36 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



year from reliable sources, that most of the grain land in California will, 

 when suninier-l'allowed, produce eight tenths more grain per acre than 

 when ploughed iviid sown after the rainy season sets in. Yet not one 

 twentieth of the land devoted to grain raising for 3-ears past has been 

 summer-fallowed. 



It is proper to remark, however, that great improvement in the man- 

 ner of prepai'i ng the soil and putting in the seed this season over past 

 years is manifest in every part of the State. The efforts of this Board, 

 through its Secretary, in calling the attention of farmers to the impor- 

 tance of this subject, and the drought of the past season, have both con- 

 tributed to this change. It is hoped that hereafter grain raising wilj be 

 conducted with greater cconom}' and upon principles which guarantee 

 greater and more certain success As another good effect of the drought, 

 ma}' be mentioned the interest it has awakened in many parts of the 

 State upon the subject of irrigation. The experience of those who have 

 practiced irrigation for a number of j'ears past proves that almost any of 

 our lands situated back from the I'iver bottoms pro])er. and which have 

 hei'etofore been considered capable of producing oidy small grains, and 

 these only in favorable seasons, may, by the judicious use of water, be 

 made to produce in abundance and with almost absolute certainty, almost 

 any crop embraced in the husbandman's vocabuhuy in any climate or 

 country. This experience has also established another important fact, 

 that the best and only time necessary to use this water is during the 

 winter season, when all oui- rivers and creeks are full and capable of 

 su])plying almost any quantity desired. A thorough saturation of the 

 soil at this time serves to mature any crop, or two or three different kinds 

 of crops, in a season, without fui-ther irrigation. The people of the 

 Counties of San Joaquin, Los Angeles, and Yolo, have been the first to 

 avail themselves of these important lessons upon an extensive scale. 



C. M. Weber, of San Joaquin County, has, during the last season, intro- 

 duced water over his own land and that of some of his neighbors with 

 the most ffratifvine; results. 



The particulars as to length of canal or amount of land that may be 

 irrigated have not been received, though written for some time since.* 



iiy means of a ditch and reservoir, eleven miles in length, tapping the 

 San Gabriel Eiver, in Los Angeles Count}-, forty thousand acres of land 

 which has been hitherto used only for grazing purposes, is now being 

 irrigated and converted into one of the most fertile portions of that 

 coiuity, already so justly celebrated for the variety and excellence of its 

 productions. 



In Yolo County there are five main ditches, tapping Cache Creek in as 

 many different places, with an aggregate length of twenty-five miles, 

 besides a great number of branches, all capable of irrigating at least one 



* The Secretary received on the day after the annual meetiug, fmm Doctor Ilolden, of Stockton, 

 a Ltter, of which the foUowiiij;- is an e.xtr.ict, and which supplies the iuformatinu written for: 



" I have ascertained some interesting fact.-s in regard to th.' profitable results by irrigation from 

 Captain Weber'.s diiilies, whirh are si jiplicd by water iniiu tlie Calaveras until Jun •, ihe month 

 the river usually dries u]). Tlie sev,.ral dinh.s run about live miles, and irrigate about two thou- 

 sand acres, or ten farms, small sections of which were last ye.ir cultivated to wheat: th.; balance 

 produced o;it hay, and a superior article. The estimated value of cri)ps on the two thousand acres 

 is twenty-five thousand dolhirs, and withnui irrigation the crops would have been an entire failure. 

 The above is the onlj' system of ditches for irrigation in this countj'. The result of this first 

 attempt of irrigating on a large scale has been so profitable and sure, maiij' other cnterprites of 

 the kind will be undertaken in this county. Califoruians will find out in time that water is not 

 only quite necessary, but the cheapest fertilizer." 



