THE UNDERGROUND WATER SUPPLY OF TEXAS. 



23 



dently of a temporary character. The chief care in 

 the construction of these and in fact all dams is to 

 have not only the dams themselves made water tight, 

 but the banks on all sides protected so that all leaks 

 and seepage may be prevented. The city of Austin, 

 which has just invested $1,500,000, in a dam across 

 the Colorado river, has had a most expensive lesson 

 in this respect. The great dam had been completed, 

 the gates were closed and the waters fell over the crest 

 of the dam with a roar like Niagara, while back 

 among the hills bounding the upper course of the 

 river, a lake thirty-five miles in length was formed. 

 The name and fame of the dam and lake were her- 

 alded to the four corners of the earth, but hardly had 

 the news gone forth, when close on its heels came 

 intelligence of the washing of the bank at the end of 

 the dam, whereby the success of the entire structure 

 was threatened. The damage has been repaired, but 



after the expenditure of months of time and thousands 

 of dollars. 



With careful attention to details all such accidents 

 can be easily prevented, especially in the case of small 

 structures, such as for the most part will be those by 

 which the water supply of the greater portion of the 

 irrigation demanding sections will be. 



HIGHLY FAVORABLE CONDITIONS. 



From what has been shown it will be seen that 

 Texas is most fortunately situated in regard to water 

 when she shall be able to intelligently and systemat- 

 ically take advantage of the conditions under which 

 that water is supplied. The soil is adapted to drouths 

 and when they become too long the water can be easily 

 supplied artificially, for in the absence of artesian con- 

 ditions the conformation of the country is always favor- 

 able for the storage of surface water, and the proper 

 material is always at hand. 



THE OLIVE IN AMERICA. 



npHAT the olive tree is destined to be widely planted 

 -- in various parts of the United States is reasonably 

 certain. The tree is hardy, and will thrive under ad- 

 verse conditions, though, of course, the best results 

 follow the best care as in case of all other kinds of 

 fruit trees. Whenever the American people shall 

 have learned the great value of pure olive oil (which 

 few of them have ever seen), its consumption will un- 

 doubtedly become very great. As a food and as a 

 medicine there can be no question of the value of 

 olive oil, and whenever such legislation can be se- 

 cured from Congress as will lead to the honest brand- 

 ing of imported salad oil the industry will begin to 

 take high rank in this country. It has been found by 

 repeated analysis that not five per cent, of the so-called 

 olive oil, imported into the United States, is pure, 

 while a large percentage of it contains no olive oil 

 whatever. The olive is at present produced on a large 

 scale only in California, although trees were planted 

 in Florida perhaps twenty years ago, and in some 

 other of the Southern States even before that. While 

 most of the olive orchards in California are still young, 

 the acreage reported last year from that State was 

 7,997 acres. The tree will undoubtedly thrive through- 

 out the southern parts of the arid West, and in the re- 

 gion of its possible growth the olive is found to be 

 quite cosmopolitan, and will flourish in a great variety 

 of places, cold being the main obstacle to its growth. 



In California the berries ripen from November to 

 January, according to location, and may be harvested 

 when other work is not especially pressing. 



Aside from the oil the olive is the most delicious 

 pickle made, when it is properly treated. Most Amer- 

 icans are accustomed only to the use of the green im- 

 ported olive pickles. To such, the rich, ripe, black or 



dark purple pickled olives of California would be a 

 pleasing surprise. Those accustomed to compare the 

 two classes of pickles, assert that there is as great a 

 difference in favor of the ripe fruit as between the 

 green and ripe stages of any other fruit even the 

 peach. 



The progress made during the past three years in 

 preserving the ripe olive in the form of a pickle, has 

 been remarkable in California, though the practice is 

 not common in Europe. The ripe olive thus prepared 

 has all the piquant character needed in a pickle added 

 to a rich oleaginous food of the highest quality. When- 

 ever, therefore, the American people become suffi- 

 ciently educated to appreciate pure olive oil and ripe 

 olive pickles at their true value as food substances, 

 the demand for them will be practically unlimited. 

 Readers of THE AGE in New Mexico, Arizona, parts 

 of Utah, Nevada and Texas, should find the olive a 

 profitable tree to plant in proper locations. 



One great advantage of the olive, is, that the oil in 

 the berry is manufactured in nature's great alembic 

 from materials wholly drawn from the atmosphere, 

 without making any draft at all upon the ingredients 

 of the soil. If, therefore, the pomace from the oil 

 mill be restored to the land, the olive orchard will 

 need no further fertilization. Should the fruit be 

 pickled, however, the trees would ultimately require 

 fertilization in the same way as other fruit trees. 

 Some planters have made the mistake of trying to 

 establish profitable olive orchards upon land too dry, 

 or upon rocky hillsides where the soil is thin and 

 infertile. It may be here said that the olive tree re- 

 sembles the cow. It will always do its best, but can- 

 not be expected to give good results without food and 

 shelter. 



