ELECTRICITY IN THE DEVELOPMENT 

 OF FRESNO COUNTY 



WlIililAM ROBERTSON 

 Secretary Fresno County Chamber of Commerce 



AMONG the forces which tend to develop the resources of a district or 

 county, none is greater than electricity. Its applicability to so many 

 purposes and the comparatively low cost of operating make it an 

 ideal power which has made itself felt in the rapidity of agricultural 

 and manufacturing development in all parts of the State. 



Twenty years ago the application of such a force was not thought of 

 in Fresno County, and the revolution wrought in every branch of industry 

 since it was applied, has been marvelous. Twenty years ago coal-oil lamps 

 formed the brightest illumination for country homes; now the electric 

 light is to be found on hundreds of. ranches, lighting up barns as well as 

 dwellings, thus insuring greater safety as well as improved light. 



Twenty years ago the rapid-transit service of Fresno consisted of a one- 

 horse street-car, which for the want of necessary service compelled the 

 residents to live close to the business part of town, and property in the 

 suburbs went begging for new owners at merely nominal prices, but when 

 the merry clang of the street-car bell sounded in the outskirts of the com- 

 munity, things took on new life, property increased in value, making some 

 people rich who before were poor, and incidentally making majiy rich peo- 

 ple richer. 



The development thus begun in the city has been extended to the 

 country districts, one line running a distance of seven miles out, and the 

 freight and passenger facilities, have so increased directness of communi- 

 cation, and caused such a tremendous increase in property values, as to 

 be simply phenomenal in its results. Several other lines have been survey- 

 ed through comparatively new and undeveloped country, and will in a 

 short time be accomplished facts. Knowing as we do the wonderful fer- 

 tility of the country through which they will pass, we are safe in stating that 

 within a very short period the population that will follow these roads as 

 surely as day follows night will have transformed the arid plains into a 

 Garden of Eden, and also added greatly to the wealth of this wonderful 

 county. 



Twenty years ago canal irrigation had just reached the point of demon- 

 strating to the world what were the capabilities of this county; to-day we 

 are solving new problems in irrigation by the help of electricity. Pumping 

 plants, driven by electric power, are pouring water on the arid soil and 

 making land productive which never could have been made so under the old 

 irrigation system. Closely allied to, and in some districts even more im- 

 portant than, irrigation is the question of drainage, and the Government 

 has in recent years been assisting some of the ranchers in conducting 

 drainage experiments. Dr. Fortier, the great drainage expert, has done 

 some remarkable work along this line in Fresno County, and to him be- 

 longs the honor of first applying electric power in pumping the water from 

 the land. His theory was that, granted a low rate from the power com- 

 pany, the rancher could more cheaply and effectively reduce the water- 

 level by that means than by any other, he then induced the power com- 

 pany to make the experiment, and the results have been excellent. Elec- 

 trical power as applied in the development of agriculture is in its infancy, 

 but the results already achieved would indicate that its possibilities are 

 almost boundless. Wherever applied, it is the harbinger of increased pro- 

 duction and commercial success, and opens up a vista of future develop- 

 ment that must furnish ample food for reflection to every thinking person. 



The rapid extension of electric lines is having a tremendously stimu- 

 lating effect on the development of small farms and intensive farming 

 throughout the State. s 



