238 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



ductive land. Thus the Mormons found it. Subsisting the first year 

 on herbs, they, under the guidance of Brigham Young, established a 

 colony which has since grown wonderfully. The land which then 

 would not have produced a bushel to the acre, now gladdens the eye 

 by vast fields of weaving grain; the desert has been reclaimed, and 

 the little colony become a prosperous community — mostly through 

 the aid of irrigation. 



Nearly all the above irrigated regions and countries have a soil of 

 light sand}^ loam; they have generally been of a level character, 

 having a fall of but a few feet to the mile. Unaided by science, all 

 would have lacked productiveness sufficient to warrant cultivation. 



In our own State irrigation has been practiced to a considerable 

 degree; sometimes by artesian wells, sometimes by canals and from 

 river supplies. In Fresno County irrigation has been quite exten- 

 sive, and the truth demonstrated that a small farm well watered is 

 far more remunerative than a larger one watered only by rains. In 

 Merced County extensive work has been and is now being done on 

 irrigating ditches. In Santa Clara and San Joaquin Counties 



ARTESIAN WELLS 



Are being extensively used from which to water orchards and gar- 

 dens. About three miles from this city is situated the farm of George 

 S. Ladd. By boring a well at a cost of a few thousand dollars Mr. 

 Ladd has secured water sufficient to irrigate hundreds of acres, and 

 yet for seven. months in the year the water runs to waste. From this 

 one well, the water being carefully saved to the best advantage, from 

 one to two sections of land might be watered. The effect of this 

 well has been to nearly quadruple the value of Mr. Ladd's land, and 

 increase its productive value to an extent that can by me be only 

 estimated. It has more than doubled the value of the land contigu- 

 ous to Mr. Ladd's farm. Dr. Grattan, Cutler Salmon, John McDougal, 

 and others have sunk wells. 



Wells can be sunk at a cost of about five dollars to the acreage 

 irrigable by them, and will increase the value of said land by fifty 

 dollars to one hundred dollars per acre. 



California has a climate unexcelled for salubrity. The tempera- 

 ture of the interior is high, but, owing to the great atmospheric dry- 

 ness, is not oppressive. It has a soil renowned for productiveness. 

 In the smaller valleys the Winter and Spring rains, and along its 

 coast the moisture-bearing fogs, insure good crops, but in the great 

 valley of the San Joaquin the farmers, when dependent on the rain- 

 fall only, have met with many sad failures. The soil is rich, but the 

 needed moisture when most required is lacking. In this valley are 

 several millions of acres, a large portion of which might and should 

 be irrigated. It has been demonstrated by able engineers that the 

 water supply is sufficient, and the land slope great enough to render 

 the construction of irrigating canals and ditches easy. Nature has 

 done her part, and it remains for man to do his. Surely with the 



APPLIANCES OF MODERN SCIENCE 



We are not to admit less enterprise and energy than that possessed 

 by the ancients. 

 That irrigation will pay wonderfully well is needless to argue. 



