64 ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



Remarks of J. De Earth Shorb : " Irrigation is of so complex 

 a character, viewed in whatever light you may choose, that the 

 more one reads and studies the recognized authorities upon the 

 laws and customs of the different countries in which irrigation 

 is practiced, the greater seems the difficulty in wisely general- 

 izing, or coming to any definite or fixed conclusion as to what 

 system of laws is best for us to adopt to meet our requirements 

 more fully. 



"It must be remembered that in Italy, Spain and India there 

 have been concentrated on this subject some of the best en- 

 gineering brains in Europe, financiers of experience and high 

 standing, and statesmen of the first ability ; of the latter, Count 

 Cavour, of Italy, stands prominent. 



"Now, when the difficulties they met proved too great, in many 

 instances, for them to overcome, we must not expect to find it a 

 work of easy accomplishment, or that our efforts will not be at- 

 tended with many mistakes. 



"I confess extreme reluctance to write on a subject, knowing 

 so well my inability to do even partial justice to it or myself. 



"Man's wants are so different under the various conditions of 

 his social life; so much affected by the form of government 

 under which he lives; and he is to so great an extent the 

 creature of circumstances of climate, soil, temperature, preju- 

 dices, customs, etc., surrounding him that, while a code of 

 laws might be admirable in the application to one country, they 

 would utterly fail if used for the government of others. It has 

 been suggested, however, by one of our esteemed associates, 

 that by bringing together the practical ideas and opinions of 

 the many, and duly comparing their merits or defects, a better 

 understanding of this subject may be arrived at, and some prac- 

 tical suggestions given to our legislators that may enable them 

 more fully to understand the necessities of the case, and thereby 

 assist them in their efforts to pass such general laws governing 

 and directing the disposition of the waters of the State, or those 

 under its control, which the emergency of the case seems imper- 

 atively to demand. 



"Irrigation in some form or other has been practiced far back 

 into the remote ages, and, perhaps, to the time of pre-historic 



