16 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1910. 



duc'tiveness of the river bottoms. The instalhilion of irrigation with 

 pumping: plants or other systems would then be possible without dan- 

 ger of loss during floods. Leveling and other improvements could 

 proceed in an uninterrupted Avay. There are many parts of this low- 

 lying belt farmed from home buildings located on the uplands. 

 Under such conditions it can easily l^e seen that intensively farmed 

 small tracts are impossible without river control. Fortunately the 

 river bottom soils are the only ones of the area with adverse drainage 

 conditions. Xo doubt the greater part of the Sacramento bottoms 

 could be irrigated by pumping at this time were it not for the floods 

 at points where the necessary plants must be placed. The manner 

 and extent of the damage by flooding is discussed in the description 

 of the soil types. 



The several small irrigation systems established in the Red Bluff 

 area lie largely upon the east side of the river. The three most 

 important perennial streams of that section furnish water to more 

 or less extensively irrigated tracts. "Water from Antelope Creek 

 has been used in the general farming operations of the Cone ranch 

 for many years. Considerable areas of alfalfa and some good or- 

 chards on the ranch are irrigated from this source. Chinese vegetable 

 gardeners are also supplied. The soils covered by these systems are 

 principally those of the Vina series. Extension of the irrigated area 

 is possible, but it is not probable that Antelope Creek carries sufficient 

 water for all the soils lying within its delta capable of irrigation. 



The Los Molinos tract, consisting of about 10,000 acres along and 

 bordering the delta of Mill Creek, has been subdivided and i^laced 

 upon the market with a water right in that stream. Considerable 

 irrigation development has taken place upon the various types of the 

 Vina series and will no doubt be extended. Quite a body of small 

 farms intensively cultivated can be built up in this region lying be- 

 tween the Tuscan series and the Sacramento River. The supply of 

 water will be exhausted, however, before all the land is developed. 



The Vina section is quite liberally irrigated by water from Deer 

 Creek. As in the vicinity of the other creeks of the east side, there 

 are bodies of good soils favorably situated for irrigation, yet unirri- 

 gated because of inadefjuate water supply. The combined flow of 

 the three perennial east side streams is not sufficient to serve all of 

 the irrigable soils of that section. More conservative use can be made 

 of the water and good intensively farmed sections developed, but 

 there will still remain large areas to be watered from other sources. 



A portion of a tract of land Icnown as the Richfield Colony, lying 

 west of Corning, irrigated during the spring by water from intermit- 

 tent streams of the locality, is also covered by the survey. Natural 

 subirrigation giving rise (o moist subsoils here assists in bringing 

 about condition^ fnvoiable to crop production. At intervals along 



