THE IEEIGATION AGE. 



439 



RANCHO del PUERTO 



By John Brent 



(The following is a very graphic description of one of 

 the most modern and model irrigation systems in the West, if 

 not in the world. The article Is written by the engineer, as 

 the reader will note, and therefore is authentic and tech- 

 nically correct. It will be interesting to those studying irri- 

 gation, to follow the treatise carefully. The accompanying 

 illustrations were taken with the idea of thoroughly illustrat- 

 ing the points in question, concerning the ranch and the ir- 

 rigation system.) 



"The Rancho del Puerto, situated on the west side of 

 the great valley of the San Joaquin river, has long been 

 known as one of the most fertile spots in that great state 

 of fertile spots California. Comprising about 18,000 



The elevation of the land along the railroad is approxi- 

 mately 70 feet. At the banks of the river it is 18 to 20 

 feet, giving an easy slope towards the river of about 17 

 feet to the mile. 



"A spot was selected about the middle of the ranch 

 where the river had a straight course and high, firm banks, 

 and a well was sunk about sixty feet back from the river 

 and to a depth of 8 feet below low water. This was con- 

 nected to the river by concrete tunnels provided with 

 proper sluice gates. 



"The area that could be irrigated under the proposed 

 system was approximately 14,000 acres, and a duty of one 

 second-foot to 160 acres was adopted. Investigations 

 were made on both steam and electric power installations 

 and the latter was found preferable, and the size of the 

 pumping plant was increased to do the work in nineteen 

 hours per day, thus being able to avoid the "peak load" 

 of the power company. This gave a necessary pumping 



Typical Ranch Home Near Patterson Colony, California. 



acres, it was acquired by the original owner in the early 

 sixties, and has yielded enormous crops of wheat and 

 barley. Thousands of acres will yield thirty bags per acre 

 (about 3,300 pounds) for the 1910 crop. 



"The increasing demand for irrigated lands, and its ad- 

 vantageous situation for such purposes, caused the Patter- 

 son Ranch Company, of Fresno, Cal., through its presi- 

 dent, T. W. Patterson, to install an irrigating system and 

 put the land on the market in small tracts suited to the 

 needs of purchasers. Mr. A. L. Adams, of San Fran- 



capacity of 111 second-feet,, or 50,000 gallons per minute. 

 "A careful contour survey of the land was made and the 

 areas that could be irrigated from laterals at different 

 levels calculated. It was decided to install five pumping 

 stations connected by concrete-lined canals, these stations 

 being so located and provided with such relative amount of 

 pumping capacity, that when in full operation there would 

 be sufficient difference between them to allow of irrigat- 

 ing the zone of land between the respective levels sup- 

 plied by them. The pumping unit worked out to a 15-inch 



View of Main Canal 24 Feet Wide at Top, Patterson Ranch, California. 



cisco, was called into consultation, and plans for the work 

 were made under his direction, Mr. G. C. Stevens being 

 engineer in charge of construction. 



"The ranch lies between the San Joaquin river on the 

 east and the Southern Pacific Railway on the west, having 

 a length of about nine miles, and a width of three miles. 



centrifugal pump, delivering approximately 6,000 gallons 

 per minute, or 14.3 second-feet. In the lower stations, two 

 of these were replaced by one 20-inch pump delivering 

 12,500 gallons per minute, or 27.7 second-feet. 



"As near as could be ascertained, the normal rise of the 

 San Joaquin river at the point of taking water, is about 



