THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



211 



clean, and thin oil (16 to 18 Beaume scale) was 

 sprinkled on the sand and raked in. The amount of oil 

 used was 2.3 gallons per square yard, or 13.35 per cent 

 of the volume of the sand. The slopes of the reservoir 

 were 4 on 1 and %y 2 on 1. This lining was being com- 

 pleted when the writer examined it. it has so far an- 

 swered in a satisfactory manner the purpose for which 

 it was intended. A letter was addressed to Mr. William 

 Mulholland, superintendent of the water department of 

 the city of Los Angeles, inquiring as to its behavior, and 

 his reply, under date of December 20, is as follows: 



"The oil lining of the Ivanhoe reservoir has proven a 

 success with the exception of the southern embankment, 

 on which the work was poorly and hastily done. We had 

 a very severe northern gale about a month ago that 

 raised waves at sufficient height to spray clear over the 

 bank, although at that time there was fully 4 feet of 

 clearance. The continued action of this storm for twen- 

 ty-four hours or more cut many holes in the slope, but 

 an examination of the broken places showed that the oil 

 had penetrated but an inch or two and was hence in- 

 sufficient to withstand such violence." Mr. Mulholland 

 further states that with properly executed work the 

 method would prove a complete success. 



It will be noted that in this case comparatively light 

 oil was used. It is the writer's belief that heavy road 

 oil would be more efficient in resisting wave action, 

 erosion, or scouring due to water. 



Prom observations of the behavior of oil on roads 

 or streets in resisting the erosive force of running water 

 during heavy rainfall it would seem that an oil lining 

 for canals would allow a very high velocity. Many oiled 

 streets having a steep grade have been constructed with 

 the gutters built of exactly the same materials as the 

 street. These gutters during heavy rain storms have 

 had to carry a large volume of water and the velocity 

 was high, still the gutters were not in the least cut up. 



A statement from Mr. Theo. White, of Los Angeles, 

 who has made a special study of oiled roads, gives us 

 an idea of what might be expected of oil lining for 

 ditches: "The whole country was flooded and it gave 

 us a good test of our oiled roads. There is a road run- 

 ning into San Bernardino on a grade of about 6 per 

 cent, about 300 or 400 feet from a bcneh down into a 

 creek bottom. The road had been oiled a second season 

 and there was a good oiled surface. The water rushed 

 down the middle of that road, because the ditches could 

 not carry such a great volume of it, and it did not 

 make a scratch on the road, but a half mile south there 

 was a road of about the same grade which was so badly 

 washed that it could not be used until it was repaired 

 a road that was not oiled. Between Pomona and 

 Freeman there was a great quantity of water came from 

 a canyon and struck the oiled road at right angles at 

 one point. It came from the west, and on the east side 

 of that road there was a margin of 6 or 8 inches of the 

 surfacing material that the oil had not touched. The 

 rain passed over the oiled surface, and when it came to 

 that which was not oiled it cut it right out. Upon the 

 same road within the city limits of Pomona the road 

 was surfaced with decomposed granite, packed down 

 hard, and a very nice road during the summer, but it 

 had not been oiled. The same storm cut it all to pieces. 

 On one stretch of a quarter of a mile the road material 

 was fairly washed out into the fields alongside of the 

 road." 



[To be Continued.] 



SUGGESTIONS FOR CITIZENS OF THE SALINAS 

 VALLEY. 



Tree Planting, Gravity Irrigation and Concerted Action. 



BY MONTERETAN. 



Let the people of the Salinas Valley keep con- 

 stantly in mind that they must, sooner or later, 

 abandon their present method of working their lands 

 We know what the valley is capable of producing. We 

 know the high values brought for lands whereon in- 

 tensified farming is practiced and what it does for 

 towns within or near such territory. 



Two things are absolutely necessary to make the 

 Salinas Valley one of the most famous producing sec- 

 tions in the world, where the climate is good for com- 

 fort all the year round. Planting trees along the 

 roads and division fences, besides lines of windbreaks 

 across the valley at intervals, is one requirement, and 

 the other is to establish a gravity irrigation system. 



Organization only can bring about what is needed 

 to provide for the support of 100,000 people in happy 

 homes in the Salinas Valley. You had a very good 

 earnest boomer devoting his time and money to organ- 

 izing your land owners. Had those differing from him 

 in his methods taken an active interest in the irriga- 

 tion organization, all differences might have been ex- 

 plained, and by their aid other plans along the lines 

 of promotion and educational work agreed upon. 



Now is the time to act. If my reader is one who 

 is convinced that Mr. Vivian, of King City, was all 

 wrong let him join with others of a like mind and 

 become members of the Irrigation Association to make 

 things right. 



The writer is aware of unfairness, to say the 

 least, towards Mr. Vivian. All the people alluded to 

 are good men and intend to be just, but they have a 

 fault, so common among us all, to "knock" a man who 

 is trying to do something, only because they do not 

 happen to agree with his plans, or because of some 

 trivial reason. 



Concerted action is necessary and there is a way 

 to bring it about. Discuss this matter with your neigh- 

 bor without delay, and from each section forward 

 names for membership in the Salinas Valley Irriga- 

 tion Association. Reorganize and come to an agree- 

 ment on all matters. 



While not a land owner in your section, the writer 

 is giving his time and money monthly to keep alive 

 the movement to establish an irrigation system in the 

 Salinas Valley. Both Mr. Vivian and myself have 

 been working to force you into doing your duty to your 

 country and your heirs. 



A meeting of the California Inland Waterways 

 Committee will shortlv be held at Monterey, and every 

 land owner in the Salinas Valley is invited to attend 

 their meeting. It would be an opportune time for you 

 all to get together and place the Irrigation Asso- 

 ciation on a solid footing. 



The next issue of the AGE will give you other 

 points to enable you to see yourself as other see you. 

 It depends upon yourself whether or not you will have 

 a string of canneries and fruit-packing establishments 

 through the valley in a few years. 



