THE MONTHLY BULLETIN 



CALIFORNIA STATE COMMISSION OF HORTICULTURE. 



Vol. IV. March, 1915. No. 3. 



IRRIGATION PRACTICE IN THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY. 



By W S. Guilford, Director of Agriculture, Sacramento Valley Irrigation Company, 



Willows, California.* 



In discussing irrigation practice in the Sacramento Valley I shall 

 attempt to cover some of the points that seem to me to have been the 

 cause of succ&ss or failure, both with new settlers who are buying sub- 

 division acreages, and so-called "old timers" who are abandoning exten- 

 sive grain farming, wholly or in part, for more intensive operations 

 under irrigation. 



Such propositions as the duty of water, cost of pumping plants, com- 

 parative value of plants of different kinds, and many other highly im- 

 portant factors have been, or are being worked out by investigators 

 with time and appliances for such careful and scientific studies. Many 

 of the things I will touch upon are so simple and self-evident that it 

 would seem that no thinking person would ever do them wrong, yet 

 they are repeatedly the cause of inconvenience and loss in every irri- 

 gated section in the United States. 



THE CHOICE OF THE LAND. 



The first consideration in connection with a prospective irrigated 

 farm is the choice of the land. Factors which govern the value of land 

 for an irrigated farm are : character of soil, contour, irrigation facilities; 

 and transportation. 



The soil should be selected with reference to the crops to be grown. 

 In almost every part of California Avhere land is for sale it is possible 

 to find similar land to that which it might be thought desirable to pur- 

 chase, growing profitable intensive crops. If prunes are the principal 

 crop to be grown by a prospective settler, for instance, and in the neigh- 

 borhood of a piece of land he has selected, they are being successfully 

 grown on similar land, he can be reasonably sure of his choice as far 

 as crop adaptation is concerned. In general a rich soil, well drained 

 and free from hardpan and alkali, should be chosen. 



Then there is the cost of leveling to consider, and land with an even 

 slope, free from deep depressions that will have to be filled and level 

 enough so that the soil does not have to be moved long distances in 

 order to make the water run, can often be leveled for irrigation for 

 $20 to $30 less per acre than more uneven land. 



The kind of an irrigation system from which water is to be secured — 

 whether from gravity flow or pumping — is a consideration that affects 

 future profits. If water is to come from wells the assurance of a 

 supply and also the cost of pumping and maintenance are of importance. 



♦Address before the State Fruit Growers' Convention, Davis, California. June 1 

 to 6, 1914. 

 1.5979 



