FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
61 
the experiments I have personally made 
in Florida, I am convinced that the only 
possible way to irrigate our groves, at least 
those located on high pine land, is by 
overhead distribution. It is, of course, at 
the start quite expensive, but I have tried 
it with hose and I know of many others 
who have done likewise and with 
very few exceptions it has been 
a failure. In the first place, hose are ex¬ 
pensive, and our experience was that they 
went to pieces in one or two years. It 
took a large number of men to operate 
this system, and it was my experience 
that just at the time we wanted to irri¬ 
gate we were very busy with other work 
and we would look at the sky and make 
up our minds that it was going to rain in 
a few days, saying to ourselves if it did 
not we would irrigate. Perhaps it might 
rain a little shower which did no good, 
and thinking that perhaps the drought 
had broken we would continue putting it 
off until when we finally decided we had 
to do it the ground had become so dry it 
took an immense amount of water to do 
any good. 
In our part of the State around Winter 
Haven, where my grove and nursery are 
located, it has been so dry for the past 
three years that on many occasions it 
would seem that the trees would burn had 
you touched a match to the leaves. I have 
often expected to see the whole crop of 
leaves drop off and while this did not 
take place and while the trees managed 
to pull through, there is no question but 
what they sustained a terrible shock from 
want of moisture, and while in this weak¬ 
ened condition insects and disease of all 
kinds are much more apt to prey upon 
the trees. 
I am figuring on putting in a system of 
irrigation in a new nursery I am starting, 
and I am adopting a plan which I think 
will be thoroughly effective. The trouble 
with most people when they start to irri¬ 
gate is that they want lots of water but 
expect to get it through small pipes, and 
invariably the pipes are altogether too 
small. I have seen as high as ten inch op¬ 
enings on a i 1-4 inch pipe, and of course 
this was an utter failure. 
The idea of irrigation it seems to me 
is to get water and plenty of it, and un¬ 
less you do this it is money thrown away. 
My plan for irrigating a ten acre tract is 
to run a 6-inch main through the center. 
My trees will 24 fee apart. I will run 
a 2 1-2 inch lateral every 48 feet and this 
will take care of a row of trees on each 
side of it necessitating but one lateral be¬ 
tween every other two rows. I will put a 
cross in this lateral opposite the trees in 
each of these two rows and run a 3-4 inch 
pipe from the lateral to within one 
foot of the tree, which will allow room for 
the growth and expansion of the trunk. I 
will then run a pipe over the top of the 
tree, putting thereon some first-class spray 
nozzle. This pipe will be six or seven feet 
high and I will wire it to a good, solid 
stake until the tree gets large enough so 
that it can be fastened to the limbs. As 
the tree grows this pipe will be extended, 
always keeping it well above the top of 
the tree. 
There will be a valve on each of these 
laterals close to the main. As many lat¬ 
erals will be opened as the pump can sup¬ 
ply with water, and as fast as the section 
covered by the opened nozzles is thor¬ 
oughly wet down these laterals will be 
closed and others opened. My engineer 
