436 Transactions of the 



•works frecl}' under the pick. But moving at the velocitj* assumed, the 

 water would possess such power of erosion, perhaps, slowly caving- the 

 material, which would then be deposited in the canal, and thus endan- 

 gering the permanence of the whole work, Chat prudence may demand 

 the lining of the tunnel throughout with timber. The cost of the mere 

 excavation may be set down at ten thousand dollars, to which add 

 whatever outlay is made for timbering. The cost of making the canal in 

 the open country is estimated at two thousand dollars per mile — a figure 

 likely to be exceeded on parts of the line. The total cost of the work 

 on the basis of these figures would then be as follows: head-works, ten 

 thousand dollars; tunnel, ten thousand dollars; five and one half miles 

 of the fork of the canal, eleven thousand dollars; thirty-three miles of 

 main fork to Bear Creek, sixty six thousand dollars; twenty-two miles 

 from Bear Creek to the San Joaquin, forty-four thousand dollars; total, 

 one hundred and forty-one thousand dollars. To this is to be added the 

 cost of six hundred feet of fluming crossing intervening creeks, includ- 

 ing the Bear; also, of carrying the smaller fork from Canal Creek to the 

 lands it is designed to serve, but this Mill not be considerable. The 

 interests of the principal parties connected with the enterprise are 

 served when the canal reaches Bear Creek, and there it may stop 

 awhile, awaiting action of the farmers living between that point and the 

 San Joaquin River. To Bear Creek the cost, according to the above 

 figures, should approximate ninety-seven thousand dollars. It is stated 

 that the necessaiy funds are already subscribed by the responsible par- 

 ties, many of whose names are mentioned above, and the work is now 

 in process of construction. 



LOWER KING'S RIVER DITCH. 



The People's Ditch Compan}- of Tulare is an organization formed by 

 the settlers on the lower King's River section, who are constructing an 

 irrigating canal for the benefit of their farms. Water is taken from the 

 liver at a point ten miles above Kingston, by a simple head-gate without 

 a dam. The course of this ditch, as laid out and now well advanced in 

 construction, is to a point known as " Lone Tree," distant fourteen miles 

 from the head. Thence to the lake the distance is seven miles, through 

 which the work may be extended should settlers in that locality see fit 

 to take it up. This ditch is laid out to carry four feet depth of water 

 with a width at the top of twenty-five feet. Toward the head the banks 

 are constructed with a slope of only one half horizontal to one vertical. 

 At the same time the grade is considerable, falling at the rate of several 

 feet to the mile, while at one point the steep rate of two feet in seventy 

 rods was adopted. The material of the bank at this point is not of 

 special tenacity. It remains to be proved by experience, therefore, 

 whether the stability of the banks under these circumstances can be 

 maintained, the detail of the construction being in violation of the rules 

 laid down in the engineering manuals. The money for this work was 

 raised by the formation of an incorporated company, with a capital stock 

 of one hundred shares of one hundred dollars each. Each subscriber is 

 an owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land, and their calculation 

 is that each, taking an equal share of the water run by the ditch, will 

 obtain sufficient for the irrigation of his quarter section. Whether or 

 not they will find that they have all the water they would like, certain 

 it is that each will get enough to repay him an hundred fold the amount 

 of his investment in the enterprise. Although this work is not projected 



