part. It is easier for the tree to make new roots than to heal up old ones.

LOST TIME.-The orange tree in transplanting loses a year's growth; this under

FILLING.—I have found it best to fill the hole only about half full, leaving a basin to receive water and then complete the filling after irrigation.

SETTLING THE EARTH.-It is not necessary to spend time tramping the earth down upon the roots, as the water to be applied will settle it more effectually than it is possible to do with the foot.

IRRIGATING.-Citrus trees should always be irrigated as soon as planted. Run the basin at each tree full, and after the water has soaked away, fill in with dry earth, which prevents evaporation. STRAIGHTENING UP.-When all are planted go through the orchard and right up such trees as may be found leaning.

ADDITIONAL PRUNING.-If the tree shows a tendency to wilt, it is a good plan to prune it still further, even cutting away

to a few leaves or none at all.

INDICATIONS.--If a tree wilts and the leaves cling to their stems, becoming dry and dead, the chances are that the tree is lost. If the leaves drop off, the tree will almost surely put forth new ones.

WASHING THE TREES.-If the trees are infested with any sort of scale or smut, wash them thoroughly with soap suds, scrubbing the stocks and spraying the tops. It is but fair to give them a clean start.

WRAPPING THE STOCKS.-If rabbits or rodents are apt to prove troublesome, it is a good plan to wrap the stocks with paper and tie lightly with twine. This keeps the animals from gnawing the bark. The wrapping is also a good protection to the young and tender stocks against the hot sun. Some people whitewash their trees instead of wrapping them and are well pleased with the result.

DESIGNATING VARIETIES.—If you plant several varieties of trees, the best way to keep track of them is to make a diagram of the orchard in some convenient book of record, designating varieties by numbered rows. Tags on trees are a nuisance, and besides, soon become weather-worn and obliterated. The same is true of letered stakes in the orchard ground.

not mean to say that it utterly fails to grow the first year after removal, but that the check which it sustains reduces its average size to that of trees a year younger, not transplanted.

NEW GROWTH.-At the next succeeding season of growth, if the conditions are all favorable, the tree puts forth new shoots from the stock and branches. Often these shoots make their first appearance upon the stock, and cover it with a thick growth down to the very ground.

WATER SPROUTS.-These shoots, below the point where they are serviceable as branches, are called water-sprouts, and they must be trimmed off at the earliest practicable opportunity. However it is not always advisable to break off these sprouts as soon as they appear. If the upper part of the tree has started new growth simultaneously with the stock, then the stock should be cleared, and the earlier the better. Rub off the incipient shoots when no bigger than the point of a pin and the vitality of the tree will go into the top, provided the top is ready to receive it. But when the water-sprouts are the only growth the tree attempts to make, it is advisable to let them remain for the good they may do. The leaves thus put forth will elaborate the sap and start the vital forces of the tree throughout. With the additional strength thus gained the top buds, in turn will be pushed forth, and when these shall have formed branches and leaves the watersprouts may be safely dispensed with. Should the top utterly fail to grow, and become dead, the topmost or most vigorous of the water-sprouts may be preserved to form a new stock and top.

SUCKERS.-This growth which starts from the crown of the roots just below the surface of the ground should be cut off as soon as discovered, as it will sap the life of the tree if allowed to grow. Only in one instance is there an exception to the rule of destruction of suckers. If you are satisfied the main stock is dead or likely to die, the sucker may be left to form a new tree. But bear in mind, the sucker tree will be a seedling.

SLOW STARTING.-Sometimes a tree manifests no signs of growing at the first or second or third season after transplanting. Sometimes while maintaining a healthy hue of stock and limb, it remains dormant a whole year. In such cases there is nothing to do but to see that the tree has sufficient irrigation and cultivation, and await results. When it finally starts, as start it will, the lost time may be in a great measure retrived by the extra vigor of growth. BACKSETS.-When newly transplanted trees are frosted or preyed upon by grass

hoppers, gophers, squirrels, rabbits or other pests—the foliage destroyed and the bark injured-they may languish for the first year and make a start in the second.

