THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



369 



BROUGHT BY THE POSTMAN. 



Letters from Correspondents to The Irrigation Age. 



BROWNSVILLE, IND., Sept. 22, 1904. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. : 



Dear Sirs 1 am just now on a visit here at my old home 

 in the "States," and as we are particularly interested in ir- 

 rigation and ditching machinery, 1 should be pleased to get in 

 touch with your advertisers of such. 



In thanking you for a sample copy, either current or back 

 number, which I would be pleased to have you send me care 

 Hon. William Remington, Brownsville, Ind., and in awaiting 

 the receipt of your favor in the matter, I am, 

 Very truly yours, 



O. L. REMINGTON, 



With Will-am McLean & Co., 317 Flinders Lane, 

 .Melbourne, Australia. 



SULTANA, CAL., Sept. 28, 19Q4. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111. : 



Dear Sir In glancing over the map of California about 

 midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco may be 

 seen the outlines of Lake Tulare. A few years ago this body 

 of water covered an area sixty miles in length as the crow 

 Hies, with an average widtli of thirty miles. Steamboats from 

 the San Joaquin River found their way into its placid waters 

 through a narrow stream known as the San Joaquin Slough. 

 But today not a drop of water is there to be found in the 

 bed of the old lake. 



Kings River, with its source in the Sierra Nevada Moun- 

 tains, empties into the San Joaquin Slough. What has al- 

 ways been regarded as a peculiar feature of the rise and fall 

 of the waters of the lake, was the fact that the current from 

 Kings River flowed into the lake by way of the slough until 

 a certain level was reached. Then there would for a time 

 be a backing up of the waters of Kings River, an overflow of 

 low lands on either side. Then the current of the slough 

 would simply reverse itself and lake, river and slough would 

 slowly drain into the San Joaquin River. In the last few 

 years irrigation has wrought a great change in the vicinity of 

 the old lake. 



Canals have been made that lead out the waters of upper 

 Kings River supplying the necessary moisture for thousands 

 of acres of orchards and vineyards in a section that was for- 

 merly an arid plain. Year after year Lake Tulare has grown 

 smaller and yet more small until now it is entirely off the 

 map. The surface of the lake's bottom is almost perfectly 

 level. Lands that have from time to time been reclaimed 

 on account of receding waters have proven wonderfully pro- 

 ductive. A sediment having for centuries settled on the 

 lake's bottom gives the soil some of the qualities of the valley 

 of the Nile. The lake's bottom being the property of the 

 State's school fund, it was subject for entry at $2.50 per 

 acre. All of it has been bought and real estate speculators 

 are endeavoring to control large tracts. It is generally con- 

 sidered that it is the richest soil in the State. To guard 

 against a possible inundation a great levee is now being 

 constructed across what was once the mouth of the San 

 Joaquin Slough. This precaution is hardly necessary. Lake 

 Tulare is a thing of the past. Yours, truly, 



JAMES W. SWEETMAN. 



SACRAMENTO, CAL., Aug. 27, 1904. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE. Chicago, 111.: 



Dear Sir I enclose herewith a bulletin covering the 

 fruit situation in this State which I trust you may find of 

 interest and value. I also enclose a short article on "Irriga- 

 tion," prepared exclusively for your publication. 



We contemplate issuing a regular bulletin to agricultural 

 and horticultural papers throughout the United States and 

 Canada and at the same time sending to certain selected pub- 

 lications exclusive articles similar in character to that here- 

 with enclosed. If you would like to have this service we 

 will take pleasure in supplying it. Our purpose is to obtain 

 publicity for this portion of California for which we desire 

 to give full value. 



We propose to send truthful reports without cost to you 

 and we believe a series of articles can be prepared that will 

 be of interest to your readers. We can furnish satisfactory 

 references. 



The enclosed are samples of what we propose to do and 

 we trust they will meet with your approval. In case you 



desire this service please let us know by letter, also please 



kindly send copies . of your publication containing articles. 



