Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1907-02-28
Trees WITHOUT IRRIGATION;
ANSWER TO EILWOOD MEAD
yer PARSONS,
Author Of Parsons System Of Dry Horticulture"

'sEeeS. The original 60 are al alive
to-day. except three. and last year bore
u gallon Of cherries apiece. The three
thu. died represented tbs loss In the
.ssansplansing.
In planting the trees they should
b. given mor space than in the irri-
gated orchard. OF larger = 10 Ell
pi0tt for moisture. and every year. by
carefully bottling the moisture a. n
oomes, you receive more than trees
can use up. Therefore. you are per.
peinaliy gaining. not losing, moisture.
and the ground win keep soaking
up deeper and deeper until after 10
Tor Is years the trees become large
enough 20 absorb all that comes ana
the precipitation and the absorption
balances. Then. II the trees show
signs Of depletion. they must be
thinned out. and II becomes simply a
question Of 80 much bearing wood to
the acre Of precipitation.
In my orchard, where the trees are
10 years. old. the moisture has reached
q point Ia feet from the surface down,
and the tree roots are all through Il.
Therefore. why should We worry. Mr..
Eilwood Mead. about one dry year or
q dozen?
Dry or wet years. my orchard brings
mo In from $50 TO 500 per acre. The
trees are living on the moisture that
fell two or three years ago. This
years precipitation is nothing to them.
Herein lies the difference between
trees and crops.
by a proper selection Of varieties
any n can raise trees. There Is no
obstacle in the way only the timber.
lime.
In the 20 years Of my dry farming
on my present ranch I have never
lost a single. or any crop. by drouth.
When a so-called dry year comes we
don't know q, unless a "scratcher."
AZ friend stanger calls them. comes
and tells us his crop has dried out.
Then we advise him to hitch on an.
other horse and pillow a little deeper
next time. which perhaps he does. and
perhaps he does not. Some men pre-.
! fer TO skate OF thin Ice.
} There are other artificial ways and
means OF protecting trees against the
1 drouth. For instance. by making
c ridges in the orchard by back furrow.
y ing with the pillow. you can collec,
D thousands OF tons OF snow drifts dur
2 ing every blizzard, on the same prin
0 ciple as the railroad n fences. This
8 IL seldom necessary except In dry
regions OF nine or ten inches precipi
/. tation. Nature also protects her W.
/ Tor the whole center of n tree In .
reservoir OF sap to be drawn upon n
time oil need, the sap that circulate,
r and provides growth and sustenanc,
i being found only In the region OF IN,
oar and adjoining layer.
q In the socalled dry years We usual
g y get a precipitation of about I,
inches. This G 1.l3o tons ne,
Q acre, Now. IL you apples trees ar,
s planted. as | recommend, 40 feet apar
or ~ to the acre. each tree receive,
about 40 tons OF water for the seaso
allowing two tons for loss by evapor
n alton.
The aim and object of a system O
a dry farming. or dry horticulture, Is no
SO much to produce good crops |,
good years (anybody can do that, a,
h to raise a profitable amount of pro
/. ducts in dry years. and | know of n,
r year since the spring of 1880 tina
e this was not done by men who ha,
p the requisite knowledge of their art
Every dry farmer can have his or
!. chard. his shade trees and his kitchen
garden. even his own posts and cor,
wood. exactly as II he irrigated-an;