1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



373 



lagging behind. All the well-directed 

 efforts of patriotic citizens to improve 

 upon the legal and administrative fea- 

 tures of our systems, while they can- 

 not be said to have wholly failed, have 

 not borne fruit. In this respect the 

 state is so far behind the times that 

 the moss is beginning to show green 

 on our outer garments. But the peo- 

 ple are still hopeful. In fact, Califor- 

 nians are always hopeful, and when 

 sufficient progress is made in other 

 directions their attention will again 

 be directed in earnest to the determi- 

 nation of rights to the use of water 

 and the establishment of an efficient 

 system of administration. 



It is gratifying to be able to state 

 that in all other branches of irrigation 

 the state is making rapid progress. 

 The United States Geological Survey 

 is obtaining valuable data in gaging 

 the flow of streams, mapping irriga- 

 ble areas, and locating and surveying 

 reservoir sites. The engineers of the 

 Reclamation Service have labored as- 

 siduously for the past three years in 

 determining the feasible projects that 

 may be built in future by the govern- 

 ment. Apart from the work that is 

 being done through the various agen- 

 cies of the government, the people 

 themselves are becoming enthusiastic 

 over the beneficial results of irriga- 

 tion and the important part which ir- 

 rigated agriculture is destined to play 

 in the future prosperity of this com- 

 monwealth. 



After noting this outline readers 

 may understand more clearly the pur- 

 pose of the irrigation and drainage in- 

 vestigations that are being carried on 

 under the joint cooperation of the Of- 

 fice of Experiment Stations of the U. 

 S. Department of Agriculture and the 

 state of California. These investiga- 

 tions may be grouped under five dif- 

 ferent heads, each of which is briefly 

 outlined in the following paragraphs. 



IRRIGATION UNDER PUMPING PLANTS. 



The owners of pumping plants in 

 California are expending from one to 

 two million dollars a year in raising 

 water from wells for use on orchards, 



vineyards, and fields. In addition to 

 this annual expenditure a much larger 

 sum representing many million dol- 

 lars has been invested in the equip- 

 ment of these plants. This branch of 

 irrigation, although the latest to be 

 developed, is likely to prove in time 

 one of the most important. In parts 

 of this state the flow in the natural 

 streams is practically all utilized and 

 hereafter municipalities and farming 

 communities must depend on under- 

 ground supplies. In other parts the 

 irrigable areas are so extensive, the 

 sources of supply so far distant and 

 the loss by percolation so great, that 

 pumping becomes not only a cheap 

 means of irrigation, but a necessity on 

 account of drainage. 



The operations in this branch are 

 confined this year to the region around 

 Pomona, in southern California, where 

 there are about 145 pumping plants 

 located within a radius of ten miles of 

 Pomona. One part of the work con- 

 sists of finding out what use is being 

 made of the water which is raised 

 from wells and the other part has to 

 do with the mechanical tests of typical 

 plants. The former includes a de- 

 scription of the irrigation conditions 

 within 'the district, a determination of 

 the duty of water under certain plants, 

 a description of the methods used in 

 applying it, and some knowledge of 

 the yield and value of irrigated crops. 



The latter includes a description of 

 each plant tested and all the data per- 

 taining to a complete mechanical test 

 such as the discharge of the pump, 

 the total lift, the power developed 

 within the cylinder of the engines, the 

 fuel consumed in a given time, the 

 general arrangement of parts, the ef- 

 ficiency, as well as the good and bad 

 features of the entire plant. Complete 

 tests have already been made this sea- 

 son of 25 plants. It is hoped that the 

 results of this line of investigation 

 will tend to lessen the present cost of 

 water, not only in remedying the me- 

 chanical defects of plants, but in a 

 more economical use of water in the 

 orchards. 



