are freer from frost 
and insects than gardens in bayheads, 
and are so arranged as to be convenient 
to the house. 
With citrus and peach trees it is dif¬ 
ferent. We have yet to learn of an ir¬ 
rigating plant that has paid a profit on 
the investment. 
The late Dudley W. Adams claimed 
that it was more profitable to give the 
tree more area in which its roots could 
find moisture than to go to the expense 
of an irrigating plant. 
There is no doubt that if we planted 
ninety-six trees to the acre, as they do in 
California, we should need an irrigating 
plant during our dry periods. 
IRRIGATION. 
Mr. Parmenter—I had expected quite 
a talk upon irrigation, but as there 
seems to be nothing to be presented on 
the subject I will take this opportunity 
to speak of a method of carrying arte¬ 
sian water about a garden, which I have 
found convenient. Thirty-foot lengths 
of three-quarter inch iron pipe are used, 
connected by ten-inch pieces of rubber 
hose. Into the couplings at each end 
of the pipe screw a brass tip which has 
a standard thread at one end to screw 
into the coupling, and a hose thread at 
the other to screw the hose to. Always 
leave the piece of hose on the end of the 
pipe toward the hydrant when shifting; 
then the coupling will always come right. 
The system gives an iron hose with 
limber joints. It is more economical 
and more convenient than hose. Have 
fifty feet of hose to attach to the end of 
the line of pipe. Have paths through 
your vegetables, and keep the hose in 
the paths. The pipes may be carried 
on supports over the beds, if necessary. 
If the force of water is good, revolv¬ 
ing sprinklers can be used. If it is de¬ 
sired to sprinkle long beds, gem nozzles 
on two-foot standpipes, set about ten 
feet apart on a length of pipe with short 
pieces of pipe .screwed in to tie on the 
ground, and hold the standpipes perpen¬ 
dicular, are quite satisfactory. Three 
standpipes on a twenty-foot length make 
a convenient size to carry about. Two 
such sets coupled together will sprinkle 
a strip sixty feet wide ahead of a gang 
planting strawberries or lettuce, or the 
pipe and hose can be used to keep a bar¬ 
rel full, from which water can be dipped 
in buckets or water pots when setting 
plants. 