Yours very truly, 



W. A. BEARD, Secretary. 



PEORIA, ILL., Sept. 15, 1904. 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE, Chicago, 111.: 



Dear Sir You will kindly allow me once more to put 

 in a few words upon this most important topic, irrigation. 

 Your family of thinkers upon this topic is quite large and 

 appreciate your kindness in opening up the pages of your 

 valuable journal for the discussion, both pro and con, of this 

 most important subject of the day. The exchanging of 

 thoughts through the medium of your journal will finally re- 

 sult in a great educational school along this line. 



Generally speaking, most of the young men and a great 

 many of the older ones are taking Horace Greeley's advice: 

 "Go west." The cause of this is chiefly the high price of 

 land in their native States. As they go west, they find the 

 same conditions prevailing and the great arid belt before 

 them. Looking over the situation they find the soil and cli- 

 mate very much like that of Southern California and it would 

 be just as valuable, but the lack of moisture makes it worth- 

 less. They also realize the great undertaking of the Gov- 

 ernment to bring thousands of acres of this worthless land 

 into value equal to that of their native States. According to 

 reports, only one-fourth of the arid belt can be irrigated by 

 the flooding and furrow systems. This being the case, makes 

 the number of farms very much limited and not in propor- 

 tion to the demand. 



The question arises, what is to be done with the seventy- 

 five per cent of the arid land that can not be irrigated by the 

 flooding and furrow systems. This is a very vital and im- 

 portant point to be solved in the future. As our popula- 

 tion increases, the demand for this land will naturally in- 

 crease with it. So now is the time to prepare before the de- 

 mand is upon us. So let us get our heads together and pre- 

 pare or devise some plan by which this vast amount of un- 

 even arid land can be turned into beautiful homes and in 

 conclusion would say that it stands everyone in hand in 

 the arid West to make a little water go as far as possible, 

 for, according to Professor Cook's recent statement, in South- 

 ern California in six years the water had been lowered in 

 the ground about twenty-seven feet. This is enough to cause 

 some alarm. The question is, what will the condition be in 

 ten years should the same decline prevail? Therefore it 

 behooves all to study a more economical system of irrigation 

 and the time is not far distant when many of the fields will 

 have to abandon the flooding system on account of lack of 

 \vater. So the problem which is really the main issue at this 

 time is to get the best results from the least amount of 

 water. We read of rivers and creeks going dry, water low- 

 ering in the ground twenty-seven feet in six years. All 

 this puts us to thinking and well it may, for it means bread 

 and butter and beautiful homes to thousands. These are 

 questions of vital importance to all of us and I trust all 

 will take a hand in trying to solve them. 



We don't wonder much at all this when we take into 

 consideration that the flooding system on one acre of ground 

 requires 27,154 gallons to cover the surface one inch. Think 

 of using this amount per acre every ten days during June, 

 July and August and you find out you have a great water 

 problem on hand that is going to tell in the near future. 



In my estimation there is only one way to overcome this 

 vast amount of waste and that is by sub-irrigation. Stop 

 feeding the sun fifty per cent of the moisture and your crop 

 gets the benefit. By so doing there will be enough water to 

 go around, thereby doing away with so much contention 

 over water rights, etc. 



If I have made any errors in my statements I am will- 

 ing to acknowledge same through THE IRRIGATION AGE. if 

 pointed out to me. Very truly, 



W. A. LEE. 



SACRAMENTO VALLEY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 

 PRESS BULLETIN. 



. - SACRAMENTO, CAL., Aug. 29. 1904. 



Shipments of California fruit to eastern points which have 

 passed through Sacramento this season to date aggregate 

 3,330^2 carloads as follows : Cherries, 209 cars ; apricots, 96 

 cars ; apples, 8% cars ; peaches, 475 cars ; plums, 990 cars ; 

 figs, 2 cars ; pears, 1,400 cars ; grapes, 150 cars ; total, 

 3,330*4 cars. 