STUNTED TREES.-A second or third backset, however, and sometimes the first if severe, is sufficient to stunt the tree. When satisfied that a tree is stunted, the best thing you can do is to dig it up and throw it away. It might, with careful nursing, make out to live, but its existence would be sickly and unprofitable. Do not waste your labor upon it.

OBJECT OF CULTIVATION. All soils, loose and compact alike, form a sort of crust upon the surface under the action of rain and sunshine. Scientists tell us that the fine particles thus pressed together form a series of ducts or flues, which by capillary attraction suck up the moisture from beneath and send it off in the form of vapor. The first office of cultivation is to break up these ducts, and thus summarily check the loss of moisture from the soil. The second office of cultivation is to destroy the weeds, for they, too, draw up, appropriate to their own use and evaporate a share of the moisture. The whole end and object of cultivation then is to conserve the supply of water in the earth. It would be well if this fact were more constantly borne in mind. Some people think that if they cultivate enough to keep the weeds out of their orchards they fulfill every requirement. This is not the case. They are merely attending to one of the incidentals of cultivation.

CULTIVATION versus IRRIGATION.-It is saidthat the most successful physician is he who directs his efforts towards aiding Nature in the work of recuperation. So, I may say, the most successful culti

vator is the one who most aids Nature to preserve her store of moisture. In setting out to raise an orchard, were I given my choice of cultivation without irrigation or irrigation without cultivation, I would

unhesitatingly pin my faith to cultivation alone. In the case of orange trees it has been demonstrated by Dr. O. H. Congar, of Pasadena, that they may be grown in his locality without any artificial supply of water, but he concedes that, to obtain profitable results from trees in bearing, they must be irrigated. Probably the middle ground, which comprehends thorough cultivation and judicious irfigation is best, even in bringing an orchard up to the bearing point. Herein many of the old growers made a fatal mistake. They flooded the ground a half dozen times a year and did not stir it half enough. The result is manifest in stunted, gnarled and diseased trees-trees that produce inferior fruit and are dead when they ought to be in their prime.

WHEN AND HOW TO CULTIVATE-PLOWING.-As soon as the rainy season is well inaugurated it is best to plow the orchard ground with a single plow, throwing a furrow against the trees on each side, and leaving a dead furrow in the middle between the rows. This mellows the soil so that it is in the best condition to drink up the rains, and, should there be a surplus of water it will run to the dead furrows instead of standing about the trees to their detriment. In case the orchard is located on sloping ground, it is best to run the furrows diagonally down the decline, as they thus furnish an easy fall for the surplus water. If the furrows lead directly down

the descent the soil washes badly; and if they are made transversely the water collects, breaks over and runs straight down, washing the soil as much as in the former instance. The single plowing in the fall or early winter I regard as ample for this kind of cultivation, if the soil is reasonably loose. Should it be of such character, however, as to be considerably compacted by the winter rains, another plowing in early spring is required. At most, do not plow more than twice in a year. After the dry season has set in, deep cultivation causes evaporation rather than retarding it. In plowing be careful not to go too deep in the first half dozen furrows next the trees. Avoid lacerating the roots which may lie near the surface, though I will say frankly that if they are close enough to be much interfered with by a single plow, it is a bad sign-a sign of too much irrigation.

CULTIVATING.—Aside from the one or two plowings, the rest of the year's work is done with the cultivator, followed, in some instances, by the harrow or clod crusher or "slicker." Many kinds of cultivators are in use, from the old-style hand implement, drawn by one horse, to the Acme and others, with a seat for the driver, and requiring two, three or four horses. In selecting an implement, the orchardist must be guided by the requirements of his ground and the amplitude of his purse. Each implement in use is probably best adapted to some particular soil. If the ground is stony, one kind may not work at all; if inclined to break up in clods, another may be useless. Study your requirements and see what your neighbors use and like best before you invest in an implement. During the spring months it is a good plan to cultivate after every rain. Each rain may prove the last of the season, you know, and it will not do to lose any moisture that may be husbanded for the long, dry summer.

