THE ART OF IRRIGATION. 



CHAPTER XXI. A FEW FINAL REMARKS. 



BY. T. S. VAN DYKE. 



TH ARLY readers of THE AGE will reruem- 

 ber that I was one of the strong sup- 

 porters of the District system of irri- 

 gation under what is known as the 

 Wright law in California. Time has 

 proved that I was figuring on a finer 

 quality of human nature than we have 

 yet developed on this sphere. The pos- 

 ition taken by THE AGE from the start 

 that it is adapted to wild and unsettled 

 sections was correct. So great had been 

 the run of tenderfeet into many parts of 

 California, ready to pay almost any 

 price for a good bit of land, water, scen- 

 ery and climate, that many of us fondly 

 hoped some districts would be an excep- 

 tion to what was undoubtedly sound 

 principle. But time has proved that 

 the tenderfoot is not going to bite until 

 he sees water on the land or very close 

 to it. And this he cannot see until con- 

 siderable money has been spent. And no 

 one cares to put up that money until he 

 sees where the income is to come from. 

 In the meantime if any bonds are out 

 the interest is running, the bonds 

 depreciating and the land owners grow- 

 ing very weary. Little Rock District 

 in California (not Big Rock) is a success 

 with its bonds at par, interest all paid 

 and everything working well. But it is 

 a small district with no conflicting 

 interests, every land o\vner signed the 

 petition for the formation of the district, 

 every one voted for the bonds, every one 

 is not only able but willing to pay his 

 taxes. With good land and a good 

 water system it could not be otherwise 

 than a success because it has all the 

 conditions for a landowner's company 

 without any Wright law. But where 

 these conditions are and especially where 

 the sole resource for paying the taxes is 

 the sale of the land to new r comers the 

 system is a failure and always will be. 

 The " suckers 1 ' can't run fast enough to 

 keep the sellers ahead of the interest 

 even if they should try to, and the great 

 trouble is they will not try. The oper- 

 ation of the law has developed many 



defects and it is now by its best friends 

 admitted to be a practical failure in 

 most cases with many and radical amend- 

 ments, i cannot therefore recommend 

 any one to buy in a district organized 

 under such a law until amendments 

 carefully made after a full study of its 

 defects have been made and carefully 

 tested. The system should be a success, 

 and can be wherever a landowner's com- 

 pany can be and should be in many 

 cases w r here the latter cannot. But too 

 many objectors cannot be dragooned 

 and too much wild land cannot be 

 taken in. And there must be some re- 

 sources for paying taxes besides the sale 

 of the land or the profits from stuff to 

 be planted after water comes. Any sec- 

 tion that disregards the experience of 

 California with this law and thinks it 

 can easily amend it, is liable to get in 

 trouble and when it does it will be in 

 trouble such as few r have ever dreamed 

 of. The consequences of a mistake are 

 very, very, serious, 



Every man thinks he can irrigate. 

 But no one man ever worked out the 

 problem. Its solution is the result of 

 combined effort reaching over years of 

 time, with constant comparison of notes 

 and study of errors. While nothing is 

 simpler when one understands it, nothing 

 is more certain to perplex the beginner. 

 Many a good colony proposition has 

 been " hoodooed " out of several years 

 growth by allowing tyros to riot w r ith 

 the w r ater as they surely will. Especi- 

 ally is this the case on desert soil that 

 for ages has not been thoroughly wet to 

 the subsoil. It is impossible to make them 

 believe that that soil may need irrigat- 

 ing several times'before anything should 

 be planted in it, that you cannot w r et it 

 down enough with one irrigation, that 

 it is not so level as to need no grading, 

 and many other points. I am myself in- 

 terested in a fine proposition of this kind 

 which is now hung up high and dry by 

 the obstinacy of associates, .wise in other 

 respects, but who would not believe me 



