122 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



employed in Egypt, and in Southern Europe. In the San Joaquin valley, wing-dams extend 

 ing obliquely from one shore towards the opposite, at an acute angle up stream, generally 

 afford sufficient head. These are numerous in Kern River, at the head of the valley, one of 

 the most thoroughly irrigated sections, which, being crossed by the Southern Pacific Rail 

 road, is readily accessible. Stone being scarce here, and the river not navigable, the head- 

 works at the entrances of the canals are built entirely of wood, on pile foundations well driven 

 down, and sheathed on both sides with two-inch plank. The wings, which are similarly piled 

 and sheathed, extend fifteen or twenty feet into the bank on either side of the canal, and at 

 right angles with it. Gates are not used, but posts are set four feet apart, either vertically or 

 inclining backwards at an angle of forty-five degrees. The four feet bays are divided and 

 fitted to receive the weir-boards, which are six to eight inches wide, and slide in grooves. 

 Over the tops of those boards the water flows, and the height is regulated according to that 

 of the river and the volume desired in the canal. Where necessary, a side sluice is con 

 structed, by opening which, sand accumulated in front of the head-works may be scoured or 

 flushed out. The natural slope of the ground being too great to admit of the diverted water 

 following it, at intervals, say, of a mile on the canal, weirs or &quot; drops &quot; are introduced. These 

 are similar in construction to the head-works, and by means of sliding weir-boards the water 

 in the canal is kept at the proper height to supply the distributing ditches. Of course the 

 utilization of the water power afforded by these weirs is not neglected. 



One of the most important irrigation works, near the Southern Pacific Railroad bridge 

 over Kern River, is the Kern Island Canal, eighteen miles long. It takes its water from the 

 left bank of the stream, where the head-works have a clear width of forty-eight feet and a 

 depth of four. There are two main branches, one of which is ten miles long, width at bot 

 tom 20 feet, depth 3 feet, slopes 3 to 1. The other branch, two miles long, supplies the vil 

 lage of Bakersfield and vicinity, and at the village is a fall of nearly twenty feet perpendicu 

 lar, the power of which runs a large flour-mill. The canal and its branches supply thirty-one 

 lateral ditches, owned and controlled by individual land-owners, and having a total length of 

 eighty miles. Besides the Kern Island, four other canals, the Old South Fork, the Farmers , 

 the Castro, and the Stine, divert water from the river in this vicinity. Their total length is 

 110 miles, with ditches extending an additional 140 miles. These five canals are capable of 

 supplying 895 cubic feet of water per second, and the area irrigated in 1879 was 22,750 

 acres. In 1873, six years previously, but 5,000 acres were under irrigation. 



Water is applied to all crops, but not at the same time. Some farmers prefer to irrigate 

 in November before sowing their wheat, in order to give it an early start, while others, more 

 hopeful, wait for winter rains, and, if disappointed, irrigate during the last of January. 



Fields of Lucerne are watered about the middle of that month; and in March or April 

 wheat receives one, or, at most, two additional waterings. In May the application to Lucerne 

 is again made; Indian corn receives a share, and the process is repeated, if found necessary, 

 during June and July. After that month, irrigation is not practiced except for Lucerne, late 

 potatoes, and garden vegetables. Twenty pounds of Lucerne seed are sown to the acre, and 

 the average yield during the first year is, from three cuttings, four tons, second year six tons; 

 in subsequent years, before putting again under the plow, ten to twelve tons. An acre is 

 capable of supporting five head of horses or cattle, or twenty head of sheep, during the nine 

 or ten months of the grazing season. The average yield of wheat is 27| bushels, and of bar 

 ley 32 bushels to the acre, but in exceptional instances as high as 50 of the former and 90 of 

 the latter have been raised. The quantity of water required, which depends not only upon 

 the kind of crop, but also upon the nature of the soil and subsoil, is supplied to consumers at 

 fixed rates by the Kern Island Irrigating Canal Company above referred to, and by other com 

 panies in the valley. Sometimes the irrigators own the canals themselves, as shareholders in 

 a cooperative company, the water supply being divided into as many parts as there are shares. 



