THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



141 



That the commission realize the importance of carry- 

 ing on and completing the work in the shortest possible 

 period of time under one general comprehensive plan is 

 shown by the following recommendation : 



"(1) Unity of Plan. All parts of the Sacramento flood 

 plain are so connected with one another that they can not 

 be considered as independent units in any scheme of reclama- 

 tion, but must rather be treated as a whole. Each portion of 

 the territory should therefore be included in the general 

 scheme, and all reclamation work within its limits should be 

 in conformity with the broad plan embracing the entire valley. 

 Even purely local work desired to be inaugurated by private 

 parties should first be submitted for the approval of the 

 proper authority, and its execution should be under state 

 control. It is essential to the comprehensive and efficient 

 management of the work in all its manifold details that it be 

 under the complete control of one central authority, respon- 

 sible directly to the state. This authority, whether a single 

 individual or a commission, should be given the necessary 

 power to prosecute the work with efficiency unhampered by 

 any considerations except those of the best interests of the 

 work itself. 



"(2) If at all practicable, the entire funds for the work 

 should be guaranteed from the start. It is only in that way 

 that a close following out of the scheme can be expected, 



can be done at as low a cost as three or four cents a cubic 

 yard through the agency of large dredges. 



"(2) The current contract prices that have come to the 

 attention of the commission generally very much exceed these 

 figures, and it is believed that a great advantage might be 

 realized in the saving of cost by the installment of a large 

 dredging plant by the state authorities, to be operated under 

 the direction of the officials who are to administer the work 

 of improvement, sufficient to do a considerable part, if not 

 the whole, of the dredging. Such an installment, if only ap- 

 plied in part, would act as a salutary restraint on the prices 

 bid by contractors. 



"(3) The large masses of excavation to be made in the 

 cut-offs must necessitate the conveyance of the material to 

 considerable distances, placing the bulk of it outside the reach 

 of the ordinary clamshell dredge. It is believed that hydraulic 

 dredges, or other modern machinery, can be utilized for this 

 class of work, and that it can be so handled at. a price not far 

 from 15 cents per cubic yard, or possibly less. The large 

 quantity of work to be done will serve as a stimulus to con- 

 tractors to devise the least costly methods of operating and 

 will justify the installation of expensive plants." 



In this connection a recent statement made by Mr. Nurse 

 himself will prove of interest: 



"Suffice it to say, relative to merit and superiority, that 



ALMOND DAY AT MAYWOOD COLONY (CORNING, CALIFORNIA). 



In this view are shown about 20 tons of almonds, worth, at the depot, 15c per pound, amounting to $6,000. The almond finds a con- 

 genial home in the soil and sunshine of Maywood Colony, and is one of the important branches of horticulture at Maywood Colony. 



or a close adherence to the original estimates of cost be 

 possible. Any prolonged suspension of work in the progress 

 of the development would probably have disastrous conse- 

 quences. 



"(3) Order of Prosecution of the Work. In the plan 

 of operations embraced in this report there is no reason for 

 giving precedence in time to any part of the work recom- 

 mended over the other parts, but the work may and should 

 be prosecuted in all parts of the field simultaneously." 



Had the members of the commission at that time been 

 as familiar with the operation of the pneumatic pipe dredge 

 as Mr. Nurse is today they could have naturally reduced the 

 following estimates: 



"(1) The question of fixing unit prices upon which to 

 arrive at an expression of the cost of the work recommended 

 to be done is perhaps the most difficult one that presents itself 

 for decision; yet upon this one factor must directly depend 

 the important matter of the sum total of the estimate of cost. 

 The earth work in its various forms constitutes by far the 

 largest part of the subject to be considered, and there is no 

 certain basis known to the commission upon which to fix unit 

 prices to represent the cost of the different characters of the 

 work of this class. From statements made by persons whose 

 experience in this kind of work gives value to their expres- 

 sions a large part of the excavation and levee building 



I believe, and honestly, too, after watching operations, that 

 for one-fifth the cost of construction and equipment, one-fifth 

 the cost of labor in operation, one-fifth the expenditure of en- 

 ergy and one-twentieth the cost of maintenance and repair it 

 (the pneumatic pipe dredge) can beat any dredge in the state 

 in the excavation and transmission of sand, silt, slickens or 

 any other material easily disintegrated. I believe, too, we can 

 do nearly as well in clay as we can in sand. 



"Depth cuts no figure, and I would as soon undertake to 

 cut a channel 50 feet in depth as to make it 10 or 20." 



The following conclusions arrived at by the commission 

 are based on sound premises and merit the careful attention 

 of every land owner in central California: 



"The methods of procedure that have been detailed in 

 this report may savor of the heroic in character and bear a 

 semblance of extravagance in the magnitudes involved. But 

 the commission is constrained to believe that nothing of less 

 magnitude than the measures proposed, and no other general 

 plan than has been advanced, can be relied upon to bring 

 about a permanent correction of the onerous evils under which 

 the Sacramento valley has so long labored. The direct bene- 

 fits to the entire valley to be realized as a result of the per- 

 fecting of the plan of improvement in the reclamation of 

 about 1,000,000 acres of extremely fertile land, and placing 

 it in a position of assured safety from overflow, together with 

 direct and indirect advantages to many associated interests, 