For

soils that are more or less stiff, a clodcrusher, constructed of planks, to drag over the ground and mash down the lumps is in general use. Some growers employ, on more mellow soils, a "slicker," an implement not altogether unlike a stone-boat, by which the surface is reduced to a fine tilth and smoothed off like a shirt bosom. This gives an orchard a most tidy and well-kept appearance after cultivation, and is practical as well as aesthetic. The harrow is occasionally used to run over the ground and break the lumps or the crust that may have formed after a rain. I would not advise a very constant use of the harrow, however, as its effect is to pack the soil just below the surface. There is also more likelihood of injury to the trees from it. In all the cultivation of the orchard, I must enjoin the greatest care. Both a steady horse and a steady and experienced man should be employed, or great, perhaps irreparable, damage may result. It is a good plan to use a short single-tree or to wrap the ends with cloths to avoid barking the trees.

After the rains are over, it is necessary that the orchard ground be at all times in a mellow condition and free from weeds. For this, one cultivation a month generally suffices. A cultivation should follow each irrigation if water has been run on the surface at all. To make a clean job of weed exterminating, I have found it best to let a man follow the cultivator with a hoe and chop up everything that escapes the implement. Some of the three and four-horse cultivators have weed cutters attached, but even with them it is necessary to hoe the weeds close to the trees.

JUDGMENT THE BEST MONITOR.-If the orchardist have a knowledge of the theory of cultivation, his own judgment will be the best guide as to when and how the work should be done. Only let him be thorough if he would command success.

THE IRRIGATING SEASON.-From the first of April to the first of November may be accounted California's rainless season.

There are exceptions, of course, as in the year 1884, when rain fell in all these socalled dry months except July; but, tak

ing one year with another and averaging the longer with the shorter seasons, the seven-months rule will hold good. It is during this rainless period that irrigation becomes necessary to sustain vegetable life. Formerly irrigation was much more general and frequent than in latter years. Within a comparatively recent period it has been determined that thorough cultivation will, in a great measure, reduce the necessity of applying water artificially, and, in the case of many varieties of grapes and deciduous trees, irrigation may be dispensed with entirely. Orange trees to thrive well and bring forth profitable crops, must be irrigated.

OVER-IRRIGATION TO BE AVOIDED--It is a mistake, however, to suppose that because some water is good, a great deal more water is better. No error is more pernicious or, in the end, more certainly ruinous to trees than excessive irrigation. In 1877 a committee of the Sonthern California Horticultural Society, appointed to investigate the matter of irrigation, made a valuable report, which was summarized in the following paragraph:

"The systems of irrigation in use throughout the district are varied. Many use the old system of flooding the entire ground every three or four weeks, using water to the exclusion of cultivation. Others irrigate less and cultivate more. We find, in fact, all phases of irrigation and cultivation, from all water and no work to all work and no water. Neither extreme is profitable, but a golden mean of two or three thorough irrigations, with thoroguh cultivation, your committee believe the orchardist will find the most successful. On heavy soils the water should not touch the tree and great care should be exercised after each irrigation that the ground may not bake."

A MATTER OF EDUCATION.-When the ground about the tree is frequently flooded, the roots are drawn to the surface. The tree then becomes more sensitive to every change of moisture, and if water is not applied at the regular and frequent intervals to which the tree has been accustomed, it wilts and droops. It is not to be supposed that the best of human care can furnish a supply equal to the storage reservoirs of nature which lie deeper in the

earth, and to which the roots ought to be encouraged to go for their supplies. Trees are creatures of habit no less than men, and, "as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." It is best to commence this education early; if you postpone it too long your orchard is likely to prove a lot of spoiled children on your hands.

HOW MUCH TO IRRIGATE.-During the first summer after planting young orange trees, it may be necessary to water them every month or six weeks. Make it a point to be thorough with your work when you do irrigate. Let the water penetrate deep, and assist the young roots in working down. Do not under any circumstances, allow the ground to remain after irrigating in a sodden condition, to bake hard and evaporate the moisture almost as rapidly as it was applied. A tree thus neglected is soon in a worse condition than it would have been if it had received no irrigation at all. I have found it the best plan in treating young trees to excavate a considerable basin about each tree

and fill this basin with water once or even twice if deemed necessary. Then, after the water has entirely soaked away, fill the basin with dry earth. This covering acts as a mulch, preventing the evaporation of the water applied, and the tree is prepared to wait a long time for another drink. The second summer, trees will flourish with three or four irrigations, and the third summer they will thrive with two or three.

