240 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



should the farmers of the sections needing water unite as one man, 

 and invite the attention of capitalists to the subject, and guarantee a 

 certain payment per acre per annum for such land as used the water, 

 the same to be a lien upon the land, that capital sufficient for the 

 work might be secured. The increased value of the land would 

 pay for the work many times over. 



WATER RATES 



At $1 25 per acre would pay the original investment in a few years. 

 Well could the farmers give one third the present value of their lands 

 to secure irrigation for them. Recently I sold my West Side farm, 

 after holding it for years, and lost money on it. I could have given 

 one half the land for water to irrigate the balance, and made 

 thousands. 



The effects of such a system of irrigation as that here hinted at are 

 many. Time will allow me to briefly enumerate a few only: 



First — Great increase in the fertility of the soil, and great increase 

 in the products of the State. 



Second — A large increase in immigration. 



Third — A water communication to San Francisco, and a consequent 

 competition in freight carriage with the railroad. 



Fourth — Timber culture, the planting of trees sufficient to modify 

 the climate of the San Joaquin Valley, and furnish sufficient wood 

 for consumption by the inhabitants thereof. 



Fifth — Increase in land values, and a corresponding decrease in the 

 rate of taxation for others. 



Sixth — The prevention of levee-breaking floods by furnishing a 

 conduit for the surplus waters. 



But I have not time to go into the benefits of such a system, not to 

 elaborate the benefits enumerated; suffice to say that prosperity 

 would follow, not only in the regions directly benefited, but through- 

 out the State. 



Whether our farmers will move in the matter is doubtful; while 

 the farmer is the backbone of the State, he has but little inclination 

 to enter into combinations. All other classes combine to further 

 their own interests, knowing that 



IN UNION IS STRENGTH. 



But the farmer is of an independent, non-coalescing nature. When 

 he does combine, push is the order of the day. When our San 

 Joaquin Valley farmers move unitedly for a general irrigation system, 

 its success will become assured. 



No known land more needs the aid of science to develop her 

 resources. In no known land can science do more towards their 

 development. Science can render California rich in agricultural 

 wealth. Naught else is needed, for every other excellency that mind 

 can conceive or heart desire is encompassed within the boundary of 

 your State. Bounteous nature scattered her golden sands along the 

 banks of California's streams, she mingled the earth of the hillsides 

 with bright shining particles of pure gold. She imbedded in the 

 quartz foundations of the firm hills the riches of mineral wealth, she 

 furnished the valleys with fertile soil, and placed on the mountain 

 tops and in the river channels, reservoirs of grain-giving moisture. 



