444 Transactions op the 



cols — first, that north of the present terminus of the canal — i. e., between 

 Kreyenhagen's and Moore's Landing; second, south of Kreyenhagen's 

 and west of the canal, between it and the hills; third, south of Kreyen- 

 hagen'a and east of the canal, between it and the river. The whole of 

 this section is supplied with transportation by the river during the 

 period of high water, so that it can "get along;" the season is brief hut 

 long enough to get moderate sized crops out of the country. Still, for 

 three fourths of the year, canal navigation would be a boon. Irriga- 

 tion, the first thing needed, will come to that section of the plains first 

 above named, whenever the canal shall be extended northwardly. The 

 second named section will not get irrigation till another main canal shall 

 be constructed from Tulare Lake down along the west foothills — a work 

 of which there is no immediate prospect. The third section is that irri- 

 gable from the canal as now built. This area may be said to be ready 

 for occupation. 



THE EAST SIDE. 



For the lands of the east side the railroad is the channel of trans- 

 portation. If the farmers of that extensive adobe belt, whereof Mo- 

 desto is the center, conclude to construct irrigating works, they have 

 an abundant supply of .water in the Tuolumne and Stanislaus Rivers. 

 The next great belt of adobe at Merced can be irrigated from the Mer- 

 ced River, and works for this purpose have, as heretofore explained, 

 been projected by local enterprise. But these two tracts can. perhaps, 

 make a living without irrigation; they will hardly, however, grow 

 rapidly rich. The extensive body of loam at Borden Station (the Ala- 

 bama Settlement), is irrigated by Friedlander's Canal. East of this, 

 near the river, and extending away northwardly to the Chowchilla, lies 

 the extensive body owned chiefly by Chapman, Lux, and Miller, to bo 

 irrigated by the Chapman Canal. These two sections may also be 

 described as ready for occupation. Next south, the still larger tract of 

 choice land (valuable without irrigation), extending from Centerville to 

 the railroad, and for a distance some miles west of it, seems to have no 

 immediate prospect of adequate irrigating works. The two ditches 

 previously described may be sufiicient to enable the parties directly 

 interested to cultivate their own lands, or a considerable part of them, 

 but they are not even projected on a scale to serve the entire area; and 

 until works of this character are in prospect, settlers will give prefer- 

 ence to more favored localities. 



THE TULARE COUNTRY. 



The Tulare loam bottoms need only transportation for the develop- 

 ment of great wealth; the adobe soils in some localities may need irri- 

 gation as an assurance against failure of crops. But there is a great 

 deal of adobe in this county that can be relied upon to mature small 

 grains with quite as much confidence as some other parts of the State 

 that are regarded as in the first rank of agricultural lands. Last of 

 Lake Tulare there is more rain than on the plains north, and vast tracts 

 of adobe lie so low and flat, being overflowed, or on the margin of the 

 overflow, that they retain moisture sufficiently late in the season to 

 mature crops of small grain. A good deal of the loam repays irriga- 

 tion, but such as is needed can be had, and is being secured by local 

 effort. Irrigation works of an extensive sort are not prerequisite to the 

 development of large wealth in Tulare. But cheaper transportation is 



