THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



345 



the amount of water appropriated by the 

 canals and used upon the land. The 

 combined maximum capacity of the canals 

 of the valley was found to be sufficient to 

 allow 350 cubic feet of water to pass in 

 each second of time. The records of the 

 flow of Ashley creek and of the various ir- 

 rigating eanals, during the season of 1900, 

 show that 48.355"acre-feet, approximately, 

 were used upon 17,471 acres, the area ir- 

 rigated that year, which would be equiva- 

 lent to an average depth of 2.8 feet of 

 water over each acre. The discharge of 

 48,355 acre-feet as noted above, for the 

 six irrigating months, represents a mean 

 flow of 133 cubic feet per second, or ex- 

 pressed in other terms, the duty of water 

 in the Vernal Valley was*l second foot in 

 131 acres. Redlands, (Cal.) Citrograph. 



BRUSH DAM TO GO. 



A notable improvement in Kings coun- 

 ty, Cal. is about to be made, according 

 to the Fresno (Cal.) Republican, all the 

 necessary plans and financial arrange- 

 ments having been completed. The old 

 brush dam of the Peoples' Ditch com- 

 pany is to be done away with and its place 

 is to^be taken by a modern structure that 

 will improve the fall of the canal and will 

 result in a considerable saving to the com- 

 pany's annual expense account. 



The Peoples' canal has its head on the 

 south side of Kings river, some 500 feet 

 above the head of Cole's slough. The di- 



version of the water from the river to the 

 canal is at the present time brought about 

 by the old brush dam referred to, but this 

 dam has cost the corporation from $4000 

 to $6000 a'year'for repairs say 60 per cent 

 of the total expenses of management and 

 maintenance. It was time to change this 

 eondition of affairs and the company ac- 

 cordingly has had plans drawn and has or- 

 dered the material. 



The brush dam stands about half a mile 

 down stream from the railway bridge be- 

 low Kingsburg. The new dam will be 

 built 300 feet below the present site. The 

 bottom is said to have been found to be 

 quicksand, but all the difficulties incident 

 to this sort of base have been overcome in 

 in advance, so to speak, and nothing re- 

 mains but to begin construction, which 

 will be commenced at once. 



The new dam will be 450 feet outside of 

 the wings. It will be eighteen feet high 

 and will have a thirty foot base. It will 

 be constructed under the direction of I 

 Teilman, civil engineer of Fresno, whose 

 plans have been adopted. 300,000 |eet of 

 lumber will be used in the structure. The 

 total cost will be $20,000. 



The Peoples' canal was started in 1873 

 and an area of 25,000 acres js irrigated by 

 the main ditch and its branches. It has 

 had its share of litigation, like every 

 other ditch company in the San Joaquin 

 valley, but everything of that kind seems 

 to have been settled with more of less ease 

 since the Supreme court confirmed the 

 judgment in its favor in the big contest in 

 which the Laguna de Tache people sought 

 to prevent it from taking water from the 

 river at all. 



THE SHUART EARTH GRADERS. 



STYLE 



NO. 2. 



ing borders, ditches, etc. 



These machines rapidly and cheaply re- 

 duce the most uneven land to perfect 

 surface for the application of water. 

 Made in several different styles. On the 

 No. 3 style the blade can be worked diag- 

 onally, as well as straight across, thus 

 adapting it to throwing up and distribut- 

 For descriptive circulars -and price, address, 



B. F. SHUART, Oberlin, Ohio. 



