5903 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



305 



limited, for all practical purposes, to 

 California, although occasional cargoes 

 go to the Orient, where it should be- 

 come popular, since exhaustive tests 

 prove it immune to attacks of the de- 

 structive white ant or termite. At home 

 it is useful for all kinds of finishing and 

 construction lumber. Many of the 

 finest houses throughout California are 

 built of Redwood and shingled with it. 

 In addition, all of the interior work, 

 including solid panels for wainscoted 

 walls and ceilings, is made of the wood, 

 which takes either a high polish or a 

 more popular soft, oiled finish. For 

 shingles, railroad ties, electric-light 

 poles, paving blocks, tanks, and pipe- 

 staves it is an excellent wood. Contact 

 with the ground and with moisture 

 affect it but little, and miles of banded 

 pipes of Redwood staves are used in 

 irrigation works on the Pacific coast. 



In conclusion it may be said that 

 there are good chances for forest man- 

 agement among the Redwoods, but that 

 the narrow profits of the lumbering 

 make the simplest and most inexpen- 

 sive methods the best. The Mendocino 



Lumber Company has operated with an 

 eye to the future, and as they have cut 

 no trees under 20 inches and spared the 

 young trees in their operations as far as 

 possible, the hills where they operate 

 are well wooded, with a thick enough 

 stand to insure clear trunks and a con- 

 sequent lessening of the danger from 

 fire, in contrast to the usual system of 

 laying bare the land. The result of this 

 case has been in every way worth the 

 trouble and the land is becoming more 

 and more valuable instead of being a 

 rain-washed and fire-devastated waste. 

 The example set by this company is 

 very much to the point, its methods 

 being cheap and practical. Other com- 

 panies may find more care necessary to 

 keep fires out of the young growth if 

 they start forest methods now, and 

 everything will have to be done with a 

 sharp eye to the cost. But under the 

 average prevailing conditions the whole 

 Redwood country from Oregon to 

 Monterey Bay can be made to per- 

 petuate itself in timber and regain much 

 of its original value. 



PRACTICAL HELPS FOR IRRIGATORS. 



CONSTRUCTING A RESERVOIR SUCCESSFUL PUMPING 

 PLANT AMOUNT OF WATER REQUIRED FOR IRRIGATION. 



Directions for Building an Earthen Reservoir. 



A COMPETENT irrigation engineer 

 2\. has furnished the following di- 

 rections for constructing a reservoir of 

 substantial size by building a bank of 

 earth across a natural ravine to receive 

 and impound waters. 



Such a bank should be founded upon 

 solid homogeneous earth, containing at 

 least a considerable percentage of clay, 

 so as to be practically impervious to 

 water under considerable pressure. The 

 site of the foundation should be cleared 

 of all vegetable matter, and should be 

 left rough by plowing several furrows 

 across the ravine lengthwise of the pro- 

 posed bank, so that a good bond can be 

 made between the foundation and the 

 embankment. The bank should be of 



earth, free from roots or other vegeta- 

 ble matter, and preferably a mixture of 

 clay, sand, and gravel. Not more than 

 two-thirds of its bulk should be of any 

 one of these materials. It may be put 

 in place by means of scrapers, and should 

 be kept damp, so that it will pack well. 

 This can be done by means of a hose or 

 sprinkling cart. 



In the course of construction the bank 

 should be thoroughly compacted by 

 teams or rolling. The men and teams 

 handling the scrapers are valuable for 

 this purpose, but should be supple- 

 mented by something else. A herd of 

 cattle or sheep might be driven back and 

 forth or herded on the embankment, or 

 rollers may be used ; but these should be 



