68 THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 



culture, by relating the peculiarities of a section of country in 

 California. Near Los Angeles a river disappeared from view and 

 followed a subterranean course for a distance of twenty-two miles 

 on an average of twenty feet below the surface of the soil. The 

 land surrounding this portion of country was a desert, but that 

 immediately over the subterranean river was covered with luxur- 

 ious vegetation. He also spoke of a similar mysterious disappear- 

 ance of a river in the Mesilla Valley, New Mexico. It was the 

 knowledge of these lost rivers, he said, that gave birth to the ideas 

 which have grown into "The New Agriculture." In speaking of 

 the remarkable growth over these rivers, Mr. Greeley mentioned 

 the fact that vegetables and trees growing there, sent their roots 

 down until they reached the river water beneath. Mr. Cole 

 says that Professor Roberts, of Ithaca, has told him that he 

 has traced red clover roots to a depth of eighteen feet, 

 that w T ere growing in a bed of gravel overlying water. 



" Mr. Cole has been studying irrigation since he was seventeen 

 years old, but his present system flashed upon him within the past 

 few years. He has not yet extended his working model over more 

 than two to three acres. I shall attempt to explain what I saw, 

 and to state the claims of Mr. Cole as clearly as I can, considering 

 our brief and frequently interrupted conversation. 



" "We were first shown a patch of strawberries containing nearly 

 two aci*es. These plants were grown in hills about eighteen inches 

 apart each way, mulched with forest leaves, liberally fertilized 

 with yard manure, and irrigated after the new method. I was 

 told by the former owner of the hillside that when he sold it to 

 Mr. Cole it was an unproductive piece of ground. The soil proper 

 was not over ten or twelve inches deep and rested upon a tena- 

 cious, clayey hard-pan, which was impervious to water. He said 

 the frosts acted so seriously upon this soil, on account of the sur- 



