314 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



But the ink in my pen still flows and my agricul- 

 tural hobby-horse is not yet tired so I will go on to 

 say that in the wide Valley of the San Joaquin it 

 has become necessary to employ a land expert to 

 assist the farmer and the colonist. Both the State 

 University and the railways employ them to de- 

 termine for the land-owners such difficult problems 

 as how to provide, transport and conserve the 

 water supply; whether to bring the supply from 

 the mountains or to pump from the subsoil to the 

 surface. Where the lift is from twenty to forty 

 feet the problem is simple; but where the lift is 

 one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet it is both 

 more complex and more expensive. In large dis- 

 tricts, although there may be no rain for six to 

 eight months in the year, a full supply of water for 

 irrigation may generally be reached within pump- 

 able distance of the surface, and in a few localities 

 artesian water is found. 



The agricultural expert should not only be able 

 to give reliable information as to water supply but 

 also as to the character of the land, especially the 

 subsoil. This can often be determined by the kinds 

 of plants growing on the land but the character 

 of the subsoil is usually determined by the use of 

 a two-inch auger with an extension handle. In 



