THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



237 



Where the waters of the Tuolumne river are raised and diverted so as to run in canals and ditches over the fertile, sandy loam of the big 

 plains of the Modesto-Turlock irrigation district, Stanislaus county, central California. 



region can be produced profitably in California. Wal- 

 nuts, pecans, almonds, olives, figs, oranges, lemons, 

 peaches, pears, prunes, plums, apricots, apples, cherries, 

 grapes of all varieties, and berries in profusion. Hun- 

 dreds of acres of asparagus, celery and hops make their 

 producers rich. Canning and drying fruits engage a 

 great number of people. Olives are canned and made 

 into oil. All the intensive farming is due directly to 

 irrigation which is in its infancy in northern California. 



Fruits produce a net profit of $500 to $700 a year 

 per acre. Berries as high as $1,000 an acre. Grape 

 vines table, wine and raisin cover 275,000 acres of 

 land, often netting $100 an acre. 



In other irrigated countries or states operations 

 must be confined to limited industries, but in California 

 a man can follow any avocation in any way he chooses. 

 He can be a "back East" farmer with diversified crops 

 and with the ordinary results, or he can be a specialist 

 in cultivating the most productive adaptable crop by 

 the strictest scientific and intense method known to the 

 irrigator, thereby increasing net returns almost a hun- 

 dred fold ; he can make a fortune in mines or in timber ; 

 he is needed in developing the varied industries now in 

 their infancy; he has the opportunity to assist in build- 

 ing great cities whose resources are taxed to the utmost 

 to handle adequately the ever increasing commerce, for- 

 eign and domestic ; he can extend transportation fa- 

 cilities; and he can find a useful field for educational 

 and religious work. He does not isolate himself and 

 family, but becomes at once a related member of an 

 established community of highly educated, prosperous 

 Americans, with good roads, good schools, and good 

 churches. Other sections of the West have unbounded 

 opportunities, but with these opportunities they have 

 privations and hardships. California adds to these op- 

 portunities the comforts of the old home. 



To be truthful and, at the same time, to be mod- 

 erate in statement of the blessings that come to life in 

 this fair land is impossible. In traversing the Sacra- 

 mento and San Joaquin valleys and their tributaries, in 

 carriage, in automobile, and by electric and steam cars, 

 each section visited was "the best," not only by the 

 resident but by the visitor. It seems actually incredible 

 what can be accomplished on this soil, in this climate. 



As in every section of the country a little money 

 will assist in a start, though there is plenty of work 

 to be done at good wages. A thousand dollars with 

 youth and health, pluck and labor will establish a man 



and his wife on a ten or twenty acre farm. A living 

 can be earned easily by raising vegetables and berries 

 while the trees are growing for the permanent and 

 larger income. To such the San Joaquin and Sacra- 

 mento valleys offer unsurpassed opportunities to home- 

 seekers who desire to take a hand in developing a 

 mighty empire. Investors should rely on the official 

 organizations for information. The Chambers of Com- 

 merce and the Development Association will not de- 

 ceive one. They will shield one from the imposter. 



Since California furnishes a climate suitable for all 

 year residence no one need fear to make a permanent 

 home there. Should the summer be too warm, the 

 transportation facilities are such that a few hours at 

 most will take one to a resort in the mountains. 



No mention has been made of the excellent educa- 

 tional advantages in the state. The public schools are 

 known as models throughout the world. The two great 

 universities, the fine normal schools and the many 

 private schools cannot be surpassed. The State Uni- 

 versity has established stations in the various parts of 

 the state for experimental investigations into all the 

 phases of agricultural interests. Churches of all de- 

 nominations are found everywhere. 



Treating of the effects. of irrigation and "The Great 

 Valley" principally, the other interests and the other 

 sections of the state, important as they are, cannot be 

 considered at this time. 



Send $2*50 for The Irrigation 



Age one year and 

 The Primer of Irrigation 



