458 THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



A GOD-GIVEN LAND MONOPOLY. 



Wonderful Value of the Kuhn Irrigation Project in the 

 Sacramento Valley of California. 



Major E. E. Critchfield of the 

 Long-Critchfield Corporation, Chicago, 

 visited the Sacramento Valley, Cali- 

 fornia, recently to inspect the J. S. & 

 W. S. Kuhn irrigation project and 

 upon his return was asked to address 

 the salesmen connected with the office 

 of H. L. Hollister, in the Home In- 

 surance building. Besides the salesmen 

 there were present a number ot people 

 who were planning to make a trip to 

 California to get acquainted with this 

 wonderful enterprise. 

 MAJOR E.E. CRITCHFIELD. Major Critchfield's remarks will be 



found very interesting to every person who has considered the 

 subject of irrigation. He said in part : 



"I don't wish to say anything that might by any pos- 

 sibility jar upon the sensibilities, but I do want to ex- 

 press in just one short sentence what I think of the Sac- 

 ramento Valley in its original condition. And as it was 

 before the Kuhns took hold of it. It is the best illus- 

 tration of God-given natural monopoly and man-neglected 

 opportunity that I have ever seen anywhere or under any 

 conditions. 



You gentlemen, who are selling land to people who 

 contemplate residence in the Sacramento Valley, may lay 

 it as a flattering unction to your souls that you cannot 

 by any possibility misrepresent this proposition. 



Don't misunderstand me. Do not guess at what I 

 am saying. I have said exactly what I mean. And with- 

 out any egotism I think I have the right to say to you that I 

 know this is so from the fact that there is not any con- 

 siderable irrigation project in any section of the country 

 that I have not seen and that I am not more or less 

 familiar with. 



This knowledge even goes to_ an acquaintance with 

 the character of the soil something of the productivity 

 of that soil, its crop rotations, its ability to produce this, 

 that or the other thing by reason of its elevation above 

 sea level. 



I know also much of the men and means behind these 

 several projects. And I wish to say to you, in the light 

 of this observation and experience, that you cannot by any 

 possibility be too enthusiastic about this great Sacramento 

 Valley project. 



Some of you who contemplate going to the Sacra- 

 mento Valley, or are considering the purchase of land in 

 this great valley, may be interested in knowing that you 

 may find there practically any particular kind -of soil 

 which you desire. 



If you desire to specialize in some particular kind of 

 fruit or crop, by taking just a little time, you will find in 

 that mighty domain the soil exactly suited to your wants 

 or the requirements of the particular thing which you de- 

 sire to produce. Nature has indeed been prolific in the 

 blessings with which she has endowed this great valley. 



If you desire a sandy loam, you can find it there. 



If you prefer a black loam, you can find it there. 



Should you prefer a muck soil, it is there. 



Should you like the light, higher lying gravel soil, it 

 it also there. 



Now, so far as the distribution of these several soils 

 and the general adaptability of the valley to the produc- 

 tion of various growths, fruits, etc., you have nothing to 

 do but to go and see for yourself. 



If you really wish to know whether it grows oranges, 

 just go over to the orange grove which is already growing 

 and bearing, and ask the man. Indeed, I think it per- 

 fectly safe to say that the prize orange grove of the entire 

 state of California is right here in this Sacramento Valley 

 project. 



Should you wish to know whether olives grow in the 

 Sacramento Valley, just go over to the olive grove and 

 find out. Ask the man. As I did. He is there. And he 



will be able to tell you just what they produce. Indeed, 

 he will be able to give you the exact figures. 



If you want to know whether prunes can be just as 

 successfully produced in that country, go again to the 

 prune orchard, and ask the man. The orchard and the 

 man are there, both ready and willing to speak for them- 

 selves. 



Now, what I have said before is true of the entire 

 valley so far as it is covered by the operations of the 

 Sacramento Valley Irrigation Company. Nature has sure- 

 ly been lavish in her gifts to this great valley. Indeed it 

 would seem that you can grow anything there. Almost 

 anything that mortal man desires to grow. 



As to strawberries the answer was on the table at 

 breakfast in the morning, and I wish to go upon record as 

 saying that if the famous "east shore" of Michigan ever 

 produced anything better in the way of strawberries, I 

 have not seen it, and certainly am not able to discern any 

 difference in the product. 



One thing which impressed me in a most abnormal 

 way was the wonderful possibilities for diversification in 

 the valley. Gentlemen, when a probable purchaser asks 

 you whether any particular crop may be successfully 

 grown in the Sacramento Valley, just shut your eyes and 

 say "Yes." 



You may add, "I have not seen it, but / know that it 

 can be grown there." 



This may seem like a rather bold declaration but I 

 assure you that it is the absolute truth. I made a list of 

 numerous things which I saw growing there. I shall not 

 take the time to name these things to you now, but it 

 really seems to make very little difference what you want 

 to grow in the Sacramento Valley, you can find it growing 

 there in such a way as to answer practically every ques- 

 tion which you may desire to ask. 



California, of course, is the best known and most 

 famous for its production of grapes, raisins, oranges, figs, 

 etc., but let me tell you, gentl'emen, that in this same 

 Sacramento Valley I saw more alfalfa growing on one 

 acre than I have ever seen growing on a single acre else- 

 where, and when they assured me that it could be cut 

 more frequently than I have ever known it to be cut east 

 of the Sierras, I was ready to believe it because again of 

 that wonderful and perpetual sunshine in conjunction with 

 added moisture. 



If I were going to the Sacramento Valley to live an 

 wanted in the beginning something which would brin. 

 the dollars quickly, I would certainly put some portion o 

 my land into alfalfa and buy a few cows. 



A wheat man who has 4,700 acres of wheat this sea- 

 son said to me upon inquiry, "Mr. Critchfield, my coiu is 

 in a tin can and my hogs are done up in a gunny sack and 

 properly smoked when they come to me." 



This is one of the reasons why your market is at 

 your door. You see the farmer in the Sacramento Valley 

 as he has existed heretofore, thinks that nothing can be 

 done without a Stockton Gang and twelve mules in front 

 of him. If it is anything which cannot be done with 

 twelve mules, in his mind it cannot be done at all. At 

 least he would not know how to do it. 



You can readily observe that it is an impossibility t< 

 milk a cow even by the aid of twelve mules. 



This is your opportunity. One which is being em- 

 braced by people already upon the ground and which 

 will be embraced by others. 



Before closing I wish to pay the highest compliment 

 of which I am capable to Mr. Ross and his assistants for 

 the extraordinary, and I think unequalled, system of en- 

 gineering on this project. 



While in the engineer's office, I asked indiscriminate! 

 for blue print descriptions, of this, that and the other par 

 ticular 40. My desire was to follow out the contour line 

 on as many separate 40's as I desired to form a basis o 

 judgment of the engineering. 



And I say unhesitatingly that I have never seen any 

 thing applied to either irrigation or drainage the putting 

 of the water upon the land, or the carrying of the water 

 from the land, that will equal the system as inaugurated 

 on this project. 



The aim has been to bring all the contour lines down 

 to six inches and in many instances lines run down beyond 

 that point. (Continued on page 474.) 





