THE ART OF IRRIGATION. 



13 



tentive of moisture, so that if wet thor- 

 oughly in winter it will, by the aid of the 

 rising moisture from the bottom, hold 

 water enough in the top to mature such 

 crops as grain that ripen very early in the 

 spring, and it will come very near ripening 

 even corn that runs far into the summer. 

 Alfalfa, whose roots quickly go down to 

 this permanent moisture, only needs a good 

 stimulus of water in the top soil to start it 

 more quickly, after the cold nights of 

 midwinter have checked its growth. 



On this ground grain is sown dry. It 

 is then plowed in, or rather scratched in, 

 for there is no apparent advantage in deep 

 plowing on this particular soil, as it is all 

 loose enough except the crust, which will 

 be formed on any fertile soil by excess of 

 water. It is then irrigated so as to fill the 

 top soil with enough water to sprout and 

 carry it until ripe, in connection with the 

 winter rains, of which there are always 

 some of value, even in the driest times; 

 one-third of an acre foot of water put in 

 the ground will do this, for there is no 

 loss of moisture downward, the entire sub- 

 soil being saturated instead of dry. If you 

 will note how quickly a piece of dry, un- 

 plowed ground saps the moisture for sev- 

 eral feet from a freshly irrigated piece be- 

 side it, you will understand how, with a 

 dry subsoil, more moisture (not water only) 

 will be lost downward than is lost upward 

 by evaporation. But if there is no loss of 

 this kind, grain well started with the top 

 soil filled witk water matures before 

 the summer heat has its effect in drying 

 out the top soil. Very heavy crops are 

 raised in this way on this ground. 



On the upland, where it is many feet to 

 water, and where the subsoil for yards is 

 as dry as the top soil, unless soaked from 

 the ditches, all flooding is postponed until 

 the grain is so large that it cannot be eas- 

 ily injured. The different quality of the 

 soil is the principal cause of this. It is a 

 fine granite wash, containing enough fine 

 material to make a tough paste without 

 enough humus to prevent its formation. 

 On the swamp land there is so much vege- 

 table matter mixed with the fine granite 

 flour that it cannot make as hard a paste. 

 To flood this upland after the grain is 

 planted and before it has started would be 

 to kill half or more of it at once. Depend- 

 ence is therefore placed on the slow, gentle 



rains, which do not beat down and puddle 

 the ground. If the ground were thor- 

 oughly irrigated before plowing it would 

 retain moisture enough to insure the start- 

 ing of the crop in fine shape, but for grain 

 at present prices this is considered too ex- 

 pensive, even when the farmer does his 

 own work with his own teams. He would 

 rather put in a larger area and gamble on 

 a good rainfall, and from his standpoint 

 of large farming it is hard to say he is not 

 right. Therefore he plows his ground dry 

 that is, without irrigating. It may or 

 may not be moist from the first rain, and 

 generally is as dry as powder when plowed. 

 Then it is checked for future irrigation if 

 there are no permanent checks on the tract. 

 Many of these checks are temporary only, 

 especially where one is working rented 

 land, as many do. Then the seed is sown 

 for the rains to sprout and carry up to the 

 point where it will stand flooding. This 

 flooding is postponed as long as there is no 

 danger of the crop suffering, and often it 

 receives no water until headed out and even 

 in the milk, while it is rarely irrigated un- 

 til in the boot, unless in winters very short 

 of rain. A second irrigation is rarely 

 needed, but can be given if required. The 

 water is applied sparingly and not left on 

 the ground, even as long as for alfalfa. 

 Even when quite old, grain of all kinds 

 will quickly scald if the sun is hot, and 

 great care must be used. While a delicate 

 operation, large crops can be raised by ir- 

 rigajtion with certainty and success, and 

 tens of thousands of acres are thus raised 

 here every year. Corn, and all summer 

 crops like Egyptian corn and similar 

 things, are raised in large quantities under 

 the same system, though the yield to the 

 acre is not what it would be if less water 

 and more plow were used. But there is 

 certainly a limit on fine work, and where 

 land and water are so plenty and cheap it 

 no doubt pays to work a larger area with 

 a lower yield. 



None of the land of Lux & Miller is yet 

 for sale, but that of the Kern County Land 

 Company is for sale for much less than 

 any one person or ordinary aggregation of 

 persons could ever put on the water from 

 any source from forty to sixty dollars an 

 acre for as good land as the sun shines 

 upon, with an annual payment of a dollar 

 and a half a year on the greater part, run- 

 ing, under some of the canals, to two and 

 a half. The water right is a cubic foot a 



