PULSE OF THE IRRIGATION INDUSTRY. 



SUB-IRRIGATION A SUCCESS. 



The present season is the dryest that 

 Southern California has known for years, 

 and while the lack of water has been a 

 detriment to the country, as a whole it 

 has demonstrated some things that never 

 could have been known with certainty 

 without the test of a dry year. One thing 

 that this summer is demonstrating is that 

 a section that has a sufficient supply of 

 water for irrigation purposes this year 

 need have no fear for other years. An- 

 other thing that the dry year has shown 

 up is the fact that some places that had 

 claimed a sufficient water supply must 

 secure an increased amount of the precious 

 fluid in order to make them safe in ex- 

 tremely dry seasons. 



A third and very important test has 

 been that to which the present dry season 

 has subjected those sections which depend 

 on sub-irrigation for the sustenance of tree 

 and plant life. In most of these sections 

 the results have surprised even the most 

 sanguine believers in the theory of sub- 

 irrigation. There has been absolutely no 

 sign of a lack of the usual amount of moist- 

 ure, and trees have made as much growth 

 as in other years when the surface water 

 supply was much greater. 



A representative of the Record recently 

 visited the Sierra Madre colonies lying 

 south of North Cucamonga. This is one 

 of the tracts in which sub-irrigation is cer- 

 tainly a marked success. There is not a 

 single sign of drouth to be seen anywhere 

 on the whole tract, and the nourshing con- 

 dition of the trees cannot but convince the 

 most confirmed skeptic that sub-irrigation 

 in the Sierra Madre colonies has passed 

 successfully through the experimental 



Not only are the peach, olive, prune and 

 apricot trees holding their own during the 

 present dry season, but they are making a 

 steady and rapid growth, and the older 

 trees are maturing good crops of fruit. In 

 fact the trees could not be in more perfect 

 condition if there had been surface irri- 

 gated at frequent intervals. Trees not far 

 distant that have been irrigated regularly 



since they were set out do not show a sin- 

 gle advantage over the sub-irrigated trees 

 in condition or growth, while the fruit 

 from the sub-irrigated trees is of superior 

 quality to that which comes from the sur- 

 face irrigated trees, and command higher 

 prices. 



The secret of the splendid condition of 

 the trees in the Sierra Madre colonies is 

 not difficult to find. One has but to le- 

 move a few inches of the surface soil to 

 find the ground thoroughly penetrated 

 with moisture and from this never failing 

 store the trees draw the essential life giv- 

 ing fluid 



Indian corn that was planted after the 

 winter rains is in a flourishing condition. 

 The stalks average four feet tall and are 

 living demonstrations of the fact that the 

 dry season has not affected the Sierra 

 Madre colonies. 



The fine conditions of the trees in these 

 colonies is attracting wide spread attention 

 and the increased demand for these prop- 

 erties has resulted in an advance in values 

 throughout the entire tract. Ontario 

 (Cal.) Record. 



IRRIGATING FROM A RESERVOIR. 



A reservoir is the surest and cheapest 

 source of water supply for irrigation, 

 where the natural flow of streams has been 

 appropriated or there is a scarcity during 

 the summer months. The reservoir may 

 be constructed in the mountains or upon 

 the farm where water is required, and 

 filled from the flood water of streams, by 

 claiming a spring; tapping the artesian 

 basin by sinking wells, or tunneling for 

 the underflow. Sometimes wheels or 

 pumps may be used advantageously in 

 lifting water from rivers and impounding 

 it in reservoirs, to be used as necessity de- 

 mands. If a reservoir is built in the 

 mountains it should have more or less 

 strong masonry work where the weight on 

 the dam is greatest, as the leaf mold and 

 surface forest earth will not hold a very 

 great volume of water. Many reservoirs 

 have bursted, and destroyed homes and 

 farms in the valleys below because the 



