PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



219 



follow its bed for about the same distance, again cut 

 across the country to Gordon creek, and from there 

 connect with the big chain of lakes in the eastern por- 

 tion of Cherry county. It is claimed that with com- 

 paratively little work these lakes can be turned into 

 a huge reservoir, where the water can be stored for 

 use at such times as may be desired. From this 

 reservoir it is then proposed to use the bed of Plum 

 creek to Johnstown, where the ditch will cross the 

 Elkhorn railroad and proceed eastward along the di- 

 vide to O'Neill, and then northeasterly to a conflu- 

 ence with the Niobrara or Missouri. 



It is proposed that the ditch will be about 70 feet 

 wide at the botton and 10 feet deep, and that it will 

 furnish sufficient water for irrigating 400,000 acres of 

 land during the four months when irrigation is most 

 needed, viz: July, August, September and October. 



From the main ditch laterals will be constructed 

 on the divides between each of the main branches of 

 the Niobrara, irrigating toward the branches and car- 

 rying the surplus water into the Niobrara. 



GOVERNOR MURRAY'S ENTERPRISE. 



The Capabilities of the San Diego County. "Where 

 It Is I ./oca ted. 



A large irrigation enterprise is reported from San 

 Diego county, California. The Pine Valley Water 

 and Land Company, promoted by Gen. Eli H. Murray 

 and others, has lately acquired a reservoir site in 

 Pine valley, with a capacity to store eight billion 

 gallons of water, or one-third more than the capacity 

 of the Sweetwater reservoir in the same county. In 

 order to impound this large amount of water a dam 

 150 feet in height will need to be erected, and it is re- 

 ported the work of construction will not be long 

 postponed. The climatic conditions of the San Diego 

 region are conducive to health and to the enjoyment 

 of life in the open air during a large part of the year. 

 And when fully understood by those desiring a change 

 of residence, a large influx of well-to-do and otherwise 

 desirable people will almost certainly result from an 

 extension of the splendid systems of irrigation which 

 already exist in the county. 



Although the annual rainfall at San Diego has aver- 

 aged less than ten inches during the past forty yearsi 

 yet back from the coast among the mountains the 

 rainfall is very much greater, and is able no doubt to 

 supply many reservoirs of large capacity whenever 

 they shall have been located and adequately dammed. 



It is well known that under irrigation the soil of 

 San Diego county may be made to produce nearly 

 everything that enters into the food supplies of the 

 human family. Grains of all the staple varieties, 

 alfalfa and other forage plants, fruits of all kinds, 

 from apples to oranges and lemons, are fully at home 



in the environment found in the proximity of San 

 Diego bay. What is quite remarkable for any country 

 is that along the bay region the finest oranges and 

 lemons as well as the most delicious apples may be 

 grown on the same ground. It is rare that this con- 

 dition is found anywhere ; for whereas the citrus fruits 

 delight in warm sunshine for a good part of the year, 

 the apple requires a cooler period in which to pre- 

 pare for the following crop. But in the region of 

 San Diego bay the needful conditions appear to meet 

 on the same ground and the result is an astonishing 

 condition of production. It appears to be neutral 

 ground whereon meet and thrive together the sub- 

 tropical fruits and those of the colder latitudes as 

 well. 



The products of the bay region about San Diego, 

 now on exhibition at the Midwinter Fair, at San Fran- 

 cisco, challenge the admiration of all. They range in 

 point of latitude from Guatemala to Nova Scotia. 

 The delicious pine apples of Toboga island in the 

 bay of Panama are flanked on either side by the 

 lemons of Paradise valley and the Newtown pippins 

 of the Julian district. 



General Greeley, of the United States Signal Ser- 

 vice, has stated that the most equable climate in the 

 United States is to be found in the region of San Diego 

 bay in Southern California. It is certain that with the 

 development of the irrigation enterprises now under 

 way and projected in the southern sections of Cali- 

 fornia, an impetus will be given to colony-building 

 under those balmy skies, which must result in lasting 

 benefit to the country and to the individuals who 

 successfully carry out the plans now maturing for 

 such colonial establishments. Every new scheme 

 having the honest purpose to conserve and distribute 

 more equitably the natural rainfall of any part of the 

 arid region should be welcomed and encouraged; 

 for while some of these undertakings may fail, yet 

 their inception is born of a praiseworthy effort to 

 cause two or more blades of grass to grow where none 

 grow before. 



AVAILABLE PUBLIC REPORTS. 



A subscriber asks for a list of Government reports on irrigation 

 that can be obtained by the public. The reports' of the Geolog- 

 ical Survey are as follows: 



Reports on Irrigation, prepared mainly by A. H. Thompson, 

 H. M. Wilson and F. H. Newell. 



First Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey. 

 Published as Part 2, Irrigation, of the Tenth Annual Report of 

 the U. S. Geological Survey. 182 Pages. Preliminary. 



Second Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey. 

 Published as Part 2, Irrigation, of the Eleventh Annual Report of 

 the U. S. Geological Survey. 394 pages, 30 plates, 4 figures. 

 (Water-supply, surveys of reservoirs, and bibliography of irri- 

 gation.) 



Third Annual Report of the United States Irrigation Survey. 

 Published as Part 2, Irrigation, of the Twelfth Annual Report of 



