The Florida agriculturist., 1908-02-01
INTERROGATION PROBLEM.
Another Interesting aper Subject Of Supreme mpor
tance to Florida Fruit and Truck Growers
By B. NJ. Hampton.

had year after year, more and better
fruit, right at the station, from your
five acre-grove, with its 600 trees anc
its little watering plant, than from your
ten-acre grove without water, and with
long haul always before you.
AS | have already said, | am starting
a new home once more in Florida, and
I am starting it right. First, l bought
good land, close to a railroad station,
on large lake. | had this land clear
ed, stumped, plowed and fenced, and
q watering plant installed before I set
out single tree. So you see | am
practicing what preach. Now I have
the trees out, only twelve feet apart in
the row, but twenty-five feet between
the rows, thus having as many or more
trees on five acres with water as
formerly had on ten acres without it.
I certainly would not advise this close
planting without water. Thus you see,
the watering plant has saved me clear
ing and fencing five acres of land, be-
sides half the cost of cultivating every
year (and this means much in the end)
and | will get more and better and
brighter fruit from the five-acre grove
than | would from the ten-acre grove
| have intimated that we do not need
SO much water after all, at least not at
one time | have seen much harm
done to a growing crop by too much
water at one time, on the strong lands
of the west, and if so there, how much
more can it be OverdOne in the light,
porous soils Of Florida?
fn
what amount OF water you were pour
ing on your grove in day, with 10
OF 20 horse power engine? From 49,
900 to 10000 gallons Of water, or more,
an hour, and this means about 80 tons
Of water, and in ten hours it means 800
tons Of water or 100000 gallons. A
plant like this would cover an acre OF
land about one and one-fourth inches
deep if distributed evenly, and this is
as much as Our soil ever needs at one
time. In fact, half an inch would be
better at a time. Little and often
should be the rule in Florida in water-
ing our groves, and yet, you often see
a powerful plant pumping tens OF
thousands of gallons Of water on d
medium sized grove for a week or
more at time. Did you ever stop to
think where your costly fertilizer is
going under such circumstances? To
the thoughtful it is most hard to give
shreWd guess AS [ said in a former
article, | have seen lower lands ruined
by the seepage from higher lands de-
posting too great an amount OF the
various salts contained in the upper
or higher lands Now if the various
salts could be washed out Of those
heavy soils Of the west with an over
supply of water, what would over irri-
cation do for the sandy soils Of Flori
da? Not hard to imagine, neither would
it be guess work, for it is clearly
shown by a series Of tests made at the
Florida Experiment Station, on various
soils. We find by a actual test made
upon what would be good average
orange soil containing quite an amour,
OF humus that in some instances over
90 per cent. of the potash was leache>
out by an excessive amount Of water.
over 90 per cent. of the phOsphorlc acll
and some 90 per cent of the ammonia.
In the case of the phosphoric acid,
there was used in the test the equiva
lent Of but three inches Of rain, while
in the case of the potash there was
used about the equivalent of ten inches
OF RAINFALL So you see you can wash
out about all of the plant food that
has cost you so much money, and
though you may have given other trees
or crops liberal supply of the three
elements required, you may by over
irrigation wash these ingredients be-
vOnd the reach of the roots of plants