52 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



Subterranean Water Sources. There are few places where 

 water for a home garden cannot be had by well-digging and there 

 are many large districts where flowing wells are secured by 

 shallow boring. At the bases of hills horizontal wells or tunnels 

 are frequently satisfactory. The capacity of these wells and tun- 

 nels is sometimes very great. They often warrant long-ditch lines 

 or figure in the supply of towns and cities. Unquestionably the 

 present development of water by these means is only a fraction 

 of what is possible and the owner of untried land should under- 

 take a reasonable amount of prospecting. It is of course easy to 

 waste money in this way, but if one proceeds after as full study as 

 he can make of the surface, the outcroppings of rock, the experi- 

 ence of others in the same region, he is pretty sure to realize upon 

 reasonable anticipations. 



Excavations in dry creek beds of gravel and boulders have 

 often brought to light considerable underflow which has been ar- 

 rested and the water stored by cement dams resting on the bed 

 rock. 



Flowing wells and wells which bring the water near to the 

 surface constitute the main source of subterranean water employed 

 in California. They have reclaimed large districts which were 

 formerly arid wastes and they are largely used also for summer 

 crops in regions of ample winter rains. Well borers equipped 

 with good appliances are to be found in all parts of the state. 



WATER LIFTING DEVICES. 



At this point it will be well to remark that any gardener is 

 fortunate who has water brought to the highest point of his plan- 

 tation by its own weight without a struggle on his part against 

 the force of gravity, and yet there are thousands of instances of 

 satisfactory home gardening by simple water-lifting devices. 



Horizontal Windmills. Devices based upon the overshot- 

 wheel principle are used to some extent on this coast, but the 

 summer winds at the ground surface are usually too light to 

 operate them well. In its simplest form this windmill consists 

 of four boards, about seven feet long, fastened to long arms pro- 

 jecting from an axle, which has bearings on two strong posts or 

 a framework. The wind only strikes the upper part of the wheel, 

 the lower part being inclosed by a board fence. In a slight breeze 

 the mill revolves about 20 revolutions per minute, but in a good, 



