PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



29 



FREDERICK S. STOCK, 



Of California, Commissioner of the California Water Works 

 and Irrigation Company. 



the need of a law which would promote irrigation 

 and at the same time prevent the water supply from 

 falling into the hands of large corporations without 

 proper restrictions by the State. He said that there 

 was sufficient water to irrigate fully three-fourths of 

 the State, either by ditches, pumps or reservoirs. 



William Stafford of Julesburg, Colo., gave his expe- 

 rience in irrigating by the use of windmills and res- 

 ervoirs. He has a reservoir that covers about three- 

 fourths of an acre and during the past season he 

 irrigated eight acres from it. He did not think it 

 would pay to pump water for irrigation purposes if it 

 had to be drawn more than fifty feet. 



Hon. W. R. Akers, senator-elect from Scott's Bluff 

 county, advocated the ditch system for field irrigation 

 and strongly urged that the farmers dig their own 

 ditches and own their own water rights. 



Hon. Chas. W. Irish made some pertinent remarks 

 in regard to alfalfa, saying that though it is some- 

 times difficult to get it started, when this is accom- 

 plished, it is one of the best crops that a farmer can 

 grow. 



The speeches and papers covered a variety of top- 

 ics and were of an eminently practical nature. The 

 convention was the largest and most successful ever 

 held in Nebraska and awakened a great interest. 



I. A. Fort of North Platte was unanimously re- 

 elected president for the ensuing year and the other 

 officers are as follows: Secretary, A. J. Wolfenbarger, 

 Lincoln ; Treasurer, James Whitehead, Custer county ; 

 Executive board, Martin Gering, Gering; C. R. Sav- 



age, Sargent; Isaac Le Dioyt, Hastings; R. B. How- 

 ell, Omaha; E. L. King, Culbertson, and a vice- 

 president from each county represented. The next 

 annual convention will be held in Sidney some time 

 late in 1895. 



THE TEXAS CONVENTION. 



Another successful irrigation convention was that 

 which met in San Antonio, Tex., early in December. 

 Delegates from every part of the great State of Texas 

 were in attendance, as well as many visitors and 

 prominent people. With its usual vim and enthuii- 

 asm Texas has taken hold of the subject of irrigation, 

 and hereafter it will be kept in a prominent position 

 as a matter of great personal interest to every citizen 

 of the largest State in the Union. 



The speeches were unusually full and complete and 

 met with an enthusiastic welcome. They covered 

 the subject in nearly all its phases, but particularly 

 from its practical side. 



Unfortunately our space is too limited to give even 

 a brief review of the many important matters dis- 

 cussed at this convention, but we hope in our next 

 issue to present them in a fitting manner, including, 

 if possible, short extracts from the many good 

 speeches made. 



A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EXHIBIT. 



An evidence of the substantial prosperity to be at- 

 tained by a section dependent almost entirely upon 

 irrigation is seen in the display of Southern California 

 products at the Chamber of Commerce in Los An- 

 geles. 



It is a unique and beautiful display, the like of 

 which is not to be found anywhere else in the country. 

 The State Board of Trade at San Francisco has a 

 similar display but on a much smaller scale. 



The entire second and third stories of a new build- 

 ing 120x120 feet in size on a prominent corner in Los 

 Angeles are given up to the exhibit, the reception 

 rooms and offices of the chamber. 



The main exhibit hall is 90x120, and is forty feet 

 high under the great skylight. Broad galleries sur- 

 round the room, and numerous ante-rooms connect 

 with the display-hall containing special exhibits. 



The display is the outgrowth of four years of work 

 and the expenditure of many thousands of dollars. 

 It is visited annually by half a million of people. No 

 admission fee is charged and no advertising of any 

 sort is admitted to the exhibit. Eight hundred mer- 

 chants and property-owners of Los Angeles and 

 vicinity subscribe one dollar a month toward the 

 maintenance of the display, and this amount together 

 with small rental charges from outside counties for 

 exhibit room pays all expenses. 



The display is chiefly made up of the products of 

 irrigation in Southern California, although not a few 

 non-irrigated fruits and vegetables are shown for 

 there are some sections of Southern California where, 

 owing to the natural moisture of the land, irrigation 

 is not necessary. 



The elephant made of walnuts which was shown at 

 the Midwinter Fair, and the huge bottle of wine and 

 the big ear of corn are striking features of the dis- 

 play, which are intended by their size to impress the 

 attention and the memory of the visitor. Choice 

 specimens of fruits of all sorts are shown in hundreds 

 of glass jars preserved in clear liquid. Fresh fruits 

 are shown in their season and large cases of superb 

 dried fruit and rich grain show the excellence and 

 the variety of the products of this favored section. 



