STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 169 



I will not discuss the problems that are involved in the production 

 and preservation of the highest types of domestic animals, but pass 

 on to a very brief consideration of another matter that lies at tlie very 

 root of a well developed, comprehensive system of agriculture. I refer 

 to irrigation. 



In many localities irrigation is not an absolute necessity. Never- 

 theless I am convinced tliat there is no part of tlie State that would 

 not be the better for irrigation, while it is certain that there are 

 immense tracts of arable land where irrigation is absolutely necessary. 

 On the whole we may safely say that the productiveness of California 

 cannot be commanded without such a system; that it is necessary to 

 enable us to control droughts in places where irrigation is not gener- 

 ally needed. Many systems will spring, up, and in the future the 

 waters of Lake Tahoe will undoubtedly be distributed through the 

 Sacramento A^alley and the Bay counties. There will be local systems 

 of reservoirs, wells, and canals, and systems more general, of which I 

 need not speak, but there wall also be special problems demanding 

 solution, as we may even now see in the valuable work heretofore 

 done in this young State. Many wells, streams, and lakes will be 

 found to contain material in solution which will be found upon pre- 

 cipitation to be either very injurious or beneficial to the soil at certain 

 times, as the case may be, and must, therefore, be studied. I can only 

 suggest the problem, and reassert the proposition that a comprehen- 

 sive State system of agriculture requires systematic irrigation. 



I have now outlined the numerous problems, upon the solution of 

 which depends the future prosperity of California. Each one of them 

 presses upon us with nearly equal force, and the people of this State 

 must see to it that they all receive the required degree of considera- 

 tion. Without a solution, our system of agriculture must continue 

 to be fragmentary, and to a large extent accidental, both in its 

 methods and results. With a just solution will come a degree of 

 prosperity that will place California in the van of all the States. 



I started with the proposition that it is our duty as intelligent, fore- 

 handed people, to establish a system of agriculture adapted to the 

 wants of a great people, and commensurate with the capabilities of 

 our State; a system capable of progressive development for all time 

 to come. 



I then briefly enumerated the several difficulties that lie in the 

 way of such an achievement, and which must be surmounted before 

 we can accomplish much in the desired direction. 



And I come now to the question of ways and means. What can 

 be done to surmount the above named difficulties? In general, I 

 answer, that in the natural course of things, a progressive people, 

 such as ours, will surmount the difficulties named, and many more, 

 as a matter of course— within the next thousand years. 



But who among you is willing to leave the grand consummation to 

 the influence of the general drift towards high development? Cer- 

 tainly not the men who, within a period of thirty-five years, have 

 built a great State. For such men to discern a desired end is to act. 

 No, delay is not for us; rapid execution is both our duty and to our 

 taste. What, then, is needed to enable us to overcome our difficul- 

 ties, and to establish the desired system of agriculture? 



First of all we need knowledge — accurate knowledge — knowledge 

 that can be tried without distrust. It is but little use to tell us that 

 A B succeeded in producing something in a given place. What were 