WANT OF IRRIGATION-HOW MANIFESTED.-Be governed by circumstances. If you see that a tree is suffering, as indicated by curled or wilted and leathery leaves and drooping stems, do not delay the application of water. It needs help at once. If you follow the plan here indicated and do your work thoroughly, you will find these calls less and less frequent as the tree obtains its foothold on terra firma. You will then have brought it up in the way it should go, and it will reward you in future by a healthy and profitable life and a minimum of labor exacted for its sustenance. It is not advisable to leave the tree until it hangs out its signals of distress before applying water. Keep a sharp watch over your orchard and you may detect the premonitory symptoms in one or

two trees. Then you know the whole orchard will shortly be in the same condition, and it is time to begin another irrigation. Although the orange is a hardy tree, and, when watered, quickly revives from a most distressed condition, it is better that this check to its grouth be avoided altogether by keeping it constantly fresh and vigorous.

VARIOUS METHODS OF IRRIGATION.There are many different ways of irrigating trees, each one adapted to its locality and circumstances.

THE OLD WAY-FLOODING.-On the most level lands of the valley water is run in ditches or zanjas and turned into the orchard, flooding the entire surface. This method of running water in open ditches implies three things: 1st-An abundance of water; 2d-nearly level land; 3d-a tolerably compact soil, so that the water is carried in the ditch without too great wastage. After the irrigation the

entire surface should be cultivated.

THE BASIN METHOD.-A more modern and better system consists in turning the water into baisins made about the trees. The baisin may be round or square, and consists of a ridge or dyke thrown up to retain the water about the trees until it seeps away. Latterly a plow has been invented for throwing up these ridges, and a man and a team can make with it a

hundred baisins a day. The size of the basin increases with the age of the tree, the plan usually followed being to make it as broad as the overhanging top. When the trees are full-grown these baisins are generally made contiguous, so that nearly the entire surface of the ground is flooded. IRRIGATING IN FURROWS. · Another plan is to run two or three furrows along each side of a row of trees, and graduate the supply of water so that it will fill all the furrows without overflowing. In this manner the water is allowed to run from six to twelve hours, and by seepage the ground is thoroughly moistened along the entire row. If the head of water is sufficient, a number of rows may be watered simultaneously, the supply for each being diverted from the main stream. The arrangement for this purpose is a flume running along the highest side of the orchard. From this flume the irrigating

furrows lead out at right angles, and the water is supplied to them through augerholes in the side of the flume.

SUB-IRRIGATION.-A few years ago some Los Angeles gentlemen patented a system of sub-irrigation, and it has been introduced to a slight extent. It consists of a series of concrete pipes laid in the ground deep enough to escape the cultivator, and through them water is conveyed and applied directly to the roots of every tree in an orchard. An ingenuous machine worked by hand makes and lays the pipe simultaneously, turning it out (pardon the simile) very much as a butcher turns out bologna sausages with his stuffer. The pipe is thus made continuous, and there are no joints to bother either in the making or the leaking afterward. A plug of established size allows a little of the water to exude beneath each tree, and it gradually seeps through the soil, furnishing a reliable supply, and that applied where it will do the most good. Of course quite a complicated system of pipes is required, with a main running from the water supply and laterals extending along each row of trees or between each two rows. There is also a piece of pipe set vertically over each irrigating orifice, extending to the surface, like a miniature well. This receives the water as discharged allowing it gradually to soak away, and at the same time prevents the earth from baking over the orifice and closing it up. The only mechanical objection I have to the system is its complication and the likelihood of its getting out of order. There is also danger of destroying the vertical pipes or wells in cultivation. A still more serious objection is the great cost, which amounts to something like fifty or sixty dollars an

acre.

This system has been in use for some years in a number of places in Southern California, and has generally given satisfaction. There is by this meth

od a great saving in the labor of irrigating as well as in working the ground. The water being applied beneath the surface, does the tree the utmost possible good and at the same time does not start the weeds or cause the ground to bake. The invention is as meritorious as it is ingenious.