423 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



is not generally anxious to sell it. If a man owns 

 a herd of cows and desires to sell some of them he 

 will, if he is a good business man, seek to sell his 

 poorest cows. Lands follow the same economic 

 law. The ranches that come upon the market are 

 apt to be those that have for some economic cause 

 become unprofitable. This may, of course, be due 

 to several reasons. It may be that it is not possible 

 to compete with other lands of greater fertility. 

 It may be that the growth of cities and the develop- 

 ment of transportation have made it no longer 

 capable of competing with other areas. It may be 

 due to mismanagement. It may be that changing 

 conditions have made the area too large and that it 

 needs subdivision. However, thoroughly desirable 

 areas may be placed upon the market for various 

 reasons, as through the settling of estates. Fre- 

 quently splendid areas are brought into the market 

 through the development of new water supplies. 



The settler should look carefully into every- 

 thing that pertains to the extent, reliability, per- 

 manency, and cost of an irrigation water supply for 

 his farm. 



Soils should have good depth and good drain- 

 age. The need of drainage is hard to appreciate or 

 even determine before the land is irrigated in areas 

 of limited rainfall. One reason why analysis of the 

 soil is of so little value in ordinary practice is that 

 the depth of the soil and the position and character 

 of the hard pan usually affect the productivity of 

 virgin soil to a greater extent than existing varia- 

 tions in plant food. Soils in sub-humid climates 

 are peculiarly prone to possess layers of hard pan. 

 These layers are very irregularly laid down. Hence, 

 a minute examination is required to determine its 

 extent and possible injury on a given piece of land. 

 The United States Bureau of Soils has, on account 

 of these structural differences, adopted the rule of 

 examining a cross-section of the soil to the depth 

 of six feet in western United States, while else- 

 where three feet has been deemed sufficient. 



Without natural or artificial drainage, alkali is 

 the inevitable consequence of irrigation wherever 

 the evaporation from the soil is greater than the 

 rainfall. "Irrigation without proper provision for 

 drainage has, in the past, in very many cases, been 

 the cause of abandonment of lands once abundantly 

 fruitful." 



Without stopping to go into the matter ex- 

 haustively, it may be said in general, that those 

 lands most likely to be brought under irrigation 

 are the areas which usually lack good natural drain- 

 age. In humid sections the water table may be 

 within three or even two feet of the surface with- 

 out injurious results. In arid sections the water 

 table should be not nearer than five feet from the 

 surface, while a depth of six or more feet is desir- 

 able. This is due to the deeper feeding area of the 

 roots of plants in arid climates as well as greater 

 danger from alkali where the water table is near 

 the surface. No prediction can be made as to the 

 length of time which will elapse before alkali will 

 appear under irrigation. Clay lands usually suffer 

 sooner than sandy ones. There are areas that have 

 been irrigated for more than twenty-five years 

 which do not yet show the need of under drainage. 



Excellent opportunities exist today for the pur- 



chase and reclamation by tile drainage of lands that 

 have "gone bad" under irrigation. The intending 

 purchaser should be cautioned, however, to try to 

 reclaim only lands which are known to have been 

 fertile. Lands which have never been known to 

 have grown profitable crops may well be avoided 

 in the present state of our knowledge. 



The goodness or badness of land is largely in 

 relation to the crop it is intended to grow. Thus 

 there are soils excellently adapted to olives which 

 will return poor yields of wheat or barley. There 

 are vast areas in California well adapted to grains 

 and alfalfa, on which potatoes cannot be grown 

 economically because of the character of the soil, 

 and on which oranges and lemons cannot be grown 

 on account of the danger of frost. Certain lands 

 which are adapted to raising olives are not worth, 

 and in the past, have not been valued at more than 

 five dollars per acre for other types of farming, are 

 now valued, and may be worth one hundred dol- 

 lars per acre for olives. The fact that lands are 

 valued at much higher prices when adapted to 

 oranges, lemons, or alfalfa than when adapted to 

 grains, has led to the placing upon the market of a 

 great deal of land for crops to which it is not 

 adapted. 



A person buying farm land in California sel- 

 dom deals with the owner. This is especially true 

 where large tracts are subdivided and sold to set- 

 tlers. The owners of such tracts ordinarily place 

 their holdings in the hands of a real estate firm 

 who, of course, handles the sale on commission. 

 But even the members of the real estate firm sel- 

 dom, in the case of these large holdings, make the 

 sale in person. The real estate firm employs agents 

 of a more or less itinerant character, who make the 

 actual sales. Under the present system, the agent 

 with whom the purchaser deals is not infrequently 

 an irresponsible party and cannot be found later to 

 substantiate the statements made. It is therefore 

 absolutely necessary for the purchaser to act only 

 on evidence confirmed from other sources and to 

 sign no contracts that he does not fully understand 

 and cannot fully verify, and to be absolutely cer- 

 tain his titles to the land and to the water rights 

 are satisfactory. 



Probably nothing can make a man keen in a 

 horse trade save experience. No law can furnish a 

 man with judgment. The United States and the 

 State government are endeavoring to furnish infor- 

 mation on which men may base sound judgment 

 if they are level-headed and already have some 

 knowledge of farming. Persons with no knowledge 

 of farming are advised not to purchase farm lands 

 in California until some months of experience have 

 brought them into actual contact with conditions. 

 It is, of course, important to "help the investor as 

 much as possible through supplying accurate data, 

 but the buyers must assume some of the responsi- 

 bility when they buy without attempting to inform 

 themselves." 



The dairy farm and the orange grove are illus- 

 trations of two very different types of business. In 

 the case of the dairy farm the farmer receives his 

 pay check every month. With the orange grower, 

 payment comes in during a restricted period. On 

 (Continued on page 438) 



