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irrigation; what are the means to be used in order to bring within the reach of 

 the farmer a supply of water sufficient for the thirst of the land and for the 

 necessary wants of stock during the long dry seasons of our climate ? Two 

 methods have been proposed to which we will address ourselves at this time. 

 The one is that of tanks which may be found amply sufficient for present purpo 

 ses in supplying the lands now occupied with water enough for the farmer and 

 horticulturist. The other method is by canalling, for the purpose of drawing 

 water from the rivers out upon the plains in sufficient quantities to supply their 

 entire surface with the essential element of cultivation of the soil. 



The tanking system has been used for many years in India and the oriental 

 nations, and has proved successful beyond the expectations of its originators. 

 The positions of the hills forming the northern boundary of the plains of Los 

 Angeles are admirably situated for the accumulation of water by this means, 

 and the expense of constructing the dams necessary for its retention would be 

 comparatively small, when considered in connection with the advantages to arise 

 from their erection. There are many natural reservoirs skirting the line of these 

 plains, which, if obstructed by small dams, would furnish water sufficient for all 

 ordinary purposes of cultivation. Immediately to the north of the city there is 

 an opportunity afforded for accumulating a body of water nearly one mile in 

 length, with a breadth of one fourth of a mile, and a depth of from 20 to 30 

 feet, by the construction of a single dam across the entrance of the ravine. 

 This lagoon would be filled and kept supplied for at least six months of the year 

 from the rains which annually fall, and from which several remitting springs in 

 this vicinity are now supplied. This is given as an instance, but only one of 

 many of a similar character which may be found to prove that from the con 

 structions of these hills, nature seems to have designed a plan which would force 

 itself upon the mind of man for meeting the exigencies of our long dry seasons, 

 and in this way inviting him to the enjoyment and possession of her rich fields. 

 It is a practicable and feasible plan which would at once strike the eye of a hy- 

 draulist, and which has no place in the theories of visionary speculation. 



The other method alluded to, and which we esteem one which promises to b 

 advantageous, if applied in this region, is the construction of a canal of about 

 three miles in length, which will divert a portion of the water of the Los An 

 geles River from its natural channel, and connecting it with the semi-natural 

 reservoir spoken of, so as to keep it constantly supplied with an abundance of 

 water. An objection might at first view be interposed by the public of this lo 

 cality to this latter project, on the ground that it would interfere with the sup 

 ply of water for irrigation which is already used in considerable quantities for 

 the lands already in cultivation, yet a little reflection will make it convincing 

 that the lands now irrigated by the use of this stream would not necessarily 

 suffer from any scarcity of water, as its present wastage is sufficient to supply 

 irrigation to at least double the quantity of ground to that which now occupies 

 the area of irrigated cultivation in that vicinity. This plan would present an 

 other advantage in the fact that the water thus diverted would be retained at a 

 much higher level than that occupied by the point at which it is at present 

 taken from the stream for its distribution along the lower bottom lands border 

 ing the river. This would expand the area of distribution, while the drainage 

 passing through the higher terraces to the north and west, would again find its 

 level on the sanjons now used for conducting it through the lower bottoms. This 

 river discharges a greater quantity of water than that flowing in Bear River 

 during the dry season, which is entirely lost in the loose sands a few miles west 

 of the City. Here sinks beyond the control of the farmer a sufficient supply of 

 water to irrigate successfully a large surface of the richest soil, if it were saved 

 by the plan already proposed, which might redeem these lands from their parch- 



