OCR Text |
Show TREE MUST HAVE IRRIGATION Taw OrcHarda In Beml-Arld Region I Profitable Without Oood Water Supply. A couple of correepond-nte of Yellowstone Yel-lowstone country, refer to two or three Isolated Instances where apple trees and plum trees and fruit shrubs are actually living without Irrigation. This may seem truly wonderful to these men who think they have actually found a mare's nest, Why, we know of many orchards that are living after a fashion, but we have as yet to learn of a single Instance of such an or chard that Is a success. We have all the time advocated the planting of fruit trees and shrubs for home use on the dry farm, If the farmer has a well from which he can draw water to keep these trees alive during the dry season. There Is a great deal of difference differ-ence between keeping a tree alive and making It profitable for bearing fruit. The report of the experts who recently visited the Flathead orchards say the crop la greatly reduced and Inferior where no water was obtainable for Irrigation. Ir-rigation. The east side orchards above the ditch are half dead and the crop Is scarcely worthy of the name. There are a good many dry land orchards that are partially Irrigated, but they are not a success. This Is no new matter mat-ter with us. We have dlscusaed the dry land orchard for fifteen or twenty years. C. F. Dallman of the Missoula nursery, tried a dry land nursery for many years, but was forced to move to a location below the ditch, and since that date the Missoula nursery has grown to be a great and aucccssful Institution. In-stitution. The dry land experiment was a failure even on the west side of the mountains. At the Dry Farming congress at Hillings last year Pallman told us (bat while he was attending farmers' meetings and holding controversies contro-versies with the writer about the wonderful won-derful success of trees grown on dry land, he had six hired men at home hauling water trying to keep his trees alive and yet In spite of his" efforts, they died by the hundreds. One swallow swal-low does not make a summer, and a few Isolated Instances do not refute the testimony of a third of a century. We wlah our friends success, but In the end tbey will probably bear testi-mony testi-mony with over one hundred we could mention who say It Is love's labor lost to engage In orcharding without water. |